Cast & Chart
Strength, Rider-Waite-Smith tarot card

Major Arcana

Strength

courage, patience, energy, generosity

Upright

Power, courage and magnanimity are Waite's words. A calm figure holds a lion's jaws with bare hands, carrying no weapon and showing no strain. The card describes force kept under patient control.

With a difficult colleague, a temper or a stubborn habit, try steadiness before pressure. Speak quietly, repeat yourself if needed, and keep your hands open. Waite also mentions success and honors. Patience may earn you respect, though nobody can promise the result.

Reversed

Despotism, abuse of power and weakness mark the reversed card. Either the lion has taken over, or the hand holding it has begun to bully.

Notice where you are snapping at people or giving in to them, since both can come from tiredness and fear. Apologize if you overstepped. If someone is using power against you at work or at home, tell a person you trust and get proper support.

A card is a prompt for reflection. It cannot promise a result, and it is no substitute for medical, legal or financial advice.

In Waite's words

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

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

From A. E. Waite, The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (1910), Part 3, on Wikisource. The meanings above are by Cast & Chart.

Card art by Pamela Colman Smith, 1909, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.