TEMPERANCE

In 1995, I read the novel Voodoo Dreams to tatters. This fictional telling of the life of New Orleans' real life 19th century voodoo priestess Marie Laveau is essentially a terrifying, heartbreaking tale of identity crisis. Torn between the Catholic faith of her upbringing and the voodoo traditions that she inherited from her ancestors, Laveau ultimately practiced both religions openly, helping to pave the way toward integrating them entirely. With so many displaced and disaffected people looking to her for guidance, this was potent magic indeed.

In the Lovers card, two opposing elements encountered each other for the first time; in Temperance they merge, forming an entirely new entity together. This creative act is incredibly powerful; it creates a new reality and a whole world of possibilities that could never have been foreseen by either half beforehand. Look at these different versions of the card; they all hint at some magical act of fusion and creation, moderated by an overseeing force. In your current situation, which do you identify with -- the angelic figure working ecstatically, or one of the elements themselves? It's no wonder that Aleister Crowley looked at this process and renamed the Temperance card "Art."

This week I interviewed Voodoo Dreams author Jewell Parker Rodes, and was fascinated to hear her thoughts on combining modern literary themes with folktales and superstitions from her childhood. The novels that have resulted are fiercely original and socially relevant, but also deeply personal -- I think by now she'd be hard pressed to tell where her own history ends and the fictional tapestry she's woven begins. And of course, this is exactly how Marie Laveau feels in Voodoo Dreams, and how her great-great-granddaughter feels in both Voodoo Season and this month's new installment, Yellow Moon.

Need we merely be either the architect of our lives or the architecture? Attempt the full integration that the Temperance card offers, and let the rest of us know what happens when you find that middle ground.