'Temperó' (from 'tempvs': time/period/age), in Latin, conveys the act of duly dividing, qualifying, tempering, moderating; properly blending, combining, compounding; ruling, regulating, governing, managing, arranging, ordering, controlling; forebearing, refraining/abstaining from - showing moderate and temperate restraint.

In the journey of initiation portrayed by the order of the trump cards, Temperance follows Death and precedes what more christ-stained 'tempi' would fearfully call "the Devil". In order to move beyond Death on the further journey that our Life can be, the divine responsibility and highest affirmation of personal identity is exemplified in acknowledging, sorting through, and gracefully harmonizing all the elements of that Life (our embodied Highest Potential's 'origin story'). To understand from a different perspective: in the Thoth deck, this concept is elegantly named not the usual Temperance - but Art.