Why No Tarot Card is Truly Positive!

The Temperance card, often seen as a card of moderation, balance, harmony, and sometimes even healing, is generally considered a very positive symbol. However, it can also have negative aspects, such as stagnation and indecision. Indeed, when seeing this card, the querent may naturally seek balance. But they may pursue this balance excessively, falling into a form of immobility or stagnation. They may also face persistent hesitation or a fear of making decisions, especially when faced with paradoxical or contradictory situations that make achieving harmony difficult.

1. Stagnation and Missed Opportunities

The excessive search for balance can lead to missed opportunities. When the querent is obsessed with the desire to balance everything, they may find themselves stuck, unable to make timely decisions. This can cause them to miss opportunities for personal change or growth. Similarly, trying too hard to achieve harmony at all costs can lead to excessive compromises, where one ends up standing still, giving up on their own values, and consequently losing self-confidence.

2. Lack of Impulse and Passion

In their quest for balance, the querent may also show a lack of impulse and passion. The desire to live too moderately, to avoid conflicts or risks, can create a monotonous routine, devoid of flavor or excitement. This excessive moderation can diminish the authenticity and sincerity of actions and interactions, thus stifling inner passion and enthusiasm.

3. Avoidance of Confrontations and Underlying Issues

The Temperance card can also suggest a tendency to avoid confrontations. The excessive desire to maintain peace may lead to avoiding difficult discussions, bypassing problems, and maintaining the status quo instead of facing opposition. This fear of confrontation can prevent the resolution of deep issues and create underlying tensions that eventually explode, either through sudden anger or in the form of depression.

4. Inability to Balance or Moderate

Paradoxically, the Temperance card may also indicate a difficulty in balancing things or moderating oneself. There may be a tendency to give everything in relationships, to exhaust oneself emotionally and physically because one gets too involved or does not know how to take a step back. Conversely, there may also be a tendency to want to take everything, to dominate others, or to abuse one's power, which prevents the formation of balanced and harmonious relationships.

5. Inflexibility and Rejection of Compromise

Finally, the card may indicate a form of inflexibility, where one refuses to compromise and remains rigid in the face of situations and relationships. This attitude can create tension and lead to isolation.

Using Negative Aspects in a Tarot Reading

When the Temperance card appears negatively in a reading, it is crucial to examine where balance has become a hindrance rather than an asset. This can manifest in two ways: either by an excessive pursuit of balance or by an inability to achieve it. The querent should ask themselves if they are sacrificing too much to preserve peace, lacking authenticity, afraid to assert themselves, or, on the contrary, why they are unable to live with moderation and build harmonious relationships.

It may be helpful to encourage exploring situations where a bit of chaos and imbalance could, in reality, bring growth, change, or a better connection with one's authentic self.

The True Message of Temperance: Give and Take

In the Fool's journey through the tarot, the Temperance card embodies a principle of reciprocity and measure. It comes after the Strength card, which represents mastery over inner frustration, and the Hanged Man card, which invites observing and recognizing the bonds of attachment one maintains with the world. The Death card that follows pushes us to cut these ties of dependency. Temperance, in turn, suggests rebuilding more balanced relationships, not unilateral but reciprocal, and learning to give with moderation, as illustrated by the two jugs she holds: one pours water while the other receives it. This symbolizes the art of giving while keeping something for oneself, cultivating a healthy and sustainable balance.

The World card is generally perceived as one of the most positive and complete in the Tarot, symbolizing fulfillment, growth, and total harmony. However, even this card, which represents achievement, can have negative aspects or nuances depending on the context of the reading.

1. Dissatisfaction and Incompletion

This card can represent the weight of an expected or imposed perfection. It can signify an immense pressure to maintain a certain level of success and completeness, which then becomes a burden. Human nature is inherently dissatisfied, and even when social or professional success is achieved, a feeling of incompletion persists. This dissatisfaction can lead to a perpetual quest for perfection, creating continuous pressure, stress, anxiety, and even a constant fear of failure. Today's success must necessarily be followed by another success, bringing a fear that, sooner or later, failure will occur, as it is impossible to succeed in everything.

2. Greed and the Endless Quest

The second negative aspect is greed, closely linked to dissatisfaction and incompletion. One can get caught up in an endless race for success, driven by this form of greed that pushes us never to be satisfied. An inner emptiness persists, even despite material success and social status, leading to constantly seeking new challenges and setting new goals.

3. Excessive Perfectionism and Utopianism

The World card may reflect an obsession with perfection, which is fundamentally unattainable. Perfection is not of this world; dissatisfaction is what characterizes humanity. This utopian quest for ultimate fulfillment can become an exhausting cycle of endless pursuits, never feeling genuine satisfaction. This leads to a desire to build a reality that will never exist.

4. Unavailability and Delay

This constant pursuit of progress can cause delays in achieving this quest, as one is always chasing success without ever being content with what is already possessed. There is a sense of delay in success because one is not able to enjoy the present moment. This lack of availability to live in the moment is what creates this gap. This endless quest can lead to boredom or a lack of enthusiasm for the future, as one is never satisfied with what has already been accomplished.

5. Dispersal and Loss

This constant race for progress can lead to a dispersion in all possible directions. By seeking success in every domain, one loses sight of their main path, which can lead to a form of loss. One forgets where their center of gravity is, their personal essence, as they try to embrace everything or capture the whole world.

Use of Negative Aspects in a Tarot Reading

When the World card appears in a negative connotation, it is useful to question where the blockage is in the idea of accomplishment and completion. It may be relevant to encourage reflection on how the feeling of finality can actually mask a deeper need for renewal and continuous growth. It involves exploring how perfectionism or the pursuit of recognition can become a trap. Finding a new balance between personal satisfaction and the ability to embrace change is then essential.

These negative aspects remind us that even ultimate achievement has its pitfalls and that the end of a cycle is often the beginning of another. This highlights that personal and spiritual growth is an endless journey, where each stage is a new opportunity for learning. Humans remain fundamentally dissatisfied, which makes this journey infinite, but paradoxically, this journey can reach a form of destination when one finds their inner center.

The True Message of the World Card: Centering

The true message of the World card is not one of completeness or achievement, but rather of grounding and centering on oneself. It speaks of mastery of the four elements, symbolized by the four figures around the central woman in the Tarot of Marseille:

• The bull (or the horse in some versions) surrounded by glory represents fulfilled needs.
• The lion surrounded by glory symbolizes control and mastery of desires.
• The falcon or eagle surrounded by glory indicates refined thinking, rich in knowledge and arguments.
• The angel surrounded by glory shows feelings that have become deep, pure, and authentic.

These four figures speak to us of mastery, but the woman at the center of the mandorla (sacred oval) reminds us that this mastery is not synonymous with completion. The center of the card symbolizes grounding in oneself, within the world's imperfections. Accepting our dissatisfaction and imperfection, recognizing that something will always be missing, is ultimately reaching a destination — a destination that is, in reality, a return to the center of ourselves.

Thus, personal and spiritual growth is an endless journey, but this journey paradoxically ends when we reach the center of ourselves, where unity and balance reside.