Strength
"A woman closes a lion's jaws with bare hands and no hurry: the strongest force in the deck does not shout."
Upright meaning
Strength corrects our idea of power: not domination but composure, the capacity to meet what roars, in others or in yourself, without becoming it. The card favours patience under provocation, courage sustained over time, and the taming of appetites that obey kindness sooner than punishment. Whatever your lion is, an anger, a fear, a craving, a difficult person, it is asking to be handled, not killed.
Reversed meaning
Reversed, either the lion is winning, reactions, impulses, an old fear back in charge, or you doubt a strength you demonstrably have. Both share one root: forgetting that composure is trained, not possessed. Return to the practices that steady you.
In love
Bonds that mature through patience: loving someone's intensity without trying to declaw it. Quiet courage, saying the difficult thing softly, does more here than any grand gesture.
In work and money
Sustained effort beats brilliance this season. Handle difficult colleagues or clients with firm calm; your composure is being noticed more than you think.
The card's advice
Lower your voice and hold your ground. Gentleness with spine is the rarest power.