08-Strength – Upright Rider Waite Deck

Your Chosen Card – Strength Upright Rider Waite Deck

When upright, the Strength/Lust card suggests a need to face a situation with courage, determination, and fortitude, much as Hercules did when he confronted the Nemean Lion. Your animal passions are stirring and may conflict with your ‘civilized’ self. You are feeling lustily powerful and thoroughly enjoy the use of your body. Health improves, and your energy increases. Issues related to sexuality come up for review. The connection of the Strength card with the sign Leo and with the Sun suggests that this may be a time of compassionate self-examination, which can lead to enlightenment. Leo is known for its warmth, generosity, and lusty enjoyment of life.

Keywords Upright: Courage, bravery, passion, heroism, self-esteem, fortitude, mettle, true grit, vitality, moral fiber, strength in the face of adversity, wildness, lust, libido, burning desire, sexual instincts, powerful emotions, kundalini, taming the beast within, suppression of inordinate fear, the curbing of recklessness.

Key VIII: Strength (Fortitude, Lust). This card is numbered XI in traditional Marseille decks.
Myths/Archetypes: The Hero. Joan of Arc. The Dragon Slayer. The Satyr. Hercules and the Nemean Lion. David and Goliath. Samson and Delilah. Kundalini.
Dates of Leo: 23 July–23 August; 18 August–16 September (sidereal)
Astrology: Leo, the Lion (a Fire sign ruled by the Sun)
Numerology: 8 (Strength, or Justice) = 1 + 7 (The Star)

Rider Waite: Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity; also complete success and honors; (R) despotism, abuse of power, weakness, discord, sometimes even disgrace.

When Strength is upright you can pretty much take it that life is going well but that’s when life takes us by surprise.  If Strength is unclear it may help to choose a card from the Major Arcana to provide more insight into what it is Strength is trying to tell you.  If you had a particular issue in  mind, or want to seek clarification on something else, you can also choose again to get more guidance.

This chosen card is part of your upright card reading for Strength using cards from the Rider Waite Tarot Deck. You will find many more tarot pages that will be of great help if you need tarot card meanings. Use the search at the bottom of the page. We have some amazing tarot books for you to browse. Please see below.


Here are some snippets from a few of my favorite books

Portable Magic
Book Details
Portable Magic: Each suit contains ten tarot cards numbered from One to Ten. The Ones are often known as Aces. Each suit also holds four noble or court tarot cards generally known as the King, Queen, Knight, and Page. In some esoteric decks these names are altered, but the system of Golden Dawn correspondences used throughout this book is based on the order of the court tarot cards, and remain unchanged regardless of how the tarot cards may be titled, or what specific details of symbolism appear on the tarot cards. The Page has the same associations whether it is called the Knave or the Princess because it is the fourth of the four court tarot cards of its suit. For the sake of familiarity I have used the names for the court tarot cards employed in the popular Rider Waite Tarot King, Queen, Knight, and Page.

Tarot Books

Complete Book of Tarot: In the case of Bill Clinton, his birthday August 19, 1946 reduces as follows: 8 + 1 + 9 + 1 + 9 + 4 + 6 = 38, which reduces to 3 + 8 = 11 (Strength or Justice, his personality card). The number 11 then reduces to 1 + 1 = 2, the High Priestess (his soul card). Note that in the traditional tarot of Marseille, card XI was Strength (which Crowley renamed Lust). In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, card XI became Justice. One could argue that themes of strength, lust, and justice have characterized the life and personality of President Clinton.

Development for Beginners: As you are sniffing each spice, mentally identify what it is that you smell. Say something to the effect of, ‘This is what [insert name of spice or food] smells like. I am strengthening my sense of smell as part of my psychic development.’

  • Do get in touch if you looked for Strength and we don’t have it listed. We would be more than happy to source the information for you. We hope you visit again for more online tarot information!

Development for Beginners: As you are sniffing each spice, mentally identify what it is that you smell. Say something to the effect of, ‘This is what [insert name of spice or food] smells like. I am strengthening my sense of smell as part of my psychic development.’