← Encyclopedia of Tarot · lesson 9/121
Strength
Strength is the card of inner courage: the steady, gentle kind that wins by patience and kindness rather than by force. It is often read as resilience, self-control, compassion and the confidence to face something difficult — including one's own fears, appetites or anger. Where The Chariot drives, Strength soothes.
The image
A woman in white, crowned and belted with flowers, calmly holds the jaws of a lion — closing them, in Waite's account, and leading the lion by a chain of flowers. Above her head floats the sign of infinity, as on The Magician. The lion is usually taken as raw instinct and passion; the woman as the love and patience that tame it without breaking it. The garland suggests a bond that is accepted, not imposed.
Upright
Courage, patience, compassion, self-mastery, quiet confidence. Waite gives "power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity", and also "complete success and honours". The card can point to the strength to endure a hard time, to handling a difficult person or feeling with gentleness, or to trusting that calm persistence will be enough.
Reversed
Waite reads the reversal as despotism, abuse of power, weakness and discord. Modern readers often see self-doubt, courage that has drained away, or instinct breaking loose — anger or appetite getting the upper hand. Some readers do not use reversals at all.
Correspondences
Major Arcana. In the Rider–Waite–Smith deck Strength is card VIII and Justice card XI. Older decks, including the Marseille, number them the other way round (Justice VIII, Force XI). The swap comes from the Golden Dawn, which matched the cards to the zodiac in order — so Strength, given Leo, comes before Justice, given Libra. Waite adopted it without explaining it. In that system, which most English-language decks follow, Strength carries the Hebrew letter Teth ("serpent"), the 19th path on the Tree of Life, joining Chesed and Geburah, and the element of fire.
In a reading
In the past, Strength can describe a difficulty met with grace. As an obstacle, it may point to holding back too much, or to an inner struggle not yet resolved. As advice, it tends to say: be patient, and be kind — to others and to yourself. Beside The Chariot it is often read as will and gentleness working together.
In astrology
The Golden Dawn's correspondences, which most English-language decks follow (French, Marseille-based tradition differs for some Major Arcana).
Sign: Leo
Element: Fire — the element of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius
Mode: Fixed — Leo is a fixed sign