Major Arcana
Strength
Upright
- ·inner strength
- ·courage
- ·patience
- ·gentle power
Reversed
- ·self-doubt
- ·weakness
- ·raw emotion
- ·insecurity
Upright
A hand rests open on something that could bite, and nothing flinches, not the hand and not the wild thing under it. Strength here is not force, it is the kind of presence that never has to raise its voice. There is something untamed in you, and it doesn't need killing, it needs loving into shape, the way a strong tea is steeped slow rather than scalded. This is what gentleness looks like when it isn't weak.
Reversed
The wild thing loose now and no hand on it, the temper that flares, the craving that takes over, the self-doubt that closes the throat. Or the other turn, so gentle so long you have forgotten your own teeth. The courage hasn't left, put your hand back on the warm fur.
In the imagery
By candlelight a reader's open palm rests on a sleeping cat curled among the herb jars, the animal heavy and calm and letting the hand stay. A crown of dried flowers hangs from a beam above, and a pot of strong dark tea steeps slow and unscalded on the table. The room is hushed and warm, power without a single sharp edge.
What readers see in this card
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