Temperance and Art: Understanding the Difference Between Rider-Waite and Thoth Tarot

An Introduction to Tarot Systems

Today, three tarot systems dominate the landscape: Rider-Waite, Thoth, and Marseille. Though created in overlapping periods, each carries its own distinct character. This article examines two cards occupying the same position—number 14 in the Major Arcana—yet speaking entirely different languages: Temperance from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck and Art from the Thoth deck.

Temperance in Rider-Waite-Smith

Imagery and Symbolism

In the classical deck designed by Edward Waite and illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith, Temperance depicts an angel with wings of fiery red. These wings symbolize passionate intensity and courage, along with the capacity for sustained action. The angel's head radiates golden light, representing clarity of thought and reason—an image found across Eastern and Western traditions, from Buddha to Guan Yu.

The angel wears a flowing white robe signifying purity. Upon the chest sits a compound symbol: an orange triangle (representing the fire element) nested within a white square (representing the earth element). This conveys that intense, blazing energy is held in check by more grounded, concentrated force—a fierceness that has been gathered and contained.

The Work of Pouring

The angel holds two vessels, pouring water from one to the other. In Rider-Waite imagery, water represents the unconscious and emotional life. The angel balances between the higher self and the lower self.

One foot rests in water, the other on solid ground. Water symbolizes the unconscious; earth symbolizes waking consciousness. This technique—half-immersed, half-grounded—appears throughout Rider-Waite to express the marriage of unconscious and conscious.

The Path and the Mountain

Beyond the angel stretches a winding path ascending toward a distant peak. The mountain symbolizes deep wisdom and higher planes of existence. Once the angel has completed this inner adjustment, she will walk that path toward reunion with the True Self.

Atop the mountain, the sun wears the form of a crown—corresponding to Kether (the Crown) in the Tree of Life of Kabbalah, the original source where the Divine dwells. Temperance occupies Path 25 on the Tree, connecting Tiphereth (Beauty—the Self) with Yesod (Foundation—the psyche).

Yet though a visible path leads to the mountain's summit, no path bridges from that peak to divine light—an invisible chasm separates them. This is the distance countless aspirants spend lifetimes attempting to cross. Still, the soul readies itself, adjusting its bearing, preparing to step into that radiance.

The Card's Essence

Temperance speaks to the ongoing work of balancing oneself, continually refining to pursue what lies higher. It mirrors the spirit of seeking: to climb the tower despite the hardships ahead, to persist not for the world's applause but for the integrity of the journey itself.

The card also describes self-adjustment in the face of coming challenges—the art of aligning oneself with circumstances in a way that honors both inner truth and outer reality.

Art in the Thoth Deck

The Design and Its Source

In the Thoth deck, the fourteenth card bears the title "Art," and the underlying action is Alchemy—the marriage of science and magic. The Thoth deck was created by Aleister Crowley, a member of the Golden Dawn, who defined magick as "any act that brings about change consonant with the will of the individual—that is magick."

Like Temperance, Art centers on synthesis, yet it emphasizes the fusion of opposites and contradictions.

The Dual-Headed Figure

At the heart stands an alchemist bearing two heads, one dark and one light—an echo of the Black King and White Queen from the Lovers card (number 6 in the Major Arcana). Yet the alchemist's body parts are interlaced: the head is half white on the left and half dark on the right, but the arms are reversed—half dark on the left, half white on the right. The crown follows the same interwoven pattern.

This symbolizes that when opposing forces fuse, they create a unified state.

The Lamen—The Seal of Life

Upon the alchemist's chest rests a seal called the Lamen, composed of six circles representing six spheres of the Tree of Life: - Chesed (Mercy—sphere 4) - Geburah (Severity—sphere 5) - Tiphereth (Beauty—sphere 6) - Netzach (Victory—sphere 7) - Hod (Splendor—sphere 8) - Yesod (Foundation—sphere 9)

This arrangement symbolizes harmonious equilibrium. An arrow radiates upward from below the Lamen, pointing precisely along the path from Yesod (the Moon) to Tiphereth (the Sun)—corresponding to Path 27 of the Tree of Life, which Art occupies.

Within the Lamen's center (Tiphereth's sphere), two shades of blue—deep and pale—are divided by a crescent blade. This represents the fusion of sun (consciousness, external) and moon (unconsciousness, internal), drawing from the unconscious to discover higher realms of the self.

The Alchemical Furnace

Below stands a golden crucible. Upon its rim sits a small cross, symbolizing Malkuth (the Kingdom—sphere 10), the material world in which we live. The Hebrew letter Tau, which concludes the alphabet, also means cross, representing Path 27 connecting Yesod and Malkuth.

Upon the crucible's body, a raven gnaws at a skull—depicting the death of the physical body so the spirit may ascend.

The alchemist's two hands: - The dark hand holds fire, heating water in the crucible - The white hand holds the Holy Grail, pouring water into the furnace

This process creates steam, which rises and, caught in light, becomes a rainbow.

From the alchemical perspective: - Water = salt (the base substance) - Fire = sulphur (the active principle) - Rainbow = mercury (the refined essence)

When these three blend in perfect proportion, they yield the Philosopher's Stone—alchemy's ultimate product. The Hebrew spelling of "rainbow" corresponds to three paths on the Tree connecting Malkuth, symbolizing the soul's ascent after the body's death.

The White Lion and the Red Eagle

Flanking the furnace stand a white lion and a red eagle—colors inverted from nature. This suggests that in the work of creation and art, we must sometimes conceal or deliberately reverse what is known.

• The eagle expels white saliva (the white powder of alchemy)
• The lion bleeds red (the red powder of alchemy)

Both pour into the furnace, representing the final union of two opposing powers.

The Crescent Moons

Above the alchemist's helmet sit two crescents. This marks a crucial stage in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone: Distillation—the process of condensing and cooling, gathering the vapors rising from the furnace, allowing them to cool and condense, then collecting them again.

The Crescent also echoes the High Priestess (card 2), occupying Path 13, which connects Kether (the Crown) with Tiphereth (Beauty)—a path that lies entirely on the Middle Pillar.

The Card's Essence

Art embodies the journey from Malkuth (the material world below) climbing toward Kether (divine truth above). It speaks to:

• Tasks that appear contradictory yet must be accomplished simultaneously
• The need to coordinate from multiple angles and work in concert
• The application of untested approaches
• The transformation of apparent obstacles into leverage, thereby achieving one's aim

Comparing Temperance and Art

Common Ground

Both cards emphasize change and transformation as their central theme. Both also describe the ascent from Malkuth (the material realm) toward Kether (the divine realm).

Where They Diverge

Temperance in Rider-Waite-Smith emphasizes: - Adjusting each aspect of oneself - Maintaining inner balance to ascend further - Following a clear path forward (though the highest destination remains unseen) - Character: patient, measured, step-by-step

Art in Thoth emphasizes: - Fusing opposing and contradictory forces - Transforming apparent disadvantages into strength - Employing untried methods - Character: creative, practical magic, fluid transformation

In a Reading

When Temperance appears, the work is to seek balance and adjust your bearings. When Art arrives, the message is: unite disparate elements, even those that seem at odds.

In Spiritual Practice and Reflection

Though their methods diverge, both cards, when used for spiritual practice and inner work, point toward a shared destination—return to wholeness and divine light. It is, as the saying goes, different paths to the same summit.

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Inspired by and adapted from traditional Tarot scholarship and Golden Dawn correspondences.