Major Arcana
Strength
The courage to meet instinct without cruelty and power without performance.
- courage
- patience
- gentleness
- instinct
- restraint
Upright meaning
Soft power is strongest here. Courage, restraint, and kindness can calm what force would provoke.
Reversed meaning
Confidence has been shaken, or gentleness is being mistaken for weakness. The animal inside needs respect, not denial.
Symbolism
- lion — Instinct, appetite, fear, and courage.
- sun — Warm confidence and embodied vitality.
- garden — Gentleness as cultivated strength.
- chain — Power held without cruelty when shown broken or loose.
Lore
In the Tarot de Marseille Strength is card XI; Waite swapped it with Justice to make it VIII, the number it carries here. Its courage stays gentle: steadying a strong feeling, yours or someone else's, without force.
In daily life, this can mean a patient conversation, time with animals, or facing a fear calmly when restraint is the wiser move.