This card carries a design drawn from the classical view of Temperance, one of the Virtues. She pours water into wine, to moderate and temper it. We do not see extremes in this card, just mild and moderate behavior! She is the most well-behaved card in the deck.

Actually too, in the Waite-Smith Tarot, she is also the Goddess Iris, as you can see an Iris plant in the scene, and the goddess Iris was the messenger, who carried divine messages upon the rainbow. She was depicted as a winged woman carrying two jars – sound familiar?

The meaning of this tarot card means to “mix” in good measures. To step carefully. Be diplomatic. Don’t cause a fuss. Tread softly. And so on. She advises caution and care, and to concentrate on the task in hand – particularly when you are dealing with a potentially dangerous or explosive mixture – or people!