Strength
Meaning
Strength is card eight in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. The classic card shows a woman in white gently closing, or perhaps opening, the jaws of a lion. She isn’t fighting it. A wreath of flowers crowns her head, and the infinity sign floats above her. The lion is calm in her hands. The image turns the usual idea of strength on its head: this is power through calm, kindness, and trust, not through muscle.
In a reading, Strength points to inner resources. It speaks to moments when you’re facing fear, a strong emotion, or a difficult person, and it asks you to respond with patience instead of reacting. It’s about taming your own impulses rather than suppressing them. The card can also reflect resilience after a hard period. You may be stronger than you feel, and you don’t need to prove it loudly.
Upright
Courage, compassion, patience, self-control, resilience. An invitation to meet the challenge calmly and trust your inner strength.
Reversed
Self-doubt, low energy, raw emotion, harshness toward yourself. A nudge to rebuild confidence gently and treat yourself with the patience you’d offer a friend.
In love
Patience and warmth. For singles it favors confidence that doesn’t need to perform; in a relationship it supports working through tension with kindness instead of pressure.
Career and money
Good for handling pressure, difficult colleagues, or long projects with steady composure. Calm persistence earns more respect here than aggressive pushing.
As advice
Be patient and kind, including with yourself. Calm, steady effort can carry you through.
Frequently asked
Is Strength a yes or no card?
Traditionally, mostly yes — Strength is an encouraging card about your ability to handle the situation. The yes comes through patience and steady effort rather than force.
What does Strength mean upright?
Courage, compassion, patience, self-control, resilience. An invitation to meet the challenge calmly and trust your inner strength.
What does Strength mean reversed?
Self-doubt, low energy, raw emotion, harshness toward yourself. A nudge to rebuild confidence gently and treat yourself with the patience you’d offer a friend.
What does Strength mean in love?
Patience and warmth. For singles it favors confidence that doesn’t need to perform; in a relationship it supports working through tension with kindness instead of pressure.
What does Strength mean for career and money?
Good for handling pressure, difficult colleagues, or long projects with steady composure. Calm persistence earns more respect here than aggressive pushing.
What does Strength mean as advice?
Be patient and kind, including with yourself. Calm, steady effort can carry you through.
What comes before and after Strength?
The Chariot comes before Strength, and The Hermit comes after it. Outer drive in The Chariot becomes inner courage here, and The Hermit then turns that strength toward reflection.
Why are Strength and Justice sometimes swapped?
In older Marseille-style decks, Justice is card eight and Strength is eleven. The Golden Dawn swapped them to fit its astrological scheme, and Arthur Waite kept that order in his 1909 deck, which is why the numbering differs between decks.
Which astrological and elemental associations does Strength have?
In tarot tradition, Strength is linked to Leo and the element of Fire. These are historical associations, not claims about you.
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