Strength
Composure
“Though she be but little, she is fierce.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Strength at a glance
Finbarre’s interpretation: Strength represents courage, patience and the ability to guide powerful impulses without violence.
| Upright | courage, patience, compassion, resilience, self-command |
|---|---|
| Reversed | self-doubt, reactivity, weakness, repression, misuse of power |
| Linked card | The Chariot |
| Soundtrack | "Heroes" - 2017 Remaster by David Bowie Open the full Tarot Interviews playlist on Spotify |
Upright meanings
- Courage
- Patience
- Compassion
- Resilience
- Self-command
- Gentle influence
- Emotional regulation
- Calm under pressure
- Recovery of confidence
- Sustained endurance
Reversed meanings
- Self-doubt
- Reactivity
- Weakness
- Repression
- Misuse of power
- Exhaustion
- Harsh self-criticism
- Anger masking fear
- Loss of confidence
- Emotion erupting indirectly
Strength in a reading
| Area | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Love | Relationship energy: Loyal affection and patient reassurance. Reversed: Jealousy, control or one person regulating both partners. |
| Career | Work: Diplomacy, conflict management and sustained effort. Warning: Harshness used to conceal insecurity. |
| Money | Financial theme: Calm restraint and recovery. Warning: Panic decisions or compensatory spending. |
| Feelings | Upright: Brave, compassionate and emotionally steady. Reversed: Insecure, depleted or struggling to regulate strong emotion. |
| Advice | Prioritise: Meet force with steadiness and proportion. Watch for: Treating gentleness as weakness or endurance as limitless. |
| Outcome | Potential: Patient courage brings the situation under control. Obstacle: Exhaustion or reactivity wastes power. |
| Yes or no | Yes, but through patience rather than force. |
Symbols in Strength
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| The lion | The lion represents instinctive force, appetite, anger and vitality. Its open mouth makes the potential danger visible, but the animal is engaged rather than defeated. |
| The woman's hands | Her hands rest around the lion's mouth with remarkable calm. The gesture suggests intimate control, trust and an absence of panic. |
| The flower chain | The soft garland functions as a lead or bond. It presents relationship, beauty and voluntary restraint as stronger than brute confinement. |
| The infinity sign | The symbol above the woman's head also appears on The Magician. Here, enduring power is expressed through inner command rather than outward manipulation of tools. |
| The white robe | The robe suggests clarity of intention and contrasts with the lion's raw physical energy. The two figures are not opposites so much as complementary forms of strength. |
A. E. Waite's original description
A woman, over whose head there broods the same symbol of life which we have seen in the card of the Magician, is closing the jaws of a lion. The only point in which this design differs from the conventional presentations is that her beneficent fortitude has already subdued the lion, which is being led by a chain of flowers. For reasons which satisfy myself, this card has been interchanged with that of Justice, which is usually numbered eight.
As the variation carries nothing with it which will signify to the reader, there is no cause for explanation. Fortitude, in one of its most exalted aspects, is connected with the Divine Mystery of Union; the virtue, of course, operates in all planes, and hence draws on all in its symbolism. It connects also with innocentia inviolata, and with the strength which resides in contemplation.
These higher meanings are, however, matters of inference, and I do not suggest that they are transparent on the surface of the card. They are intimated in a concealed manner by the chain of flowers, which signifies, among many other things, the sweet yoke and the light burden of Divine Law, when it has been taken into the heart of hearts. The card has nothing to do with self-confidence in the ordinary sense, though this has been suggested, but it concerns the confidence of those whose strength is God, who have found their refuge in Him.
There is one aspect in which the lion signifies the passions, and she who is called Strength is the higher nature in its liberation. It has walked upon the asp and the basilisk and has trodden down the lion and the dragon.
Waite's original divinatory meanings
Upright:
Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity; also complete success and honours.
Reversed:
Despotism, abuse of power, weakness, discord, sometimes even disgrace.
Source: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, first published in 1910, with illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith.
Continue through the deck
- Previous card: The Chariot
- Next card: The Hermit
Written and interpreted by Finbarre Snarey, tarot researcher, founder of the British Tarot Archive and coordinator of the UK living heritage submission for Rider-Waite-Smith tarot reading practice.
These interpretations reflect Finbarre Snarey’s understanding of contemporary Rider-Waite-Smith tarot practice. They are provided for education, reflection and entertainment only and should not be treated as medical, legal, financial, psychological or relationship advice.