Pulled Strength reversed and felt your stomach drop? Breathe: this card is not calling you weak. The Strength tarot card is card VIII of the Major Arcana in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, and it stands for courage, patience, and gentle inner power. Reversed, it usually points to self-doubt, or to forcing what only patience can win.
At PotalaStore, we compared how many well-known tarot guides read this card, then went back to the oldest source behind them: A. E. Waite’s 1910 text. You will get the upright and reversed meanings, love and career readings, a yes-or-no verdict, and the reason some decks number Strength 8 while others number it 11.
If you searched this right after a reading, you may already be hard on yourself. Start by pausing. Many readers use this card as a short meditation on patience, and it is one of the kindest prompts in the deck.
Table of Contents
What Does the Strength Tarot Card Mean?
The Strength tarot card is card VIII of the Major Arcana, and it traditionally stands for courage, patience, compassion, and quiet inner power. It shows a woman calmly closing a lion’s jaws, a reminder that real strength tames fear and impulse through gentleness rather than force.
In the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) deck, Strength sits between The Chariot (VII) and The Hermit (IX). It links to Leo, a fire sign ruled by the Sun, which fits the card’s warm yellow sky and its lion.
Strength is one of the 22 Major Arcana cards. To see how it fits with the rest of the deck, read our guide to all 78 tarot card meanings, from the 22 Major Arcana to the four suits.
This is inner strength, not muscle. Waite himself wrote that the card has “nothing to do with self-confidence in the ordinary sense.” It is the calm that lets you stay kind while something big or frightening stands in front of you. If you have been white-knuckling through a hard month, this card is a nod, not a demand.
Strength Upright Keywords at a Glance
- Courage: facing a fear without letting it run the room.
- Patience: choosing the slower, steadier path because it holds.
- Compassion: meeting your own flaws, and other people’s, with warmth.
- Influence and persuasion: guiding people through calm instead of pressure.
- Self-control: feeling a strong urge and still choosing your response.
Strength Card Symbolism: The Lion, the Infinity Symbol and the White Robe
The lion stands for your raw instincts, such as fear, anger, and desire. Waite wrote that the lion can signify the passions, while the woman is the higher nature set free. She does not fight the animal. She closes its jaws with a steady hand, and a chain of flowers leads it along.
Above her head floats the infinity symbol, or lemniscate, the same sign of life that appears over The Magician. Author Eden Gray read it as enlightenment and spiritual power, and the lion as animal passion and earthly craving. The lion and the infinity symbol share one frame on purpose: the instinct is real, and mastering it is a practice that never fully ends.
Her white robe is commonly read as calm, clear intention. The flower garland softens the whole scene, and distant mountains keep the mood quiet rather than dramatic.
What Does Strength Reversed Mean?
Strength reversed usually points to one of two imbalances: self-doubt that drains your confidence, or raw emotion that tips into force. It is traditionally read as a call to rest, regroup, and reconnect with your steadier self, not as a sign that you are weak.
Reversed does not mean the lesson is gone. It means the energy is out of balance, so the card asks you to look at where. In putting this guide together, we compared how many well-known tarot sites read Strength reversed. Most agreed on the basics and split on one point: whether the card is a warning or a gentle nudge. We lean toward the nudge.
The Two Shadows: Self-Doubt vs. Brute Force
Reversed Strength often blends self-doubt and raw emotion: the less steady you feel, the louder the lion gets. Readers usually describe two shadows.
- The collapse shadow: low energy, imposter feelings, and a voice saying you cannot handle this. The lion looks bigger than you. The fix is rest and smaller steps, not a pep talk.
- The force shadow: a short temper, a need to control, and pushing harder when patience is what the moment needs. The woman grips the jaws instead of guiding them.
Waite’s 1910 Reading vs. Today’s Interpretations
Waite’s 1910 list for reversed Strength is about power gone wrong, while many modern guides read the same card as an inner state. Here is how the two compare.
| Waite (1910) | Many modern guides | |
|---|---|---|
| Upright | Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity; also complete success and honours | Courage, patience, compassion, inner strength |
| Reversed | Despotism, abuse of power, weakness, discord, sometimes even disgrace | Self-doubt, low energy, raw emotion, insecurity |
| Focus | Outward: how power is used on others | Inward: how you treat yourself |
Both readings share one thread: control that has slipped out of balance. If self-doubt or anger has been weighing on you for weeks, talking with someone you trust, or a licensed professional, is a real act of strength.
How Does the Woman-and-Lion Card Read in Love, Career and Feelings?
In love, Strength upright is often read as a bond that holds through patience and compassion; reversed, it can flag insecurity or power struggles. At work, it favors calm influence over loud authority, while the reversed card may hint at burnout or imposter feelings.
Strength in Love and Relationships (Upright & Reversed)
Upright, the card describes steady affection and the ability to handle conflict without raising the temperature. For singles, many readers interpret it as confidence without game-playing. Reversed, it can point to insecurity, jealousy, or one person trying to dominate the other. It can also mean you have been the “strong one” for so long that you are running on empty.
Strength in Career and Money
Upright, Strength is the colleague who persuades through calm, stays with a hard project, and does not rush a money decision. Reversed, it can suggest burnout, imposter feelings, or snapping at coworkers when a deadline tightens. Many readers treat it as a cue to slow down before you act.
Strength as Feelings: How Someone Sees You
As feelings, Strength is usually read as respect: someone admires your resilience and composure. Reversed, it may suggest they sense you are stretched thin. This is an interpretation, not mind reading, so use it as a prompt for an honest conversation.
Is Strength a Yes or No Card?
Upright, Strength is a yes, especially for questions that need patience or courage. Reversed, readers split: some call it a no, others a “not yet” or a conditional yes. The most useful reading is “yes, once you steady yourself first.”
Upright Strength: A Patient Yes
Upright Strength answers “Can I?” better than “Will it?” Ask it “Can I handle this conversation?” or “Should I speak up calmly?” and the card leans toward yes. It rewards steadiness.
Reversed Strength: Why Readers Disagree (No vs. Not Yet)
In the guides we compared, all three verdicts appear. They come from the same idea: reversed Strength means the energy is blocked or forced.
| Verdict | How readers explain it | Fits questions like |
|---|---|---|
| No | The energy is forced or depleted, so pushing ahead backfires. | “Should I confront them right now?” |
| Not yet | You need rest or preparation before you act. | “Am I ready to take this on?” |
| Conditional yes | Yes, if you calm the lion first. | “Can I make this work?” |
To test yes-or-no questions without overreading a single card, try a one-card daily draw and other beginner tarot spreads.
Why Is the Strength Tarot Card Number 8 in Some Decks and 11 in Others?
Strength was originally called Fortitude and sat at number XI, with Justice at VIII. The 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith deck swapped the two so the sequence matched the Golden Dawn’s astrology, where Strength belongs to Leo and Justice to Libra. That is why many modern decks show Strength as VIII.
If your deck says XI, nothing is wrong with your deck. It follows the older order.
From Fortitude to Strength: The Cardinal Virtue Origins
Fortitude is one of the cardinal virtues, and it appears in the tarot alongside Temperance and Justice. In Tarot de Marseille decks and many older decks, Justice is VIII and Fortitude is XI. The Thoth deck keeps the XI placement and renames the card Lust.
The Golden Dawn Swap with Justice
The Golden Dawn’s Cipher Manuscripts suggested the switch so Strength lined up with Leo and Justice with Libra. Waite followed it and gave only a short note in 1910:
“For reasons which satisfy myself, this card has been interchanged with that of justice, which is usually numbered eight.”
Counting from the Fool, card 0 that opens the Major Arcana journey, Strength lands at step 8 in RWS-based decks.
Pamela Colman Smith and the 1909 Rider-Waite-Smith Design
The Victoria and Albert Museum records that Pamela Colman Smith was commissioned in 1909 by A. E. Waite to design a 78-card pack. Both were members of the Golden Dawn. The Whitney Museum describes it as the first deck with a fully illustrated, symbolic image on every card, and estimates about 100 million copies are in circulation. That reach is why the VIII placement feels standard to so many readers today.
Strength vs. The Chariot vs. Justice: How Do the Three Cards Compare?
Strength and The Chariot both overcome obstacles, but in opposite ways. The Chariot (VII) wins through willpower and outward momentum; Strength (VIII) wins through patience and inner mastery. Justice, its old numbering twin, weighs outcomes rather than taming them.
| Card | Number (RWS) | Sign | How it handles pressure | The question it asks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | VIII | Leo | Tames the impulse with patience | How do I stay steady? |
| The Chariot | VII | Cancer | Directs opposing forces by will | Where am I steering? |
| Justice | XI | Libra | Weighs facts and consequences | What is fair and true? |
Strength vs. The Chariot: Inner vs. Outer Control
The Chariot drives; Strength soothes. When The Chariot slips, Waite’s reversed meanings point to conflict, dispute, and defeat. When Strength slips, they point to power misused or weakness. In both cases, control has gone out of balance.
Strength vs. Justice: Taming vs. Weighing
Strength works on you. Justice works on a situation. If a reading shows both, ask whether you need to calm yourself first, or to look at the facts first.
Working With Strength Energy: A Journal Prompt, Tiger Eye and Mala
Try this three-question journal prompt the next time you draw Strength. Set an intention for the day, then write one sentence for each:
- What am I trying to force right now?
- What would patience look like instead?
- What small, steady step can I take today?
If you like a physical reminder, two PotalaStore pieces pair well with this card. The Gold Tiger Eye Bracelet, a Leo-linked stone of courage uses 10mm (about 0.4 in) tiger eye beads. Tiger eye is traditionally associated with courage and, in Western astrology, often paired with Leo. It comes in Adjustable and Classic versions, so you can wear it daily and glance at it before you answer a tense email.
A 108-bead mala gives your hands a steady count, a small physical way to practice the patience this card asks for. When the urge to push hard shows up, count ten beads first. We offer both as reminders, not remedies. Neither changes a reading, and neither replaces the real work of caring for yourself.
Two quiet reminders for your wrist
Gold Tiger Eye Bracelet
$43.95 at the time of writing. A courage-linked stone you see every time you reach for your phone.Shop the Gold Tiger Eye Bracelet
108 Mala Beads Bracelet
$25.95 at the time of writing. Natural wood beads for a slow count when you feel rushed.Browse the 108 Mala Beads Bracelet
Strength Tarot Card: The Bottom Line
The key takeaway: the Strength tarot card is gentle power. Upright, it asks you to lead with patience and compassion. Reversed, it asks you to pause, rest, and recalibrate, because self-doubt and force are both signs that you have been gripping too tightly. Try the journal prompt above, and come back to this card the next time you draw it.
Carry the card’s calm with you
Before, you grip harder when things get tense. After, you pause and choose a steadier reply. The bridge can be small: a stone on your wrist that reminds you to breathe first.Find your Gold Tiger Eye Bracelet at PotalaStore
Important note: Tarot is a tool for reflection, not a substitute for medical, legal, financial, or mental-health advice. The meanings in this guide reflect tradition and reader interpretation, not scientific evidence. Crystal and mala associations are traditional beliefs, and we offer these pieces as personal reminders.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Strength Tarot Card
Yes, most readers see Strength as one of the more encouraging cards in the deck. Upright, it affirms your courage and patience. Even reversed, it is usually read as a nudge to rebuild confidence, not a warning of failure.
Strength is linked to Leo, the fixed fire sign ruled by the Sun. That is why the card features a lion, and why Leo’s warmth and confidence echo through its meaning.
Mostly no. Strength is about inner resilience, though some readers see it as a hopeful sign when a health question comes up. Tarot can support reflection, but it is not a substitute for advice from a doctor.
Many readers pair Strength with tiger eye, a stone traditionally tied to courage and often matched with Leo. For a daily reminder of the card’s quiet confidence, explore our Gold Tiger Eye Bracelet.
📚 References
- Rider-Waite-Smith deck (1909 commission): Museum record of Pamela Colman Smith’s commission from A. E. Waite and their Golden Dawn connection. Victoria and Albert Museum
- Pamela Colman Smith, Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck: Exhibition entry and audio guide describing the 1909 deck and its estimated circulation. Whitney Museum of American Art (exhibition) and audio guide
- A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910): Primary source for the card description, the Strength and Justice interchange, and the divinatory meanings. Strength, or Fortitude and Divinatory meanings of the Greater Arcana (Internet Sacred Text Archive)
- Decker, Ronald, and Michael Dummett. A History of the Occult Tarot: Scholarly history covering the Fortitude and Justice numbering (pp. 82 to 84). Source: Duckworth, London, 2019, ISBN 9780715645727. (Readers may search a library catalog or bookseller for current editions.)
