Strength tarot card from the 1909 deck by Pamela Colman Smith

Strength tarot card meaning

Strength upright shows quiet courage and patience, suggesting you can handle a hard situation or strong feelings through calm, kind persistence rather than force.

courage
gentle power
patience
compassion
inner strength

Draw a card Ask yes or no

Arcana	Major
Number	VIII (8)
Astrology (Golden Dawn)	Leo
Yes or no	Yes upright, maybe reversed

Written by Orbitarot · Sources: our own meanings; card art by Pamela Colman Smith, 1909; A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, 1910 · Updated October 7, 2026

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What the card shows

A woman in a white dress, crowned and belted with flowers, bends over a large red lion and calmly closes its jaws with her bare hands. A sideways figure eight floats above her head, and behind them stretch green fields and a blue mountain under a yellow sky. The lion is read as raw passion or fear, and her soft, unhurried touch as the kind of strength that tames without a fight.

Strength upright

Strength is not about muscle. The woman on this card has no weapon and no armor. She steadies a lion with patience and a light touch, and the lion seems willing to be steadied. Drawn in a reading, it hints that a situation will respond better to calm confidence than to pressure.

The lion can stand for many things: anger, desire, anxiety, a difficult person, a habit you want to change. Upright, Strength says you are able to meet it without being swallowed by it. That might mean staying kind when you are provoked, keeping going when progress is slow or speaking up gently but firmly. It is also a card of self-belief. You may have more resilience than you give yourself credit for. Compassion, both for others and for your own rough edges, is part of that power. Small steady acts of courage add up here more than one dramatic gesture.

Strength reversed

self-doubt
insecurity
raw emotion
impatience
low energy

Reversed, Strength suggests the lion has the upper hand for now. You may be feeling unsure of yourself, worn out or quick to react. Old fears can grow louder when you are tired, and it becomes harder to trust that you can cope.

This card upside down is not a judgment. It is an invitation to be patient with yourself. Rest where you can, notice what triggers you and remember earlier times you came through something hard. Confidence tends to return through small wins, so choose one modest challenge and meet it. Speak to yourself as kindly as you would to a friend who was struggling.

Strength in love

Upright: For singles, Strength suggests that being warm and true to yourself is your best draw. In a relationship, it points to patience, deep affection and the ability to work through difficult moments together.

Reversed, it can show insecurity, jealousy or flare-ups of temper in a relationship. It may suggest that one or both of you need reassurance.

Strength for career and work

Upright, Strength favors steady persistence and handling difficult people with tact. Calm leadership is likely to earn you respect.

Reversed, it can point to burnout or doubting your abilities at work. Rebuild your energy and confidence before taking on extra pressure.

Strength as feelings

They admire your warmth and inner steadiness, and they feel safe and calmer when they are with you.

Strength as advice

Meet the challenge with patience and kindness instead of force, and trust your own resilience.

Strength in a tarot reading

The same card reads differently depending on where it lands. These are the readings our spreads use when Strength appears in each position. Try it in a three card reading, Celtic cross.

Upright

As the past	Patience and quiet courage carried you through what came before. Gentle persistence, not force, helped tame something difficult and brought you to this point.
As the present	Calm confidence will do more than pressure here. A situation or a feeling needs steady, kind handling rather than a show of power.
As the future or outcome	Your inner strength is about to be tested, and it is likely to prove itself. Steady patience tends to succeed where force would fail.
As the obstacle	Holding everything in with quiet endurance can become its own obstacle. Being patient is good, but not when it means never letting anyone see you struggle.
As advice	Meet the difficulty with patience and a gentle hand. Stay calm, trust your courage and treat both yourself and others with compassion.

Reversed

As the past	Self-doubt had the upper hand for a while, with emotions running the show. Fatigue or old fears grew louder, and they still shape how you approach things now.
As the present	The lion may have the upper hand for now. You could be feeling unsure of yourself, worn out or quick to react, and it is harder to trust that you can cope.
As the future or outcome	If you keep pushing on empty, things may stay shaky. Rebuilding confidence gently, one small step at a time, can turn this back toward steady strength.
As the obstacle	Insecurity or impatience is what stands in the way. Reacting from fear or exhaustion makes the situation feel bigger than it actually is.
As advice	Be patient with yourself before taking on more. Rest, lower your expectations for a while and rebuild confidence through small wins you can actually manage.

What A. E. Waite wrote about Strength in 1910

Waite designed this deck with Pamela Colman Smith and published its meanings in The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910, public domain). His words, as printed:

Divinatory meaning:

Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity; also complete success and honours.

Reversed:

Despotism, abuse of power, weakness, discord, sometimes even disgrace.

Courage is common to both, though Waite listed power, energy, action and honors with no mention of the modern patience and gentle persistence. His reversal includes despotism and abuse of power next to weakness, while modern readers focus on self-doubt.

Is Strength a yes or no card?

Upright: Yes The woman calmly holds the lion, so upright Strength leans yes, showing you can manage the situation with patience.

Reversed: Maybe Reversed, doubt or strong emotions get in the way, so the answer is maybe until you feel steadier.

Ask your own question with the yes or no tarot. No cards at hand? The yes or no oracle answers with a pendulum.

Learn more: how to read reversed cards, how to read this card with others, whether Strength is one of your birth cards, its astrology correspondence.

Questions

What does Strength mean in tarot?

Strength upright shows quiet courage and patience, suggesting you can handle a hard situation or strong feelings through calm, kind persistence rather than force. Reversed, Strength points to self-doubt or emotions running the show, and it asks you to rebuild confidence gently before you take on more. Yes or no: Yes upright, maybe reversed.

What does Strength reversed mean?

Reversed, Strength points to self-doubt or emotions running the show, and it asks you to rebuild confidence gently before you take on more.

Is Strength a yes or no card?

Yes when upright. The woman calmly holds the lion, so upright Strength leans yes, showing you can manage the situation with patience. When reversed, it leans maybe. Reversed, doubt or strong emotions get in the way, so the answer is maybe until you feel steadier.

What does Strength mean as feelings?

They admire your warmth and inner steadiness, and they feel safe and calmer when they are with you.