Strength
✦ Major Arcana ✦
Strength tarot card meaning embodies the paradox of true power: strength that conquers not through domination but through surrender, not through force but through love. Numbered 8 in Major Arcana, this card represents the mastery of instinctual nature through the gentle, consistent application of conscious will. Where earlier cards like The Chariot demonstrate power through directed action and conquest, Strength demonstrates power through soft control, patience, and the cultivation of inner harmony. The figure in this card does not defeat the lion through combat; she tames it through the very quality that makes her powerful—her capacity for love without weakness, for control without cruelty.
The lion represents the untamed aspects of human nature: raw instinct, aggressive impulses, the shadow drives that emerge when consciousness falters. Most traditions teach that these forces must be suppressed, conquered, or eliminated. Tarot Arbak's Strength offers a more sophisticated teaching: these energies are not enemies to be destroyed but forces to be integrated. The lion cannot and should not cease to be a lion; what must change is the relationship between the lion and the woman who holds its mouth. When instinct has been brought into alignment with consciousness, the roar becomes a song of power rather than a cry of destruction.
Strength is not the absence of wildness but the harmony between wildness and wisdom.
In Tarot Arbak, this card presents a striking visual composition: a woman standing on elevated, uneven ground, her hand gently resting upon the lion's open mouth. There are no chains, no weapons, no signs of struggle. The lion's posture is calm, its expression alert but not threatening. The infinity symbol hovering above the woman's head glows with particular prominence—not merely a decorative element but the central teaching of the card. Strength is not a one-time victory over the shadow but an ongoing state of inner balance that must be consciously maintained and continuously renewed.
The number 8 connects this card to balance, cycles, and the infinite nature of true power. In numerology, 8 represents harmony between the material and spiritual realms, the balancing of opposites, and the infinity symbol turned sideways (8). Strength embodies this teaching through its very symbolism: the integration of the instinctual (the lion) with the conscious (the woman), the balance of force and compassion, the union of power and love. True strength is not the triumph of one aspect over another but the harmonious working of all aspects of the self in service of the whole.
Strength tarot card meaning teaches that the greatest power is soft, that the strongest control is gentle, and that lasting victory comes not from conquering what you are but from integrating what you are. Whether you are facing inner battles, developing self-discipline, or learning to master your impulses without destroying your vitality, Strength reminds you that your true power lies in your capacity to love what you cannot eliminate, to tame what cannot be broken, and to harmonize what cannot be suppressed.
Strength Symbolism
Strength tarot card meaning reveals itself through a powerful visual composition that has captivated tarot readers for centuries. Every element shifts between representation of force and the reality of harmony, creating a bridge between conquest and integration. Understanding these symbols is key to mastering the card's profound spiritual and psychological message.
Tarot Arbak's Strength presents a woman standing on elevated, uneven ground, her hand gently resting upon a lion's open mouth. The absence of chains, weapons, or signs of struggle is immediately striking. This is not a battle scene but a demonstration of relationship. The lion, symbol of raw instinct and untamed power, remains fully present—no chains bind it, no bridle controls it, no cage contains it. Yet its posture is calm, its demeanor peaceful, its presence integrated with the woman who stands before it. This teaches that true strength does not require the elimination or suppression of instinctual nature; it requires the harmonization of that nature with conscious awareness.
Unlike traditional interpretations that emphasize the woman's control over the lion, Tarot Arbak's version emphasizes their relationship. The woman does not force the lion's mouth shut with strength of will; her hand rests there gently, inviting cooperation rather than commanding submission. This distinction is crucial: strength that operates through force creates resistance, while strength that operates through love creates alignment. The woman's power is not the power to break but the power to bind—not through chains but through connection.
Woman Figure: Conscious Presence
The woman standing before the lion represents conscious presence in the face of instinctual power—the aspect of self that has developed awareness, wisdom, and the capacity for deliberate action. Unlike the lion, which embodies impulse, reaction, and the raw force of nature, the woman embodies reflection, intention, and the cultivated intelligence that comes from consciousness.
In Tarot Arbak's interpretation, the woman stands on elevated, uneven ground. This positioning teaches that the conscious self has risen above the flat terrain of instinct and impulse. Development of consciousness requires leaving the comfort of automatic response and ascending to the challenging ground of intentional choice. The uneven surface beneath her feet represents the difficulties of this path: developing consciousness is not easy, maintaining awareness in the face of temptation is difficult, and operating from a higher level of awareness requires constant effort and attention.
The woman's gentle posture is particularly significant. She does not stand with body tensed for combat, hands ready to strike, or expression hardened for confrontation. Her entire demeanor is calm, soft, and composed. This teaches that the greatest strength is not aggressive but receptive, not rigid but adaptable, not forceful but patient. The woman embodies what Eastern traditions call "soft power"—the capacity to influence without imposing, to lead without commanding, and to control without crushing.
The woman does not conquer the lion; she helps the lion remember its own power when guided by wisdom.
Lion: Raw Instinct and Vital Force
The lion represents the instinctual nature, the shadow drives, and the raw vital force that lives within every human being. This is not evil or demonic energy but natural, animal power—the force that fuels passion, aggression, survival instinct, sexual desire, and the full range of life's most intense experiences. The lion cannot and should not be eliminated; without this energy, life would lack vitality, passion, and the driving force that makes action possible.
In Rider-Waite tradition, the lion often represents uncontrolled rage, violent impulse, and the threat of the shadow. Tarot Arbak's interpretation refines this understanding: the lion represents instinct before it has been brought into conscious relationship—not as an enemy to be destroyed but as a force to be harmonized. The lion's calm posture in this card shows that instinct itself is not the problem; the problem arises when instinct operates without conscious guidance. The lion is still fully a lion—powerful, potentially dangerous, capable of ferocity—but these qualities have been integrated with wisdom.
Critically, the lion has no chains. Neither collar nor shackles bind it. This absence of restraints communicates a profound teaching: true strength does not require binding or suppression. When instinct has been genuinely integrated, external control becomes unnecessary. The lion obeys not because it must but because it chooses to. This is voluntary alignment rather than forced submission, cooperation rather than conquest.
The lion without chains represents instinct that obeys from love, not from fear of punishment.
The lion's open mouth with the woman's hand resting upon it carries multiple layers of meaning. The mouth is the instrument of speech, the vehicle through which instinct finds expression. In the untrained state, the lion's roar is destructive, consuming everything in its path. When the woman's hand rests upon the mouth, she teaches instinct when to speak and when to remain silent, how to express power without destruction, and what words to choose rather than simply roaring. This is the discipline of speech and expression: learning to use the power of communication consciously rather than impulsively.
Infinity Symbol: Enduring Balance
The infinity symbol (∞) hovering above the woman's head represents the sustainable nature of true strength—the teaching that authentic power is not a one-time victory but an ongoing state of balance that must be continuously maintained and renewed. In Rider-Waite, this symbol often appears as a subtle decoration. In Tarot Arbak, it is prominent and central, emphasizing that this is the core teaching of the card.
The infinity symbol teaches that strength is not linear but cyclical. The work of integrating instinct with consciousness is never permanently "finished." Every day, new temptations arise; every situation, old impulses emerge; every stage of growth, new shadow forces appear. Strength is the capacity to return to balance after every disruption, to realign instinct with wisdom after every triggering event, to re-establish harmony after every loss of center. The work is ongoing because life is ongoing—and true strength is the capacity to do this work consistently, not merely to do it once.
This symbol also connects Strength to the number 8, which in numerology represents infinity turned sideways, the balance of opposites, and the harmony between material and spiritual realms. The woman and the lion represent opposites: consciousness and instinct, control and wildness, wisdom and power. Strength does not choose one over the other but brings them into harmonious relationship. The infinity symbol teaches that this harmony is not a static state but a dynamic balance—like riding a bicycle, which requires continuous micro-adjustments to maintain forward momentum.
The infinity symbol above the woman's head glows as a reminder: strength is not a trophy you win but a practice you maintain.
Absence of Force: Gentle Mastery
The most striking aspect of Tarot Arbak's Strength is what is absent: there are no chains, no weapons, no signs of struggle or combat. The woman does not hold the lion's jaw shut with muscular force; her hand rests there gently. This absence of force represents the teaching of gentle mastery—the understanding that the strongest control operates not through domination but through love, not through crushing but through binding.
This teaching reverses the conventional understanding of power. Most people believe that strength equals force, that control equals suppression, and that winning equals conquering. Strength demonstrates that the opposite is true: force creates resistance, suppression creates rebellion, and conquest creates enmity. The strongest influence is soft because it does not trigger the instinct to resist. The most effective control is gentle because it does not generate the impulse to rebel. The most lasting victory is one where the "conquered" willingly participates because they recognize that their interests are served by the relationship.
The woman's hand upon the lion's mouth is not a grip of compulsion but a gesture of connection. She does not force the lion to submit; she invites the lion to cooperate. This distinction between forcing and inviting is the essence of Strength's teaching. When you force change in yourself or others, you create resistance. When you invite transformation through love, patience, and understanding, you create alignment.
Elevated Ground: Conscious Ascent
The uneven, elevated ground upon which the woman and lion stand represents the level of consciousness required for genuine integration. This is not the flat, comfortable terrain of automatic response but the challenging, uneven ground of intentional choice. Developing the capacity to meet instinct with wisdom rather than reacting impulsively requires climbing above the instinctual level and operating from a higher plane of awareness.
This elevation does not mean that the woman has left the lion behind or risen above the instinctual nature. She stands with the lion, not above it or separate from it. The teaching is not to escape instinct or deny its existence but to bring conscious awareness into relationship with instinct. The elevation represents the development of consciousness, not the abandonment of the body or the natural world.
The unevenness of the ground teaches that this path is not smooth. There will be moments of instability, situations where balance is difficult to maintain, and periods where the relationship between consciousness and instinct becomes precarious. Strength is not the promise that integration will be easy but the capacity to maintain balance even when the ground beneath you is uneven.
- woman figure
- lion
- infinity symbol
- elevated uneven ground
- gentle hand on lion's mouth
- absence of chains and weapons
- absence of struggle
UPRIGHT MEANINGS
General
When Strength appears upright, strength tarot card meaning signals a time of developing inner power through the harmonious integration of instinct and consciousness. You are being called to face aspects of yourself that feel wild, difficult, or threatening, but to meet them with compassion rather than condemnation, with patience rather than force. This is not a card of conquering enemies but of making peace with what cannot be eliminated. The strength you need is not the force to crush opposition but the love that transforms it through relationship.
Strength upright does not ask you to destroy your shadow; it asks you to learn to dance with it.
This position indicates that you have developed or need to develop the capacity for self-mastery that operates not through rigid control but through gentle understanding. Perhaps you are struggling with impulses, temptations, or emotional patterns that seem beyond your control. Strength teaches that the solution is not to fight harder against these forces but to develop a different relationship with them—one based on awareness, acceptance, and the consistent application of loving attention.
This card often appears when you are being tested in your capacity to remain calm, centered, and responsive in situations that trigger your instinctual reactions. The test is not whether you can avoid feeling these reactions but whether you can maintain conscious awareness despite them. The lion cannot stop being a lion, and you cannot stop having impulses. The question is whether you can remain the woman who meets the lion with calm presence rather than becoming the lion yourself.
Love
In love readings, strength tarot card meaning upright indicates relationships characterized by patience, understanding, and the capacity to handle emotional intensity with grace. This card teaches that the strongest connections are not those without challenges, conflict, or intensity but those where partners have developed the capacity to meet these challenges with love rather than defensiveness. For singles, this card suggests that you are being called to develop inner stability before seeking relationship—the kind of strength that comes from knowing yourself deeply, accepting your shadow, and having the capacity to remain loving even when triggered.
For those in partnerships, this card suggests that the relationship may benefit from developing the woman-lion dynamic between you: the capacity to meet each other's "lion" aspects—anger, jealousy, insecurity, reactivity—with calm presence rather than counter-attack. This does not mean accepting abuse or allowing destructive behavior; it means meeting even difficult aspects of your partner with understanding rather than judgment, with the intention to harmonize rather than conquer. The woman does not eliminate the lion's power; she redirects it. Similarly, healthy relationships help each partner's intense emotions find constructive expression rather than destructive outbursts.
Strength in love is not the absence of powerful feelings but the capacity to hold them with love.
This card may also represent a partner who embodies the strength of soft power—someone who handles emotional intensity with grace, who does not meet anger with counter-anger, and who has developed the capacity to remain loving even when provoked. This is a rare and valuable quality in relationships. However, distinguish this from the shadow of weakness or enabling: the woman in Strength is not passive or powerless; she is fully empowered and in control, but her power operates through love rather than force. Look for a partner who can remain strong while being gentle, who can set boundaries while remaining compassionate, and who can handle intensity without being overwhelmed.
Career
Professionally, strength tarot card meaning upright indicates the capacity to handle pressure, conflict, and difficult situations with grace and composure. This card favors leadership that operates not through command-and-control but through influence, inspiration, and the ability to bring out the best in others. Your strength lies not in the ability to dominate but in the capacity to harmonize—to build teams that work together despite differences, to resolve conflicts through understanding rather than victory, and to maintain your own center even in challenging circumstances.
This card suggests that you are being recognized or needed for your capacity to handle situations that would overwhelm others. Perhaps you are dealing with difficult colleagues, managing high-pressure projects, or navigating organizational conflict. Strength teaches that your effectiveness comes not from matching force with force but from meeting intensity with calm presence. The leader who can remain centered while others panic, who can listen to angry feedback without becoming defensive, and who can make difficult decisions without hardening their heart against people—this is the embodiment of Strength in professional contexts.
For those in leadership positions, Strength confirms that your power increases when you operate through soft influence rather than hard control. People follow those who can handle their intensity with understanding, who can receive criticism without retaliation, and who can remain firm while remaining compassionate. The most effective leaders are not those who crush opposition but those who transform resistance into cooperation through the strength of their presence and the quality of their character.
Spiritual
Spiritually, strength tarot card meaning upright represents the integration of spiritual consciousness with the natural, instinctual self. This card appears when you are being called to bring spiritual awareness into all aspects of your life—not just meditation and practice but emotions, sexuality, anger, and the full range of instinctual experience. Spiritual development that avoids or rejects the natural self remains shallow and fragmented; genuine spiritual maturity embraces the whole self, including the shadow, and brings consciousness into relationship with it.
The woman and lion together represent the spiritual teaching of non-duality: the recognition that consciousness and nature, spirit and body, higher awareness and instinctual drive are not opposed but are expressions of the same underlying wholeness. This card may appear when you are being tested in your capacity to maintain spiritual awareness in the face of powerful instinctual forces—sexual desire, anger, fear, or the drive for power. The test is not whether you can eliminate these forces but whether you can remain aware and loving while experiencing them.
This card may also represent the development of what is called "spiritual courage"—the strength to remain present and open-hearted even when facing the shadow aspects of yourself or others. The woman's hand upon the lion's mouth teaches the spiritual practice of meeting darkness with light rather than fleeing it or fighting it. Your spiritual journey requires you to develop the capacity to hold all of your experience in the light of awareness, to love what you cannot eliminate, and to integrate what you cannot escape.
REVERSED MEANINGS
General
Strength tarot card meaning reversed signals a disruption in the harmonious relationship between consciousness and instinct. This reversal typically manifests in one of two ways: either the ego has surrendered to instinctual impulses, losing the capacity for conscious choice, or the ego has adopted a rigid, controlling posture that attempts to suppress or eliminate instinctual energy. In the first case, you may feel at the mercy of your impulses, your emotions, or your shadow drives—reacting automatically rather than choosing response. In the second case, you may feel controlled by a brittle, false self that maintains control through repression but is vulnerable to collapse when the repressed inevitably breaks through.
The reversed Strength asks: Are you surrendering to your lion, or are you trying to break your lion?
This reversal may indicate that the work of integration has become too difficult or that you have temporarily lost the capacity for the kind of gentle, patient strength that allows harmonious relationship with your shadow. Perhaps you are exhausted from the ongoing work of self-mastery and have given up, allowing old patterns to reclaim control. Alternatively, perhaps you have become frustrated with the slow progress of integration and have attempted to use force—suppressing emotions, controlling impulses, rigidly disciplining yourself—but this approach only strengthens the shadow and guarantees eventual breakthrough.
The shadow of Strength often appears when the ego oscillates between repression and surrender, unable to maintain the difficult middle path of conscious relationship with instinct. The repressed lion inevitably breaks through in distorted, destructive ways; the surrendered lion creates chaos through uncontrolled expression. The path of Strength requires maintaining awareness in the face of powerful drives—a difficult and ongoing task that cannot be achieved through either extreme.
Love
In love readings, strength tarot card meaning reversed may indicate emotional volatility, loss of self-control within the relationship, or dynamics of either enmeshment or rigid avoidance. In its surrendered form, this reversal points to one or both partners being controlled by reactive patterns—anger, jealousy, insecurity, or other shadow energies expressing without the capacity for self-regulation. This creates relationships that feel like emotional rollercoasters: intense conflicts, rapid escalations, and difficulty maintaining connection when triggered.
If this describes your relationship, recognize that reactive patterns cannot be resolved through counter-reactivity. When the lion is loose, attempting to control it with more force only makes it more dangerous. The solution is not to destroy the lion but to redevelop the capacity for conscious relationship with it—through awareness, understanding, and patient practice. Both partners need to develop the woman's capacity for calm presence in the face of each other's intensity.
The reversal may also indicate the shadow of repression—rigid emotional control that creates brittleness rather than real strength.
In this pattern, one or both partners attempt to eliminate intense emotions through suppression, avoidance, or denial. This creates a relationship that appears calm on the surface but is actually tense and fragile. The repressed lion eventually breaks through—often in explosive ways that are more destructive than if the emotion had been allowed expression earlier. The reversal calls for finding the middle path: not surrendering to every impulse, but not attempting to eliminate emotion entirely. Healthy relationships create space for feelings, including difficult ones, and develop the capacity to work with them consciously rather than either suppressing or being controlled by them.
Career
Professionally, strength tarot card meaning reversed warns of losing control under pressure, allowing shadow behaviors to express, or attempting to maintain control through rigid repression that creates vulnerability. In its surrendered form, this reversal indicates that you or others in your workplace are being driven by reactive patterns—anger, fear, ambition, or power drives that express without conscious regulation. This creates environments of volatility, conflict, and unpredictable behavior. People may say things they later regret, make decisions based on impulse rather than wisdom, and create toxic dynamics through uncontrolled expression of shadow energies.
If this describes your workplace, recognize that you cannot control others' behavior but you can maintain your own center. The challenge of Strength is to remain conscious and responsive even when others are reactive. This does not mean accepting abuse or allowing destructive behavior; it means meeting intensity with calm rather than counter-intensity. Your capacity to stay present and make wise choices despite the chaos around you is your greatest professional strength right now.
Alternatively, the reversal may indicate that you have adopted a controlling, rigid posture—attempting to maintain order through force, suppression, or authoritarian management. This creates brittle organizations that appear controlled on the surface but are actually tense, fearful, and vulnerable to collapse. The repressed lion inevitably breaks through—often in the form of sudden resignations, unexpected crises, or the collapse of systems that appeared stable. The reversal calls for developing the woman's capacity for soft power: influencing through understanding rather than command, maintaining order through harmonization rather than suppression.
Spiritual
Spiritually reversed, strength tarot card meaning may indicate either spiritual bypassing (the attempt to avoid or escape from instinctual reality through spiritual techniques) or spiritual rigidity (the attempt to eliminate instinctual energy through spiritual repression). In its bypassing form, this reversal appears when spiritual practice becomes an escape from rather than integration with the full self—using meditation, prayer, or spiritual concepts to avoid feelings, body awareness, or the challenges of being human. This creates a fragmented spirituality that appears elevated but is actually disconnected from the embodied reality of life.
If this describes your spiritual path, recognize that the goal of spiritual development is not to escape instinct or body but to bring consciousness into relationship with them. The woman and lion stand together; they are not separated. Spiritual maturity embraces the whole self, including the shadow, and brings awareness into relationship with it. The reversal calls for bringing your spiritual practice into your emotions, your body, and the full range of your experience—not transcending these aspects but illuminating them.
Alternatively, the reversal may indicate spiritual rigidity—using spiritual discipline or beliefs to suppress, judge, or eliminate instinctual aspects of self. This creates a brittle spirituality that appears disciplined but is actually based in fear of the shadow rather than love for the whole. When spiritual authority is used to suppress rather than integrate, it becomes a form of repression rather than liberation. The reversal calls for recognizing that the lion represents divine energy too—instinct is not lower than spirit but an expression of spirit in the body. True spiritual strength embraces all aspects of self and brings consciousness into harmonious relationship with them.
