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.

Beginners in Tarot often ask whether they should purchase used tarot cards. Like many other tarot related questions there are various opinions. A lot of tarot practitioners are against such practice. Some tarot experts claim that buying used cards can be a great way to save money, especially when you intend to collect various tarot decks. There is certainly nothing fundamentally wrong if you have made up your mind to buying used cards, but we could never recommend such practice.

Why New Tarot Cards

We almost never buy used Tarot cards. Here is why.

While it might be true that you will save some money, we personally believe this is not your best option. Usually tarot decks are not very expensive and the amount of money you will save is not great, so buying new cards is the best thing to you can do. Not to mention that if you purchase used tarot decks you might find that some specific cards are missing from the deck. At the end of the day you might end up with 77 (or fewer tarots) instead of the full deck of 78 cards. Such Tarot decks are virtually useless.

Why Used Cards

There is only a handful of reasons why you would like to select used tarot cards. Those would include rare, out of print or exotic deck, collector items and those deck difficult to find.

Now, if you are not a tarot collector and if you intend to use your deck for divination, always buy NEW Tarot Cards. All divination tools are very personal. Equally so is your Tarot divination tool, which must be made personal. Once you have got your new deck, never lend it to somebody else. Prevent other people from touching the cards, even if they are members of your own family.

What To Do If You Have Purchased Used Tarot Cards?

So, you have got yourself a used deck. If you know for sure that somebody has been using the cards previously, and especially in order to perform tarot readings, there are some things you can do to ensure there are no negative vibrations tied to them.

When we use objects in our everyday life, a part of our own energy is being transferred to them. This is even more true for objects used in meditation, visualization, concentration, imaginations and divination – such are precisely the Tarot Cards.

You can purify the absorbed energies of used cards by using incense, exposing them to sun light, or simply by not using them for divination a prolonged period of time. Depending on the spiritual and psychic powers of their previous owner, the cleansing time may vary from several hours to several months.

To spare yourself from such problems, and to start your journey in the wondrous worlds of Tarot the best possible way, do yourself a favor and purchase a brand new Tarot deck. After that, if you like you can start practicing tarot meditations in order to get to know each individual card and form a psychic bond with it.