Strength

Strength upright: the hand that calms the lion

Strength is the card of inner strength, courage and mastery won through patience. In the Rider–Waite–Smith deck it is card VIII of the Major Arcana; in the Marseille tarot it stands at XI, and VIII belongs to Justice. Whatever its number, the card asks the same question: how do you handle what is wild? And its answer is surprising: not with brute force, but with compassion.

Since the Marseille deck, its image has been a woman and a lion. In La Force, the woman opens or closes the lion’s jaws with her hands, effortlessly, almost playfully. In the Rider–Waite–Smith deck an infinity sign appears above her head, and a chain of flowers runs from her waist to the lion’s neck. Both images say the same thing: real strength is knowing how to master strength.

Strength’s Golden Dawn correspondence is Leo, the fire sign ruled by the Sun. Leo is brave, proud, warm and generous, but also prone to vanity, anger and showing off. The card is not about putting that fire out; it is about taming it. The lion keeps its heart; it is simply guided by a hand that knows the way.

Upright, Strength asks how you respond to a difficult feeling or situation: anger, fear or a person who tests your patience. It distinguishes steady self-control from suppression and confrontation. A clear boundary, a pause before answering and an honest account of what you feel all fit its symbolism. The woman handles the lion with care rather than overpowering it. That image gives the reading a practical question: where do you need firmness, and where has forcing yourself or someone else become part of the problem?

Strength reversed: when you forget your own power

Strength reversed shows that your bond with your inner strength has loosened. The lion has either broken loose or been shut in a cage. It has three familiar faces:

• Doubting yourself: thinking “I can’t do this” in front of a challenge and hesitating over a load whose demands and limits you have not yet assessed.
• Anger swallowed or spilling over: keeping feelings down for a long time and then letting them burst out at the least expected moment.
• Running on empty: being patient with everyone else until your own patience is gone, and growing tired of looking strong.

Read the lion’s confinement or release through the tension introduced by neighbouring cards. Next to the Nine of Swords or the Moon, the reversal describes anxiety overshadowing your confidence. Beside the Five of Wands or the Tower, it points to anger getting out of hand. Next to the Four of Cups or the Ten of Wands, exhaustion brings the balance between accepted duties, personal limits and rest into focus.

Strength reversed focuses on strain rather than a judgement about your character. Exhaustion, self-doubt and suppressed anger call for different questions: which demands are draining you, what feeling is going unspoken, and where do you need a boundary? Read those distinctions alongside the examples in the spread.

Strength in love

In love, Strength is the card of patience and compassion. It describes a bond that is passionate but calm, deep but unhurried. Love here means accepting someone as they are without trying to change them, and standing by them in their hard moments.

If you are just getting to know someone, Strength favours a confident approach that respects both people’s boundaries. Listen, express your interest plainly and notice how a response is given. With someone strong-willed, its gentleness concerns the way you handle disagreement: hold your position clearly and leave space for theirs.

In a long relationship, Strength supports getting through a hard period together, protecting each other’s fragile sides and balancing anger with love. This card’s steadiness appears in a relationship where both people explain their position clearly instead of shouting over each other.

Reversed, jealousy, insecurity, swallowed hurts or bursts of anger put the relationship under strain. One person may be trying to control the other, or quietly withdrawing while swallowing their feelings. The card suggests voicing feelings at a calm moment instead of pushing them down, and describing your hurt with sentences that begin with “I” rather than with blame.

Strength in career and work

At work, Strength describes the ability to handle hard situations calmly. Settling a tense meeting, working patiently with a difficult client or holding a team together in a crisis are this card’s territory. People who lead by inspiring trust rather than shouting are its representatives. Care work, teaching, working with animals and therapy also sit well with this card.

Choose a work situation that is testing your patience. Before responding, write down the problem, the boundary you need and the outcome you want to discuss. If the matter allows a pause, return to that note before you answer.

Reversed, it points to burnout, a loss of confidence or built-up anger leaking into working relationships. Review where you need a break and which demands are draining your attention. Divide a large task into smaller parts, then distinguish what you can take on from what still needs time, resources or a clearer boundary.

Strength and money

With money, Strength speaks of self-control and patience. Not giving in to every passing urge, saving patiently for a goal and keeping your money worries in hand are this card’s gifts. Upright, it asks how patience and self-control shape your response to financial pressure, including the demands you accept and the limits you need to acknowledge.

The card also asks you to look at your emotional reactions to money. Do you spend when you are stressed, or freeze and spend nothing when you are afraid? Identify what the lion represents in that decision: desire, fear or the wish to regain control. If a purchase can wait, note what is driving the urge and return to the actual cost before deciding.

Reversed, it points to impulse spending, money anxiety that paralyses you, or avoiding standing up for your own worth. The woman’s gentle hold on the lion gives money questions an image of self-control under pressure. With a heavy debt burden, examine your response to pressure: impulse spending, avoidance and rigid restrictions are different patterns. A regular review records those patterns alongside the actual amounts, payment dates and obligations you are considering.

Strength, mood and inner balance

The upright Strength reflects calm courage and a balanced inner world. The card’s calm courage concerns the way you relate to strong feelings: acknowledging the impulse, considering a response and recognising your limits. A pause, a walk or attention to your breathing gives you an ordinary setting in which to examine that response. Notice where patience towards yourself and towards others feels difficult.

Reversed, anxiety, tension or harshness towards yourself has grown. Instead of trying to silence the lion inside you, approach it with compassion: what does it want, what is it afraid of? Try a pause, a short walk or a note about what you feel, and observe what remains difficult. The lion gives that question its image: an impulse with force of its own, calling for attention as well as a boundary. The illuminated infinity sign above the woman’s head makes balance a continuing theme. Notice what you tried today, where the feeling remained difficult and what you want to reconsider. Use the image to reflect on your changing relationship with an impulse: its force, the space you give it and the boundary you need.

Which way does Strength lean in a yes or no question?

Strength upright leans towards yes in questions about courage, patience and handling a difficulty with care. Its favourable emphasis is on a steady approach: holding a boundary, noticing a strong impulse and choosing how to respond. Give each of those qualities a concrete place in the question you are asking.

Reversed, it leans towards “not yet”: first you need to gather your confidence or settle a feeling that has built up. Ask: “Where do I need patience, and where do I need a firmer boundary?”

Advice from Strength

Strength’s advice is to be gentle but firm, with yourself and with others. Instead of fighting a difficulty, examine what is creating the tension. A gentle approach concerns your tone, the restraint you practise and the boundary you want to hold in that exchange.

If there is a feeling you have been pushing down, give it a voice. Anger, fear or desire: name the feeling, then separate it from the action you are considering. Naming it is a way to examine it, including the moments when it still feels overwhelming. This week, in a moment that tests you, take a step back and breathe instead of raising your voice.

If you want to get to know the lion inside you better, try the Shadow Work spread in the Larisa app. If Strength comes up there, don’t rush the reading: first write down, in a single sentence, which feeling the card brings to mind, then move on to the rest of the spread.

Key combinations with Strength

The card beside Strength shows where patience and courage are being tested:

Combination	What it points to
Strength + the Chariot	Will and compassion joined; firmness and gentleness in pursuing a difficult aim
Strength + Justice	Fairness, self-control and the balance between feeling and reason
Strength + the Devil	Facing an addiction or obsession with patience
Strength + the Tower	Meeting a sudden upheaval with calm
Strength + Nine of Swords	Remembering your inner resilience against anxiety
Strength + Queen of Cups	Emotional steadiness, compassion and care in responding to vulnerability
Strength + Five of Wands	Staying calm in the middle of conflict
Strength + Nine of Wands	Holding out through another test; tired but still defending a boundary

Symbols of Strength in the Larisa deck

A woman and a great lion fill Strength’s scene beneath a starry sky glowing with golden light. A wreath of flowers decked with pink roses sits in the woman’s long, wavy brown hair, and she wears a pale gown worked with gold. Her eyes are closed and her face holds a deep stillness.

She rests one hand under the lion’s chin and holds it gently. She neither forces nor fears; her touch is loving and sure. The lion’s closed eyes and inclined head give the scene an image of trust, holding the animal’s size beside the gentleness of her touch. The card’s whole message lies in this single gesture: the way to master strength is compassion.

The lion’s golden mane fills almost half the card. This is the warmth of Leo, the card’s sign, and of the Sun that rules it: passion, courage and life force. The card does not put this energy out; it makes peace with it.

Above them both shines a great infinity sign made of light, its left loop circling the woman’s head like a halo, a smaller lemniscate glowing inside the right one. The lemniscate represents continuity, connecting the woman’s stillness with the lion’s instinctive energy. Its loops give visual form to the recurring task of relating to strong impulses rather than exhausting or suppressing them.

Large pink roses bloom in the foreground and on both sides. The roses bring passion and tenderness into the scene, while their thorns retain an edge of danger. That combination suits the card’s distinction between a gentle approach and the force of the feeling being handled. There is no chain, cage or weapon in this card: the only bond between the woman and the lion is trust. At the top, the numeral VIII sits not in a winged medallion but in a sun that sends out rays.