Sagittarius season runs from November 22nd to December 22nd of the Gregorian calendar each year. Sagittarius is the mutable fire sign that governs philosophy, travel, adventure, and spiritual development. It also corresponds with the Temperance card in the major arcana. As number 14, Temperance is also tied to the Hierophant via numerological reduction (14, 1+4 = 5, number 5 being the Hierophant.) In Colman Smith’s depiction of the Temperance card, the scene frames an angelic figure holding two golden cups. There are several interpretations of this winged figure, but for our purposes we will be looking at this angel as the goddess Iris of Greek Mythology. We touched briefly on this messenger goddess who travels by rainbow in A Tale of Ten Cups. Unlike the messenger god Hermes who often provides support to mortals by filtering communications through his own morals and ambitions, Iris’ messages come directly from the Olympians. Iris’ messages are free of personal interest or temptation, ringing crystal clear across the rainbow on which she journeys from Mount Olympus. She stands with one foot still in the water. Two yellow iris flowers bloom on the shoreline where our messenger’s other foot stands firmly planted, connecting her to the image of the holy mountains in the distance. Her gown is white and flowing and there is a gold triangle within a white square in the center of her chest. 

Our angel stands with eyes closed, a steady stream of blue water traveling between her golden cups. This angel is performing creative alchemy by joining the forces of water, earth, and spirit. She delivers the messages of the heavens and earth back to the water, which represents our emotional world and intuition. The Temperance card is first and foremost about balance and moderation. This often challenges those who are early in their tarot studies, as Sagittarius is associated with fire, moxy, and acts of ecstatic liberation. However, as we deepen our relationship to tarot correspondences and astrology, we will come to see that Temperance is precisely the card to deliver the medicine of Sagittarius and the 9th house. Let’s talk about Sagittarius, the 9th house, and the collaborative elemental process of becoming.

I met my dear Sagittarian friend Joy Masi when we were 18 years old. We worked together in a high end retail tea shop in the center of our local shopping mall passing out samples, brewing up new concoctions, and hustling loose leaf tea by the ounce. Fully caffeinated and fresh with potential we spent downtime at the tea counter discussing my massage therapy and herbalism studies and Joy’s passion for photography. 5’3 with the eyes of a doe, the presence of a praying mantis, and a smile to rival her name, she had taken the job to supplement her wedding photography business. As a fellow self-sufficient teen and blooming young eccentric I was instantly inspired by her professional tenacity in spite of her young age. We merchandised cast iron pots and matcha latte frothers in between tea sale shakedowns and tallying the day's markups. We exchanged philosophies on life, art, and travel. She shared photos from her weddings and from hikes or allnighters at Philadelphia’s FDR skatepark. She was always headed for the next exploration at clock-out time and remains Sagittarius embodied to this day. 

Since first stumbling into each other's lives nearly eleven years ago, we have remained a golden thread intricately woven throughout each other’s life tapestries. Throughout her extensive travels and my many transitions we have continued to find each other at the crossroads. A sudden inspiration to text the other will often be met with an affirming “I was just thinking of you dude!” followed by a series of plans to make plans ultimately culminating in a day of combing the cosmos and imbibing with our favorite plant allies. Camellia Sinensis is one of the world’s most treasured and cultivated plants. Though less known by its Latin name, Camellia Sinensis is the species of evergreen that provides us with the gift of tea. Tea leaves from the Camellia Sinensis plant come in a variety of preparations, mostly notably white, green, black, and oolong tea. Flavors are achieved through selective breeding and cultivation followed by oxidation practices specific to each flavor profile. This creative process of collaboration with the spirit of Camellia Sinensis provides a rich metaphor for the processes made available to us in the 9th house of Sagittarius. 

The angel of the Temperance card bears a square on their chest representing the four directions:

• North (the realm of earth, body, bone, ancestral wisdom, the tangible, and the planet) 
• South (the realm of fire, the spirit, passion, creativity, willpower, and the sun) 
• East (the realm of air, the mind, intellect, new ideas, communication, and the heavens) 
• West (the realm of water, the heart, the intuition, emotions, and the moon) 

Squares are sturdy and balanced with four symmetrical sides. The number four corresponds with The Emperor (number 4, major arcana) who governs over our personal empire. Our inner emperor requires balance in these four realms of self in order to govern effectively. Within the square we see a triangle, representing mind, body, and spirit. This also introduces a correspondence with The Empress (number 3, major arcana) This represents our innate essence that remains present through all of our varying expressions of self. While it is difficult to cite any one definitive source of magical correspondences for each tea, we will be using the correspondences for black tea in Scott Cunningham’s treasured classic Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs to guide us in selecting our remaining three directional correspondences. 

• Black, South: Requires a process of cultivation, harvest, bruising and wilting, rolling, complete heat oxidation, and drying
• Oolong, North: Requires a process of cultivation, harvest, bruising and wilting, cooling, rolling, partial heat oxidation, roasting to halt oxidation, rolling again, and drying
• White, East: Requires a process of tender cultivation, early harvest, light wilting, steaming, and drying 
• Green, West: Requires a process of cultivation, harvest, immediate controlled heat exposure, rolling, leaf shaping, drying, sorting, and sometimes (in the case of matcha green tea) total and complete pulverization. 

Despite the multitude of complexities discovered during their unique processing journeys, each tea’s status as Camellia Sinensis remains unchanged.

Just as tea remains Camellia Sinensis through every preparation, Joy has remained true through every evolution of self. Her check ins are authentic, our collaborations are meaningful, and our friendship is speckled with photographs and cups of tea. When my spouse and I were originally to be married in November of 2020, Joy was the first person we approached to capture our memories. News of looming pandemic shutdowns began to surface in early March, aligning with a lapse in health benefits as I completed the first 90 days in a new position. Joy accompanied us to the municipal building on a Friday as we scrambled for an early marriage license in the face of the pending uncertainties. She signed as our witness and stole tender photographs as we applied for legal recognition of our familial commitment to one another. With 48 hours to go before we could proceed with a courthouse service my spouse and I joined the rest of the world with bated breath waiting for developing information about Covid-19. By that Monday, immediate quarantines were issued for all nonessential businesses. We called municipal courthouses and the surrogate court, whose operator apologized through tears of empathy as she was forced to deny us an opportunity to be wed under the wire. After two months of stringent quarantining, the state of New Jersey announced that marriage ceremonies could now be conducted via zoom. When we received news that the mayor of our town would be offering free virtual orator services we got right to work. 

Joy had been quarantining alongside her family in Kentucky, where she swiftly journeyed home (in true Sagittarius fashion) just in time to capture our moment safely. Whenever I look through our wedding photos, I feel entirely transported back to the sights, smells, tastes, and feelings of that day. She took our concrete driveway and conference call wedding ceremony and helped wilt, roll, oxidize, dry, and steep it into something genuinely magical. She harnessed the forces of elements outside of our control and called them back into perfect balance through the sacred medium of her art. Through her many journeys and artistic evolutions, she has cultivated an artistic lens that grants the viewer a portal into where she has been, the things she has seen, and (maybe) where she is going next. She was our angel of Temperance, traveling across bridges and streams to help us blend what was already available into our own private rainbow.

So when the Temperance card presents itself to you, look to the four directions and take stock of your resources, thoughts, creativity, and emotions. Are they in alignment, or could they benefit from a ritual calibration? Next, take stock in your mind, body, and spirit. Are they being centered equally and fairly in this cosmic balance? When approached with intention these seemingly conflicting facets of self offer us a watercolor of generative choices that support our philosophical development. When approached without intention, they can lead us to reach for short-term gratification over sustainable choices. Just like the goddess Iris, the voice of our intuition rings through clear and uncompromising as it nudges us toward more authentic and empowered actions. If Temperance presents itself to you in reverse, consider where in your life you may be turning a willful blind eye to an inward call for balance or personal moderation. My wish for you is a balancing act as bold as black, wise as oolong, soft as white, and nutritive as green; never compromising your most innate and vital essence.

Cheers,

Sarah