Embracing Balance
“I’m balanced” is our September mantra here at Wellness on Whyte, and with that, the tarot card “Temperance” comes to mind. Tarot can be used as a language of consciousness to speak directly to our inner understanding and give us insight into our human experience. It can be an invitation for reflection or a reminder of a lesson we’ve acquired in our past. Geha being fluent in the language, has a lot more to share in this conversation and a tarot reading with her will definitely offer you more perspective. Back to temperance, though.
Temperance, and therefore balance, is also about alchemy. A “mysterium coniunctionis” in Latin, or the “secret of union” in English, is about mixing elements while finding what works best. A pouring from one cup to another, where physical meets spiritual. In our lives this can pertain to our diet, our physical activity, our work, or our overall life and lifestyle. Sure enough, after the blending and the mixing, something new surfaces and most times the combination is even more valuable than the initial ingredients.
If we look through the lens of art, dance can depict these meanings accurately through the movement and collaboration of bodies. A winged angel that has one foot in the water as a reminder to stay in flow, while the other is on the rocks, as an expression of grounding. As the image shown on the card of temperance, isn’t it fitting here? We are leaving summer behind and we are ready to enter autumn; equivalent to finding harmony after the frantic party. Numerologically, as card 14, it contains the number 7 twice. This can be interpreted as one more animation of the material and the spiritual bodies coming together.
Cleobulus of Lindos, a Greek philosopher, described it as “Παν μέτρον άριστον (Pan metron ariston)” which means “Everything in moderation”. Buddha called it “the Middle way” in regard to the playing of the lute. Strings are not supposed to be too slack but not stretched too tightly either. If the visual of a balanced equilibrium comes to you while reading this, imagine it to be dynamic. The fact that something looks a certain way, doesn’t mean that it’s passive. Even when there is turmoil around us, if we look to our inner core and centre we will find tranquility. Don’t scientists say that the eye of the cyclone is always the calmest?
To sum this up, it all comes down to moderation, avoiding the extremes, and bringing together the diverse elements while creating something new within the principal of refinement. This is how we reach balance and how we win the race of life, by taking baby steps, honouring where we are at in this current moment of time, patiently listening and involving all of our opposing parts, all while our eyes are set to our highest and greatest tasks. All solutions are right here, right now. The answers for every question is right in front of us. Balance is what we set it to be. Balance is as balance does. Balance is us and we are balance.
by Konstantinos Koukouzikis