Major Arcana · VIII
Strength Tarot card meaning
Quiet courage and a gentle hand; patience and compassion are true power.
- Arcana
- Major Arcana, card VIII
- Astrology
- Leo
- Upright
- courage, compassion, patience, inner strength
- Reversed
- self-doubt, low energy, raw emotion, insecurity
- Yes or no
- Yes
What Strength means
Strength is card eight in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, though some older decks place it at eleven. It is not about muscle or winning a fight. This card is about quiet courage: the patience and compassion that calm wild feelings, in yourself and in others, without force. It shows that gentleness can be the strongest power of all.
Strength upright
Upright, Strength often points to inner courage and calm control. In the traditional picture a woman in a white dress, wearing a crown and belt of flowers, gently closes the jaws of a golden lion. An infinity sign floats above her head, and a blue mountain rises in the distance. The lion is not afraid or hurt. It seems to trust her.
The lion stands for strong instincts: anger, fear, desire or impatience. The card suggests these feelings do not need to be crushed, only met with kindness and steadiness. You may be handling a stressful situation, like a difficult conversation with a family member or a nervous first week somewhere new, and finding you are calmer than you expected. Strength invites you to trust that soft, patient power. Encourage yourself the way you would encourage a frightened friend.
Strength reversed
Reversed, Strength may show self-doubt or a feeling that your energy has run low. You might feel overwhelmed, unsure of yourself, or as if the lion is in charge: snapping at people, acting on impulse, or caught in strong emotions.
It can also show being too hard on yourself, mistaking harsh self-criticism for discipline. The reversed card invites you to rebuild strength from the inside. Rest, speak kindly to yourself, and take small brave steps. Real courage often returns once you stop fighting your own feelings and start listening to them. The lion is not your enemy; it simply needs patience.
Strength in love and relationships
Upright
The gentle hand on the lion's jaw describes love built on patience, tenderness and emotional maturity. It may show a relationship where both people feel safe to be vulnerable, or one that has grown stronger through a hard time. It invites gentle understanding, especially when moods run high. Passion and kindness can live together here.
Reversed
When the lion slips free in a relationship, insecurity, jealousy or a sudden temper may start doing the talking. You or a partner may need reassurance. It can also show staying quiet to avoid conflict. Respond with compassion, and speak up gently for what you need.
Strength for career and money
Upright
At work, Strength favours calm persistence and quiet confidence. It may show you handling pressure well, managing a difficult colleague with tact, or growing into a role through steady effort. Influence here comes from patience and good character rather than force. Keep going calmly. Calm hands steady a busy team.
Reversed
Reversed, it may point to low confidence, burnout or reacting emotionally to stress at work. Look after your energy, recognise what you have already achieved, and take on challenges one at a time instead of all at once. Gentle consistency rebuilds trust in yourself.
Strength as feelings
Someone feeling Strength toward you keeps a big heart on a gentle lead: they feel a lot, yet approach you with patience and care. They may feel protective, warm and steady, even if strong emotions sit beneath the surface. Is this your own feeling? Then it may reflect affection held with a light touch, and a wish to stay calm and let things unfold gently.
Strength: yes or no?
Yes Strength leans toward yes, especially when the situation calls for patience and courage. Gentle persistence is likely to serve you well here.
As adviceMeet strong feelings with patience and kindness. Quiet courage and a gentle hand can achieve more than force.
Symbolism and imagery
What is pictured on the traditional Rider-Waite-Smith Strength card, and how each part is usually read:
- A woman gently closing a lion's jaws: courage through kindness: taming wild feelings without force
- The infinity sign above her head: endless patience and inner power
- Her crown and belt of flowers: gentleness and the strength of nature
What Waite wrote in 1910
Arthur Edward Waite created this deck with the artist Pamela Colman Smith, and gave its meanings in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910, revised 1911). His words come from the old fortune-telling tradition and can sound stark or puzzling today. They are here so you can see where the modern meanings above come from.
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.
Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity; also complete success and honours.
Despotism, abuse of power, weakness, discord, sometimes even disgrace.
Source: A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (London: William Rider & Son, 1911), public domain. Read the full text.
Strength in the Fool's Journey
Chapter VIII · The Gentle Hand
In the Emberlune app, the Fool's Journey is a story game with one chapter for each card of the Major Arcana, guided by Nox, Luna's black cat. Courage, patience and compassion. Approach a restless lion only while it looks away, then calm it with gentle strokes, in time with its breath.
The road leaves the golden city behind and wanders into a warm, quiet meadow, full of flowers and long grass.
Nox Card number eight: Strength. After the Chariot's speed, a different kind of power. Not muscles. Not winning. Something quieter.
Far away, under a big tree, something golden and enormous is lying on a rock. Its tail swishes. It is a lion.
The Fool's Journey opens with the app. Get one email when it does.
Journal prompts
Questions to sit with when Strength appears:
- Which strong feeling in me is asking to be calmed, not crushed?
- Where could patience serve me better than pushing?
- How would I speak to myself if I were my own best friend?
Spreads to draw Strength in
Questions about Strength
Is Strength a good card?
Yes, Strength is a positive card about courage, patience and compassion. Reversed, it asks you to rebuild confidence and be kinder to yourself.
What does Strength mean in love?
In love, Strength points to patience, tenderness and emotional maturity. It can show a relationship that grows stronger through understanding and gentle care.
What does Strength reversed mean?
Reversed, Strength can mean self-doubt, low energy or emotions taking control. It invites you to rest, speak kindly to yourself and rebuild courage slowly.
Explore Strength in a reading
Ask what is on your mind and draw your own cards. The free reading shows each card's meaning in its place.
Tarot is a tool for reflection, not a prediction, and never a replacement for medical, legal, financial or mental health help.
