Strength
Strength depicts a woman calming a fierce lion, representing the harnessing of wild, animalistic instincts through will and intuition. It urges facing threats with determination and trusting innate abilities rather than relying on physical force alone. The card emphasizes self-mastery: not allowing others to push your buttons, rising above provocation, and using instinct and the senses as sources of power. The Exploring the Card example (Hermione and Buckbeak) highlights attributes such as willpower, determination, leadership, and intelligence while reminding us that part of strength is not letting others push you past your limits.
Keywords
Card Title
VIII – Strength
Correspondences
Leo
Keywords
The principle of intuition and power, the wild and untamed, animalistic instinct, the choice to unleash or to tame the inner beast, illumination, working your “dark” side in a constructive manner, using instinct and the senses as a source of power
Meaning
Strength traditionally shows a young woman holding shut the maw of a fierce lion with ease. When drawn, the card reminds us to face any threat or danger with determination and to trust in our innate abilities. The strength needed to overcome the challenge presented by this card usually has less to do with physical fortitude and more with strength of will and determination, with trusting our gut, and with keeping our wits about us. Another meaning of strength is that we find our buttons pushed, and true strength lies in the ability not to let it get to us, but to be stronger than what set us off, get over ourselves, and forgive others.
Exploring the Card
There are no lions in the books, if we discount Gryffindor's lion, but Hermione and Buckbeak make for a good replacement. She kept stringing him along in the movie with Hagrid's dead ferrets and built a good rapport with him.
Exploring the Card — Continued
Also Hermione possesses a lot of attributes for Strength: willpower, determination, the ability to rally others, intelligence to face and overcome obstacles, and quite often it is she who impels Harry and Ron to do the right thing, even though they complain that she's bossy. One lesson that remains for her though is not to allow others to push her buttons...
Visual Description
A young woman stands calmly beside a large chained griffin-like creature with the head of an eagle and the body of a lion. She wears a long coat and a turtleneck sweater, and feathered wings are visible behind her shoulders; a heavy chain runs from the creature's collar down past her. Stylized swirling ribbons or smoke curl around their legs and the background shows vertical textured panels; the Roman numeral XI appears at the top and the word 'Strength' at the bottom.
Harry Potter tarot
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