Strength
The Strength card has nothing to do with physical prowess. It has everything to do with mental ability. Traditionally, it depicts a woman closing a lion’s month. NOT forcing it open, which would require a good deal of strength. Instead she is going with the natural path and forcing it closed. Which requires coaxing more than brute force. Strength is leadership, someone who takes charge and says, “Lets do it.” Like the Chariot, it is a card of action. But unlike the Chariot, it is not individual action, it is leading others to action.
In the World Tree Tarot, the artist says we have strength in friends. United we stand, divided we fall. The card shows a woman supporting the world. She sees a wrong and wants to right it. But no one can change the world by themselves. They must gather a force and lead the charge. Strength is the action of the Chariot directed. If the Chariot is a point, the Strength card is the second point that defines a line–a vector forward.
Reversed, Strength is about feeling helpless. Life is out of control, usually because you are trying to control everything. You refuse to take the lead, and complain that others are not doing what you want them to do. You need to take charge of YOUR life, and as Ann Landers used to say, “Quit your kvetching.” Everyone will fall in line behind you, once you start to set a good example.
People ask, what is my life’s purpose? The answer may be: if you see a wrong, start working to right it. See how far you can go and who you may meet on the way, just open up your Inner Vision.