Strength
True strength comes from gentleness and patience, not force. Accept your inner lion and face things with quiet courage.
- Card
- Major Arcana · VIII
- Upright keywords
- Courage, Patience, Gentle strength, Self-control
- Reversed keywords
- Timidity, Lost confidence, Runaway emotions, Giving up
- Yes or no
- Leans yes
Traditional correspondences Hebrew letter: Teth (ט, serpent) / Astrology: Leo / Tree of Life: 19th path (Chesed to Geburah) / Element: Fire / Numbered 8 in the Waite deck, 11 in the Marseille
Upright meaning
You can overcome difficulties with kindness and patience, not force.
A woman in white gently closes the jaws of a lion, with the sign of infinity above her head. She isn’t fighting the beast; she has befriended it. Upright, Strength speaks of the courage that comes from calm rather than force: patience with a difficult person, compassion for your own fears, the steady endurance to see something through. Your passions, anger and desires aren’t enemies to be crushed but energy to be tamed and used. Quiet confidence will get you further than aggression.
Reversed meaning
Your confidence is shaky and your emotions are pulling you around. Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Reversed, the lion gets the upper hand, or the woman loses heart. You may feel overwhelmed by emotions, quick to lash out, or so full of self-doubt that you want to give up. It can also show forcing things, trying to win by pressure. Be kind to yourself. Strength isn’t the absence of fear; it is the willingness to stay gentle with it. Small acts of self-control rebuild confidence.
For ways of reading reversed cards, see how to read reversals.
Love
Patience and tenderness hold the relationship together. Gentle persistence wins hearts.
Insecurity, jealousy or heated arguments. Calm down before you speak.
Work
Steady effort, resilience and quiet leadership earn respect.
Self-doubt or frustration at work. Remember what you’ve already handled.
Money
Patience and self-discipline with spending bring steady improvement.
Emotional spending or giving up on a savings plan. Start again gently.
Relationships
You can calm tense situations and bring out the best in difficult people.
Losing your temper, or letting others walk over you. Find a firm but kind middle.
Health
Good stamina and recovery. Gentle, consistent exercise works best.
Low energy or stress-related strain. Rest and rebuild slowly.
Tarot does not diagnose physical conditions. If you have symptoms that worry you, please see a doctor.
Mind and spirit
Making peace with your instincts and treating yourself with compassion.
Fighting yourself. Accept the parts of you that you find hard.
As a person
A calm, compassionate person with inner strength.
Someone insecure, or someone who uses force to get their way.
Timing
Things don’t move all at once; with patience they ripen over weeks to months. Waiting calmly draws good results.
Advice
Meet the challenge with patience and kindness.
Be gentle with yourself and rebuild your confidence step by step.
Questions to ask yourself
- How is my inner “lion” showing itself right now?
- Where could I respond with gentleness instead of force?
- Can I forgive my own weaknesses?
A common misreading
Strength is often mistaken for physical power or the strength to beat someone, but it really stands for inner strength through kindness, patience and self-control. Nor does it ask you to suppress your feelings; the theme is accepting them and living calmly with them. It is numbered 8 in Waite-style decks and 11 in Marseille-style decks, so don’t be thrown if books disagree.
The story of this card
Having learned from the Chariot the will that masters the outer world, the traveller enters a new stage with Strength. In the reading that divides the Major Arcana into three, the inner journey begins here. Eight looks like the sign of infinity stood on end: cycles, renewal and inner power. Where the Chariot united outer forces with the reins of will, Strength faces the lion within, anger, fear and desire, and turns those instincts into strength of its own.
The Waite deck’s picture and symbols
In the Waite deck a woman dressed in white, crowned and belted with flowers, calmly holds open a red lion’s mouth. Above her head floats the lemniscate, the same sign of infinity that appears over the Magician. The landscape is open and green, with a mountain in the distance.
History and differences between traditions
Early decks often showed Fortitude, one of the cardinal virtues, as a woman breaking a pillar or Hercules clubbing a lion. The Marseille deck placed Strength at 11 and Justice at 8. The Golden Dawn swapped them to fit the zodiac, putting Strength (Leo) at 8 and Justice (Libra) at 11, and Waite adopted this order.
Words for today
My gentleness is a kind of strength.
I treat my fears with compassion.