Ruled by
fiery Leo and assigned the Hebrew letter Teth, meaning “snake”, Strength is the
energetic eighth major arcana in the Rider-Waite pack. Qabalists assign the sense of taste and
the function of digestion to the letter Teth, while Leo governs the side, back,
heart and spinal column. Paul Case
writes in relation to this card that “Regulation of diet is at the bottom of
practical magic”. Many modern
health practitioners say the same is true for healing, as well.
The
implication of serpent-power links Strength directly to The Magician. In the Layout of Three Worlds, major
arcana 1-21 are laid out in three horizontal rows of seven cards. In this layout Strength rests
immediately below The Magician, forming a connection between the first set, the
World of the Higher Mind, and the material realm of the second set. The second set addresses ways in which
to bring the higher qualities of the first set into our daily lives. Notice that The Magician’s belt is a
serpent biting its own tail, signifying endless transformation. The aspects found in The Magician carry
over into Strength.
The
energy of Serpent-power is vast.
Meanings include astral light, cosmic electricity, universal life
principle, conscious energy, secrecy, subtlety, wisdom, redemption, salvation,
reincarnation, regeneration, immortality, illusion, and endless transformation
and conversion. Did I miss
anything?
Notice
also the Infinity symbol over the heads of The Magician and the woman in
Strength. The meaning of the
Strength card is made clear by the mutual figure eights and the association of
the serpent. The state of mind
expressed in Strength is one where the personality faces the world with all of
the forces of The Magician in hand, as the attention of the Tarot begins to
turn to the manifestation of Spirit in the material realm.
The
background in this version shows an open plain, suggesting conditions of nature
rather than those of human construction.
The mountain carries the same meaning it did the first time it appeared
in The Lovers, a reference to the Great Work. The woman’s yellow hair identifies her with The Empress,
ultimately Venus, and therefore with creative imagination. The crown of flowers on her head
signifies life in the organic form, while her white robe suggests a pure state
of mind. The chain of roses around
her waist represents the artistic adaptation of desire, one of the most
important qualities of this triumph.
“When we learn how to weave our desires together into a chain, rejecting
all desires which are incompatible with our main purpose, and co-ordinating
those we do decide upon as fitting to our purpose, we shall be able to make
wonderful applications of creative imagination to the control and direction of
the serpent-power”. –Paul Foster
Case.
While the
allusion to the serpent is a sign of connection to higher power, the presence
of the King of Beasts represents not only human base instinct, but the
consciousness of the animal kingdom.
In the Rider-Waite version it appears that the woman may be pressing the
mouth of the lion closed, but the idea of suppression is far off-track from the
true meaning of Strength. In all
older decks and many modern versions, the woman is opening the mouth of the
beast, an action that suggests giving voice and conscious human direction to
these forces. The message of the
eighth triumph celebrates a coalition between higher consciousness, raw
instinct, and the natural world. It is Love that is the ruling force in
Strength, for love is always triumphant, not only over hate, but over
indifference as well!
In a
reading, this triumph might refer to a healer or benevolent leader. A person represented by Strength will
be an excellent judge of character and realistic in their expectations of
others, not easily fooled. This is
someone with high standards and a sense of determination. Other traits are self-assurance,
sincerity, warmth, affection and protectiveness. This is an expressive personality, someone who is cultured,
refined and artistic. Other
meanings might include a situation that calls for a compassionate approach, or
one that requires the seeker to draw from deep inner resources.
I’ll
leave you today with another quote on the forces of Strength from Paul
Case: “When we assimilate the
hostile, destructive, dangerous, wild forces in nature to the use of mankind,
we add to those forces the quality of human consciousness…What matters,
therefore, is the kind of patterns we set. Our mental patterns are determined by self-conscious
interpretation of experience. Let
observation and attention (the Magician) be faulty, superficial, negative or
fearful and the resulting sequence of subconscious reactions is bound to be
destructive. Thus the spoken word
and unuttered speech of thought (the Chariot) will be vehicles for a destructive
pattern, and we shall set wild beasts at our own vitals. Change the pattern, and you change the
result. Make it accurate,
profound, courageous, positive.
Then you tame the lion, and he becomes your servant.”
Awesome!
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