Strength (VIII)

Strength is Major Arcana Tarot card, numbered either XI or VIII, depending on the deck. Historically it was called Fortitude, and in the Thoth Tarot deck it is called Lust. Image File history File links RWS-08-Strength. ... Image File history File links RWS-08-Strength. ... The Major Arcana (Trumps Major, Major Trumps) of the Tarot deck consists of 22 cards. ... Most modern Tarot sets consist of 78 cards with allegorical representations today used for divination, that first appeared in Medieval times. ... The Thoth Tarot is a Tarot deck painted by Lady Frieda Harris according to instructions from Aleister Crowley. ...

Description

Some frequent keywords are:

• Self control ----- Being solid ----- Patience ----- Compassion

• Composure ----- Stability ----- Perseverance ----- Moderation

• Kindness ----- Gentleness ----- Slowness ----- Softness

• Serenity ----- Comprehension ----- Discipline ----- Inner strength

The design of this card is fairly constant across decks. The key characters are that of a woman and a lion. The woman looks calm and gentle, and yet is dominant over the lion. Many cards, including that of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, have the woman clasping the lion's jaws. Another feature of the RWS deck is a lemniscate hovering over the woman's head. Other decks have the woman sitting upon the lion, or merely with one hand upon it. The occasional deck features just one of the characters. Flowers also often feature on this card. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The most popular Tarot deck today is probably what is confusingly known as the Rider-Waite-Smith, Rider-Waite, Waite-Smith, Waite-Colman Smith or simply the Rider deck. ... A lemniscate In mathematics, a lemniscate is a type of curve described by a Cartesian equation of the form: Graphing this equation produces a curve similar to . ...

Forteza

A Major Arcana Tarot card Forteza, meaning Fortitude, now translated as Strength. ... A Major Arcana Tarot card Forteza, meaning Fortitude, now translated as Strength. ...

History

The Strength card was originally named Fortitude, and accompanies two of the other cardinal virtues in the Major Arcana; Temperance and Justice. The meaning of Fortitude was different to the modern interpretation of the card: it meant moderation in our attitudes towards pain and danger; neither avoiding them at all costs, nor actively seeking them out. Fortitude, or Strength, sometimes also called Courage, is one of the Four Cardinal Virtues of the Catholic Church. ... In the Christian church, there are four cardinal virtues. ... The Major Arcana (Trumps Major, Major Trumps) of the Tarot deck consists of 22 cards. ... Temperance is the practice of moderation. ... J.L. Urban, statue of Lady Justice at court building in Olomouc, Czech Republic (1896-1901) Justice is the ideal, morally correct state of things and persons. ...

The older decks had two competing symbolisms; one featured a woman holding or breaking a stone pillar, and the other featured a person, either male or female, subduing a lion. This Tarocchi del Mantegna card (image, left), made in Fortezza around 1470, illustrates both. The modern woman-and-lion symbolism most likely evolved from a merging of the two earlier ones. Fortezza is also a town in Italy, see: Franzensfeste-Fortezza A Fortezza card made by Mykotronx Corp. ...

Interpretation

The modern interpretation of the card stresses discipline and control. The lion represents the primal 'id' part of the mind, and the woman the 'higher' parts. The card tells the Querant to be wary of the temptations of the flesh. As in The Chariot card, the Querant is fighting a battle. The difference is that in Strength, the battle is mainly internal rather than external. Discipline is any training intended to produce a specific character or pattern of behaviour, especially training that produces moral, physical, or mental development in a particular direction. ... Look up Control in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up ID, Id, id in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A Querent is an individual who goes to some form of psychic reader - whether Tarot, runes, etc. ... The Chariot (VII) The Chariot (VII) is a Major Arcana Tarot card. ...

In the Crowley deck this card is entitled Lust, and there is a sun sign (zodiac) association with Leo, strength implying here a potency that is sexual, creative, and intuitive, all attributes of the element Fire, and with the other Leonine quality of generosity, mercy is also an aspect of this power or stength. There is further a connection with the heart chakra in kundalini yoga, the center of emotion, mammalian energy.

If inverted, the Querant is in danger of losing control to impulses and desires. Pride and unwarranted anger are also often associated with the inverted card.

An alternative reading of the card is representing a reliable friend.

Mythopoetic Approach

Hercules is the obvious example of the archetype of Strength. Hercules was a son of Zeus, The Emperor. He is a Solar Hero, as shown by his archetypal 12 labors – each one standing for one sign of the Zodiac. Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in Ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th century engraving In Greek mythology, Zeus (in Greek: nominative: Ζεύς Zeús, genitive: Διός Díos) is... The Emperor can indicate: Any real or fictional Emperor Japans head of state Beethovens 5th Piano Concerto The Emperor (IV), a Major Arcana Tarot card: The emperor symbolises the desire to rule over ones surroundings, and its appearance in a reading often suggests that the subject needs... Indo-European Zodiac signs, 16th century , medieval woodcuts The term zodiac (from Greek zodiakos [kyklos], circle of little animals, from zodiaion, the diminutive of zoon animal) denotes several places where a circle of twelve animals occurs. ...

Strength can manifest itself in unexpected ways. One of Hercules’s adventures was to clean the Augean Stables, which had been filling with horse excrement for as long as anyone could remember. Heracles diverted a river, washing the manure into the surrounding fields, renewing everything.

It is also the strength that tames the lion; not brute force, but understanding.

It is also brute force. What ever is needed.

La Force from the Tarot of Marseilles, in which is the 11th card

Cybele is also associated with large cats, and is often depicted either enthroned with one or two large cats flanking her, or in a chariot being pulled by large cats. Some contemporary sources have associated Cybele with this card, and also Artemis. Image File history File links The Tarot de Marseille: XI La Force. ... Image File history File links The Tarot de Marseille: XI La Force. ... Le Bateleur, The Mountebank, the first trump in the Tarot de Marseille. ... Cybele with her attributes. ... The Artemis of Versailles, a Roman copy of the marble sculpture of Leochares, now at the Louvre Artemis (Greek: nominative , genitive ), in Greek mythology was daughter of Zeus and of Leto and the twin sister of Apollo. ...

It is also associated with Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was the king of Ur, but not a very good king. He abused his power, he abused the people. The people prayed to the goddess Ishtar (see also, The Empress, and she sent Enkidu to teach Gilgamesh to be human. The two of them bond, and fight monsters. Unfortunately, they overreach themselves, and Enkidu dies. Gilgamesh, according to the Sumerian king list, was the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II, first dynasty of Uruk), the son of Lugalbanda, ruling circa 2650 BCE. Legend has it that his mother was Ninsun, a goddess. ... Ishtar (Arabic: عشتار) is the Assyrian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte. ... The Empress (III) The Empress (III) is a Major Arcana Tarot card. ... Enkidu and Gilgamesh, cylinder seal from Ur III Enkidu appears in Sumerian mythology as a mythical wild-man raised by animals; his beast-like ways are finally tamed by a courtesan named Shamhat. ...

Gilgamesh is horrified and goes on a quest to defeat death. He fails, but in the process, he learns what he needs to learn to become a good king.

Strength is mastering the challenges presented.

It is associated with the suit of Wands. Fire, generative masculine force, leavened somewhat by the fact it is dominated by a feminine figure. This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ...

Strength is associated through the cross sum (the sum of the digits) with The Star. The Star is paradoxical. It is a bad omen; the comet that foretells the birth of kings; and the Star that signals Dante that he has found his way out of the Underworld. The Star (XVII) The Star (XVII) is a Major Arcana Tarot card. ... Dante redirects here. ...

The Lion in the standard card represents the Sun, making strength a solar hero, just like Hercules. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Because it is the eighth card, it is associated with Arachne. Arachne challenged Athena, goddess of science, war, and the useful arts to a weaving contest. And had the temerity to win. To punish her for her victory, Athena transformed her into the eight armed spider. Bespeaking the danger of challenging the mysteries, we may be destroyed or transformed by them.

Eight is also associated with the Great Goddess because it takes eight years for Venus and Earth to sync up against the zodiac. Eight years go get into accord with the goddess as the object and provoker of desire.

When Strength appears in a throw, it may be a signal that The Querant is facing a challenge that require a strong response. Not, necessarily, brute force. Sometimes, strength comes by diverting forces, diverting rivers, fighting on a new battleground. It is a sign that the Querant has left home and needs to start drawing on all of his/her resources to meet the challenges of the exterior world.

The danger of Strength is that it can work against the Querent.

Numbering

Strength is traditionally the eleventh card and Justice the eighth, but the influential Rider-Waite-Smith deck switched the position of these two cards in order to make them better fit the astrological correspondences worked out by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, under which the eighth card is associated with Leo and the eleventh with Libra. Today many decks use this numbering, particularly in the English-speaking world. Both placements are considered valid. The most popular Tarot deck today is probably what is confusingly known as the Rider-Waite-Smith, Rider-Waite, Waite-Smith, Waite-Colman Smith or simply the Rider deck. ... Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, in Egyptian costume, performs a ritual of Isis (not a Rite of the Golden Dawn). ...

Kabbalistic/Tree of Life Considerations

Hebrew letters have added dimensions: they have a glyph, a meaning and a number. While the tarot trumps (the cards of the Major Arcana) start at 0, with the Fool, Hebrew starts with the number 1. Thus adding 1 to a tarot trump will give the corresponding letter in the Hebrew. Thus the question becomes: is Strength more akin to the 9th letter energy of Hebrew, which would be the letter Teth, or to a 12th letter energy, a Lamed? Knowing that the Hebrew letter Teth is a noun meaning “snake” and the letter Lamed means “ox-goad”, here are the 8 reasons why Strength is 8, and Justice 11: The tree of life Kabbalah (קבלה Reception, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah) is a religious philosophical system claiming an insight into divine nature. ... The Tree-of-Life is a fictional plant (the ancestor of yams, with similar appearance and taste) in Larry Nivens Known Space universe, for which all Hominids have an in-built genetic craving. ...

1. Visually the shape of the snake, of an 8, and of the lemniscate are akin to each other

2. In the Chinese Zodiac, the astrological sign of the Snake corresponds to the peak of Summer, while the letter Teth is attributed to the sign Leo, also the peak of Summer.

3. The Strength card being about ruling passions, the hot summer month of Av, which corresponds to the letter Teth, seems to be a more fitting connection

4. The letter Teth corresponds to the astrological sign of Leo, and the Strength card almost always pictures a lion.

5. The pointed stick, or “ox-goad” Lamed visually reminds the axis balancing the scales

6. The “ox-goad” is a weapon, like the sword of Justice is. It helps adjusting the scales, and bringing their parity to the perfection of the “pair” 11

7. Libra is the cardinal sign starting Autumn, with a colder climate and winds leading naturally to go inside and balance the scales. The Hebraic month of Tishrei corresponds to Libra, and sees the celebration of the Jewish New Year, followed by Yom Kippur, the prayer of at-one-ment (rather than at-eight-ment) to divine Justice.

8. In the Hebrew alphabet, prior to the letter Lamed, there are exactly 11 letters, since Lamed begins the second half of the alphabet, leading the next 11 letters.

Alternative decks

In the Vikings Tarot this card shows Thor trying to lift the Midgard Serpent, which he had been deceived into thinking was just a giant cat. The Vikings Tarot or Tarocchi Vichinghi is a tarot-deck created by Manfredi Toraldo for the Italian publisher Lo Scarabeo. ... Thors battle against the giants, by Mårten Eskil Winge, 1872 Thor (Proto-Germanic: *Þunraz, Old Norse: Þórr, Old English: Þunor, Old Dutch and Old High German: Donar) is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Norse Mythology and more generally Germanic mythology. ... Thor goes fishing for the Midgard Serpent in this picture from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ...

Links and references

• A. E. Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key to the Tarot
• Hajo Banzhaf, Tarot and the Journey of the Hero (2000).
• All works by Joseph Campbell.

Arthur Edward Waite (October 2, 1857 _ May 19, 1942) was an occultist and co-creator of the Rider-Waite Tarot deck. ... The Pictorial Key to the Tarot is A. E. Waites influential guide to Tarot symbolism, published in 1910 in conjunction with the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. ...

External links

• "Strength" cards from many decks and articles to "Strength" iconography
• The History of the Strength (Fortitude) Card from The Hermitage.
• Strength cards from tarot.org.il. (Hebrew)
• Strength from Aeclectic Tarot.
• Stregth - Key 8 - Tet from Born Digital.
• Strength from SourceryForge.
• Fortitudo - Andreia - Fortitude The Pythagorean Tarot