The Major Arcana Cards represent a whole universe of meanings and mutual relations. The cards possess a real structure within them, and not only are they connected to specific Hebrew letters and to particular Paths on the Kabbalistic three of life, but also they have a prominent links to the Zodiac, astrological constellations and planets.

If you are already a skilful astrologer, your knowledge about the astrological elements of the cards will help you learn tarot much faster. And the other way around – if you are great at Tarot, but know nothing about the Zodiac, the same logic applies.

Let us see which Major Arcana cards have one of the 7 planets (seven planets in the traditional, esoteric sense) of our solar system assigned. Out of the 22 Major Cards, only the Magician, High Priestess, Empress, Wheel of Fortune, The Tower, The Sun and The World have a direct association with the seven planets.

Planet	Tarot Card
Moon	The High Priestess
Venus	The Empress
Mercury	The Magician
Mars	The Tower
Jupiter	Wheel of Fortune
Sun	The Sun
Saturn	The World

Therefore, if you are familiar with the most important aspects of, say, planet Saturn, you will be able to grasp the meaning of “The world” tarot card in a straightforward fashion.

Or vice versa. If you know the most important aspects of the World card, you will just have to translate them to the language of the Zodiac and instantly you will be able to contemplate the most important aspects of planet Saturn.

Major Arcana nr. 8 – Strength – connects Gevurah and Chesed on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Knowing that Gevurah means restraint, strength, power, and judgment, while Chesed represents kindness, loving-kindness, or love we can try to understand on the intuitive level what the two conditions of our psychic that are being joined by this card (path) exactly are.

Strength deals more with handling the power within us than with the manifestation of power in the outer world. In contrast, the Chariot Card deals with our using of impulses and powers over beings or things from our environment to achieve our final victory.

Description of This Card

A woman is trying to close the jaws of a lion. There is virtually no effort involved, it seems she is succeeding in her intent. She controls the lion almost without using any visible strength. In fact, it appears the lion has already been subdued, which is a fact indicated also by the chain of roses. The women displays kindness, grace and tenderness. This description is based on the Pamela A deck, which is a set of cards very close to the Rider Waite tarot deck, one of the best decks for learning tarot in our opinion.

Symbolism of Strength

This tarot cards is a perfect image of the energy – eternal strength – which pervades all living beings and all things on Earth. The white dress is as symbol of spirituality. Above the woman’s head we see the same symbol that can be found in the Magician tarot card – the sign of infinity. The lion is, obviously, a symbol of the physical, animal strength. This animal force is obedient in the hands of the more refined spiritual energy. But the woman and the lion are not separate – they are in unity. The fortitude the women shows is actually connected with this Divine union. The chain of roses is a symbol of love. It is not a chain of slavery, but a token of the light burden of Divine Laws (as E. A. Waite so nicely put it). Of course, the Divine Laws are so sweet only if one obeys them.

The lion, one can say, is related to our consciousness on the instinctive level. The woman is a representative of our higher spiritual energy. She is controlling the lion – she is able to open and close the lion’s mouth as she pleases. The key is in the proper use and mastery of this energy. This aspect of the Strength tarot card can also be understooen the following way. The lion stands as a symbol of passions, whereas the maiden depicts our higher self which is a master over the desires of the lower nature. In this sense it can be seen how our sexual energy can be used as a means of transformation and spiritual growth. This is why, this card is being given the name “Lust” in some tarot decks.

The Arcana number 8 is also connected with the strength of contemplation. Stregths leads to confidence. However, it has nothing to do with the confidence a person has when full of personal strength, rather, it depicts the confidence of those whose strength is founded in God.

Meanings of Strength Tarot

The meanings of this Major Arcana Card are courage, energy, action, dynamic strength, great passion. Naturally, it also signifies the victory of mind over matter, and mastering the passions. Some interpretations emphasize that this card is a sign of woman’s strength influencing and having power over the male energy. It can also indicate that one should release ones female creative forces to a greater degree. In some cases it means progress in the world’s affairs.

In the reversed meaning, Strength calls for caution regarding the urges of our lower nature. It also speaks of misuse of power either by dominance or display of force towards other people. It can also mean imperfection, temptation and weakness.

In conclusion, this card is all about the lions powers that are highly desirable for our own growth and transformation, but should be tamed prior to being useful. This card speaks of our ability to understand our wild nature, accept it, refine it, and use it for our own benefits.