TEMPERANCE
an archetype for building resilience and finding inspiration in a burnt out, burning world
This year I’ve begun working on a project where I photograph powerful artists, organizers, and witches in the desert as tarot archetypes- I got inspiration for this last year, when I photographed two beloved friends and tarot readers, Jaya and Cherry, as elemental archetypes from the suits, and then last month I photographed Ella as The Hermit. Next up is Temperance with Alia!
When I told Alia that I felt like she would be powerful representation of Temperance, she said that as a Sagittarius, she never related to her sign. I was happy that the next time I talked with her, she said she had researched Temperance and found that she really related to the archetype.
Alia is an incredibly warm and kind person. She works in arts education with children and is an amazing multimedia artist herself, and she owns a small shop and gallery of her work in Joshua Tree called Foraged in Flowers. I got to know her over the years because she would come to my shop and showed work in our micro gallery and she always brought so much kindness and enthusiasm. She’s curious and open and interested in the world.
I often describe Temperance as trying to light a candle outside in the wind. You have to care put care and focus on the candle in order to keep the fire going. Temperance is incredibly deliberate in the moves that they make. They don’t let their flame go out. Temperance is one chapter in a longer story, a mythology and a history of brighter worlds beyond what we know. It’s about the balance between inspiration and practical visions. Temperance always has a plan. It’s about recovery and restoration. But since it’s a fire card, it has that spark of insight, creative genius, and hopefulness. I don’t think we can forget context with Temperance either- in the major arcana it falls between Death and the Devil, so it calls us to remember how we regulate and stay focused in a darker period of life.
Sagittarius is a sign that follows a lot of these threads, which is why it is related to Temperance. Seeking knowledge for deeper understanding, bridging cultural divides, independence, creating a new path with the knowledge and understanding of all the paths before. Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, making it an internal optimist- but an evolved Sagittarius won’t love-and-light the struggle away, they will inquire about past historys and ideologies.
What I’ve come to know about Alia over the years is that she loves to shower her friends with encouragement and compliments and because of that she is very beloved by her community. Yet I would never imagine her to let things go if they were hurtful or misaligned. There is a strong natural balance to her energy- understanding, compassionate, empathetic yet boundaried.
There’s an openness with mutable Sagittarius, and ability to change and evolve, but the evolution is always inspired by higher purpose.
I took these photos at Mission Creek Preserve, one of the closest bodies of water to Joshua Tree. The creek is usually pretty tiny and often it is dry, but the rains have been stronger this winter and the water is flowing well. These photos were taken on expired Velvia 100 medium format film with my Mamiya 645. The colors of the bright yellow brittlebush were captured as neon green!
I still have a couple rolls of 35mm to develop and will share them once I do. As a reminder you can support this work, and the many more shoots I have planned by purchasing art, zines or flower essences in my online shop, or ordering prints- you could even become a paid subscriber! But all in all, this work is just an honor to create and share with the world.