Temperance – The Angel of Our Better Nature

Temperance – The Angel of Our Better Nature

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“What we strive for in perfection is not what turns us into the lit angel we desire.” ~David Whyte

Julienne’s rendition of the Temperance card

With a little rest after the Death card the Archetypal Tarot Podcast explores the beginning of the rebirth cycle with Temperance – the fourteenth card of the Major Arcana.  Julienne Givot and Cyndera Quackenbush discuss the Angel archetype and the healing and recovery that can take place internally and even below conscious awareness.  At the end of our second row, the Realm of Equilibrium, we have a resolution to the ongoing theme of opposites. Here, two elements are alchemized to create “the third thing” that mediates and transforms opposing realities. Listen to the podcast for more on this next step of the journey.

References

Cyndera mentions A Blue Fire by James Hillman specifically chapter 3.

Julienne mentions this related article: Original Fairy Godmother

“I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
~Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address

Angel & Fairy Godmother/Godfather Archetypes in Films & Television:
-Angels In America – The Play / TV Mini Series (2003)
-Aunt March played by (Mary Wickes) in Little Women (1994)
-It’s A Wonderful Life  – Film (1946)
-Danny Glover, Kevin Kline in Grand Canyon (1991)
-Rosalind Russell as Mame Dennis  in Auntie Mame (1958)
-Audrey Tatou in Amelie (2001)
-Dustin Hoffmann in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (2007)
-Robert DeNiro as Captain Shakespeare in Stardust (2007)

Shadow:
-Marlon Brando in The Godfather trilogy
-Glenn Close in Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

Television:
-Touched by an Angel
-What Not To Wear
Fairy Tales:
-Glinda in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

The Winter of Listening
By David Whyte

No one but me by the fire,
my hands burning
red in the palms while

Rider-Waite Temperance Card

the night wind carries
everything away outside.

All this petty worry
while the great cloak
of the sky grows dark
and intense
round every living thing.

What is precious
inside us does not
care to be known
by the mind
in ways that diminish
its presence.

What we strive for
in perfection
is not what turns us
into the lit angel
we desire,

what disturbs
and then nourishes
has everything
we need.

What we hate
in ourselves
is what we cannot know
in ourselves but
what is true to the pattern
does not need
to be explained.

Inside everyone
is a great shout of joy
waiting to be born.

Even with the summer
so far off
I feel it grown in me
now and ready
to arrive in the world.

All those years
listening to those
who had
nothing to say.

All those years
forgetting
how everything
has its own voice
to make
itself heard.

All those years
forgetting
how easily
you can belong
to everything
simply by listening.

And the slow
difficulty
of remembering
how everything
is born from
an opposite
and miraculous
otherness.

Silence and winter
has led me to that
otherness.

So let this winter
of listening
be enough
for the new life
I must call my own.

OFGM: Original Fairy Godmother

OFGM: Original Fairy Godmother

Once upon a time I was in a grocery store check-out line and struck up a conversation with the woman in front of me.  We were talking about good deeds and she mentioned how her friend liked to put quarters in parking meters for total strangers.  She called her friend the ‘Parking Meter Fairy’.

While we often associate the Fairy Godmother (FGM) archetype with children’s stories and  fairy tales, they do walk among us.  They might not have a talking umbrella or a magic wand, but people with the FGM archetype are real.

What makes a Fairy Godmother in terms of an archetype?
The Fairy Godmother and Fairy Godfather archetypes are closely related to the Angel archetype in that they generally have loving, nurturing qualities and a tendency to help those in need, either anonymously or with no expectation of any return.  While their natures can be maternal, they don’t necessarily have children of their own but often serve as foster parents or guides to others.  Some other tell-tale characteristics are:

  • Enjoy throwing parties, dressing up and helping others to have a good time
  • Provide make-overs and ways people can feel better about themselves
  • They can see the potential in something or someone and can help bring that to life
  • Excellent gift-givers (and many times anonymously)
  • Adopts or otherwise takes on a protégé (or several)
  • Has unbridled support of one’s growth and achievement
  • The FGM/FGF might grant a wish or two but nearly always teach how we have magic of our own
  • The ability to see the best in someone but also administer a stern word or two if necessary
  • Tends to be smart, knowing, wise and slightly aloof
  • Often portrayed as eccentric or quirky if not down right odd

As with any archetype, the expression is up to the individual, so not all of these characteristics will be the same person to person.

“Live! Life’s a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!”
~Auntie Mame

Examples:

Film: Mary Poppins,  Wizard of Oz, Sleeping Beauty, Princess and the Frog, Cinderella and Auntie Mame all feature a Fairy Godmother archetype in action. The title character in ‘Amelie’ is a Fairy Godmother/Angel as she anonymously does good deeds for people as well as some mischievous ones.   Dustin Hoffman’s role in ‘Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium‘ is a prime example of a very endearing Fairy Godfather as is Robert DeNiro’s Captain Shakespeare in ‘Stardust’.

Literature: Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series, Aunt March in Little Women, Uncle Andrew in The Magician’s Nephew, Lady Lilith de Tempscire of the Discworld series, Leanansidhe from the Dresden Files series, Mrs. Madrigal in the Tales of the City series

Television: Oprah,  Stacy and Clinton from the make-over show ‘What Not To Wear’ (They might be catty, but you can also tell they really enjoy helping people feel better about themselves.), the animated series The Fairly Odd Parents, Stephen Root as Jimmy James in ‘News Radio’

The Shadow side of the FGM:
It would be nice to think that these generally lovely and helpful archetypes don’t have a shadow side, but alas they do and it can be a doozy!

Hepzibah, the angry Fairy Godmother in the Disney version of ‘Sleeping Beauty ‘curses the baby when she isn’t invited to the christening.  Fairy Godmother in ‘Shrek 2’ manipulates and plots against the heroes to get her way – in fact she shows only the shadow aspects of the FGM.

Glenn Close as the Marquise in ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ is about as  evil as a Fairy Godmother can be.  The very good can go very, very bad.  In ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ you will see that the Marquise has the same archetypes as Auntie Mame, only they are all in shadow.

The shadow aspect of the FGM usually has to do with putting in effort and then being resentful when they don’t get thanks or attention.  The FGM gets the Princess ready for the ball but never gets to go herself.  The downside of being both aloof and giving can be spite and self-pity.  Not a lot of fun.

I’ll stick to the wisdom of Mr. Magorium:

“Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.”

Want to learn more about what your archetypal passions are? Contact me for a free session and sign up for my “Intrigued?” updates.