There’s something interesting about the Strength card. It doesn’t deal with brute force. Like the Emperor, the first type of power that comes to your mind likely misses the mark. Strength, the card, is about patience and persistence, not strong-arming your way through life, battling to prove yourself. That’s more the domain of the Chariot, in a way. Here, the lion comes to you – and you have such unbridled courage that you can sit still and wait for it.
However frightening the natural world, how overwhelming your instincts and impulses, with the Strength card you have the power to dominate them. Through mastery of your own inner world, confidence and power is born. This type of strength can be shared with others, as well – you can be a pillar, a rock, a shoulder to cry on. You can guide others through the rough terrain that you yourself have braved.
This card naturally relates to all things Leo: magnanimity, passion, authority. Some decks call it “Lust,” and it deals with both sides of that issue – having the strength to endure and control it, as well as the conscious, controlled enjoyment of all it has to offer.
Strength Upright
▹Will and perseverance
▹Enthusiasm
▹Sexuality
▹Lust for life
▹Love as a source of strength
Strength Reversed
▹Inner discord
▹Domination -or- submission
▹Excessive pride
▹Fearing your own passions
Whenever this card comes up, your attention is called to your inner life-force and all the ways it manifests for you – your creative life, your sex life, your relationship with others and above all with yourself. It’s time to claim your power – but claiming that power might not look or feel exactly how you expect. Just wait for it. It’ll show up.