Card 8
Strength
Description
A woman holds the jaws of a full-grown lion with her bare hands. She isn't fighting it. She isn't afraid of it. She's calm. The infinity sign floats above her head. Strength on this card is not muscle. It's the quiet kind that doesn't need to prove itself.
Keywords
Upright
Reversed
Upright Meanings
You have more capacity than you've been crediting yourself with. The hard thing in front of you is hard, and you can do it. Strength is not the absence of fear; it's the calm next to the fear. The lion is your own animal energy: anger, want, urgency. You're not killing it. You're keeping a hand on it. That's the work.
Reversed Meanings
Confidence is low. The lion has the upper hand right now, which looks like outbursts, or shrinking, or both. Could be exhaustion; could be you've been giving so much that there's nothing left for yourself. Refill before deciding anything. The strength is still there. You're just standing too close to the fire to feel it.
Archetype
The Law
Numerology
8 (movement, work) or 11 = 1 + 1 = 2 (debate, duality)
Hebrew Alphabet
Lamed/Outstretched Arms/30 or Theth/Snake/9
Elemental
Libra or Leo
Mythical / Spiritual
Themis or Justitia. Ma'at. Solomon dividing a baby. The Sword of Damocles. The giving of the Ten Commandments.
Questions to Ask
- ?To what extent is your life (or work) balanced?
- ?How can you achieve greater objectivity?
- ?What course of action would be fair to everyone concerned?
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