Strength

Strength in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck shows a calm woman in a white robe gently closing the jaws of a lion, an infinity symbol floating above her head, a chain of flowers at her waist.

In the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition, Strength is read as the card of mastery without violence — the moment in which a fierce force is met not with another force but with steadiness. Waite was explicit that the card depicts inner power, distinguishing it from the more martial associations of older decks. Practitioners often read this card as a sign that the question concerns something powerful in the reader's life — an emotion, a habit, another person — that yields to patience and presence rather than to confrontation.

The infinity symbol over the figure's head is associated in modern RWS commentary with the continuity of practice: strength here is not a single act of will but a posture sustained over time. The Golden Dawn correspondence to Leo locates the card in the symbolism of warmth, dignity, and the courage to remain composed in front of what frightens. As an upright card, Strength is most often interpreted as the counsel to act from gentleness backed by spine, not from spine alone.

Reversed, Strength is traditionally read as composure that has slipped: courage borrowed from bravado, or — in the opposite direction — self-doubt loud enough to silence what the reader actually knows. Waite associated the reversal with weakness and abuse of power; many modern practitioners read it as a prompt to examine where steadiness has been replaced by either suppression or spectacle.

In a situation position, Strength is often read as naming a context that calls for patient, embodied composure. In an action position, it is interpreted as a call to meet the difficulty without escalating it. In an outcome position, the card is commonly read as a result earned by holding one's center under pressure.