"Temperance, in the days when the Tarot was invented meant tempering or modifying. It therefore suggests adaptation. Adaptation is the basis of all practical work in Hermetic science. The Emerald Tablet says, “As all things are from One, so all have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation.” Hermetic scientists endeavor to imitate nature, and adaptation is their method. To adapt is to equalize, to adjust, to coordinate, and to equilibrate. Therefore it is written, “Equilibrium is the basis of the Great Work.”
— Paul Foster Case - Learning Tarot Essentials, c. 1932
