Strength as love potential

Sar

balenciaga said:
Certainly:eek:
Please do not throw any frying pans just yet. You would need more than the Strength card to fill in the gaps:)

I did certainly not think of myself.
 

reine de saba

another face to Strength.

For two months now, I've been using a deck with an older image, that you see here, a woman holding a broken column.

http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/12

and at XI in the majors.

At first I thought it would be fairly straight forward as cards go, though less rich than the Lady/Lion image.

And yet, though I do think that lends itself to relationships in a highly readable way, I am realizing that my Strength is not so straightforward as all that.

I have seen thus far, in love related readings

one who does not know her own strength

a stranglehold

someone holding up a broken partner

someone " " " " with no support herself

" who has broken her crutch/support for good or for ill


Does anyone have any other thoughts? Could any of your Lady/lion interpretations be expanded to this image.

any brainstorming would be welcome. I started reading for others a teeny moonturn before buying this deck and am after all the insight and input I can possible glean from minds that have been at this longer than I have

CL: :love:,
saba
 

balenciaga

Strength As It Strikes Me With This Card

Saba,
I do not own this deck (beautiful, by the way), and I see what you mean - she looks as if she, with all her strength, is trying to singlehandedly hold the thing together - in a romantic reading - hold the (weak or broken; at jeopardy) relationship together. She is the glue. Without her it breaks. She must support it or the pieces come apart.
A danger to this thinking long- term: I can see this becoming tiring over time, breeding resentment if she does not get some cooperation; even though she is strong, she should not do it alone. (But she is prepared to if necessary and is quite willing). How long can her strength hold out? is the resulting question.
 

Ravenne

Doesn't this last meaning apply to Strength in RWS and Robin Wood as well?
I mean, she is loving, patient, caring, focussed on the lion. He lets her be that way, but he shows no signs of liking it nor any interest in it or her. In that sense it to me can also mean "Being tolerated" or "being taken for granted" and in a way maybe even a hint being used/letting yourself be used.
The lion is clearly not interested in the woman, but she's completely focussed on him.
Easy to think of the cardwoman being the female in a relationship and the lion the male. But I think the lion is the strong party in the relationship and the woman the gentle, caring one, regardless of which gender that person is.
What an intricate card :S All of a sudden I see more and more meanings to it than ever before. I had these nicely, reasonably short descriptions of each card, but now my journal is turning into a tome!

Ravenne
 

balenciaga

Ravenne,
You should check out the image Saba linked - the lion is now a broken column that the woman is trying to put back together. This might stir your intuition all the more!:)
 

Grizabella

Ravenne said:
But I think the lion is the strong party in the relationship

Ravenne

Do you? I think a woman who can control a lion with love is much stronger than the lion, though. A lion may be physically stronger, but true strength isn't necessarily physical strength. :)
 

moderndayruth

reine de saba said:
For two months now, I've been using a deck with an older image, that you see here, a woman holding a broken column.

http://strangerealms.multiply.com/photos/photo/54/12

and at XI in the majors.

At first I thought it would be fairly straight forward as cards go, though less rich than the Lady/Lion image.

And yet, though I do think that lends itself to relationships in a highly readable way, I am realizing that my Strength is not so straightforward as all that.

I have seen thus far, in love related readings

one who does not know her own strength

a stranglehold

someone holding up a broken partner

someone " " " " with no support herself

" who has broken her crutch/support for good or for ill


Does anyone have any other thoughts? Could any of your Lady/lion interpretations be expanded to this image.

any brainstorming would be welcome. I started reading for others a teeny moonturn before buying this deck and am after all the insight and input I can possible glean from minds that have been at this longer than I have

CL: :love:,
saba
Here is what wikipedia says on history of Strenght:
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 from the interpretation of the card: it meant moderation in attitudes toward pain and danger, with neither being avoided at all costs, nor actively wanted.

"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 Ferrara around 1470, illustrates both. The modern woman-and-lion symbolism most likely evolved from a merging of the two earlier ones."

There is an illustration from Mantegna deck (somewhere in the middle of the page) that pictures the woman with both the pillar and the lion.
p.s. edited to insert the link properly ;)
 

Ravenne

Hi Grizabella

I get your point and I agree with you. I guess the meaing in my previous posting is more befitting of a negative explanation, so the reversal of this card.
Anyway, more food for thought, like I said, I'm seeing more and more in this card. I had this card come up the other day, not sure which position it was, but I'm going to revise it. Look at it from another 300 new angles, my head is spinning already, hahaha.

Ravenne
 

Pao

Grizabella said:
I think of this situation if you're applying it to a romance:

Think of a man who is the rough "wilderness" kind of guy. A man who prefers the company of men exclusively, devotes his time to hunting and fishing and hanging out with the guys. Doesn't date. Maybe he just gets drunk and has a one-night stand with someone he forgets about or maybe doesn't even remember the next day.

Then he meets a woman who strikes his heart strings. A very Tower experience for him. Because she's gentle, kind and loving, though, and because he knows she's much different than the women he's used to using and leaving behind, he'd do anything in the world for her and he knows she won't accept his roughness and oafish nature.

So there you have it---I guess it's like someone else said. Beauty and the Beast. But it could certainly work the other way around if a woman without any class were to meet and fall for a man of a higher social class than her so that she suddenly realized how unpolished she was and made every effort to "clean up her act".

omg I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE this view!!!! its so beautuful :D yes I have gotten this beauty and the beast aspect of it like I mentioneb but you put it wonderfully.

I think I can see the reunion aspect of it in that if it takes a lot of patience to solve through the problems which could include the separation. i guess it can be overcoming the troubles and reconciling and finding peace. hm. now i have to find my old journals see if i ever got it as a reunion :D definitely something to think about but I can see how it can show this.
 

PentQueen

In my experience, this card has been popular in my love relationships...and I still don't know what the heck it means!

I remember asking how attracted so-and-so was to me, and pulled this card...seemed strange, as I always thought it to be a card of unconditional love & forgiveness...looks as though there's more to this card than meets the eye, though...

Anyway because this card often shows upright for one person in my life and reversed for another, I can only gather that upright, it means that there exists the strength to endure hardship...and there's 'cooperation' from the parties...an important element to any relationship.

I suppose there's a whole slew of other meanings, such as a need to control overflowing passion, a relationship of guidance; two people who will become stronger out of their difficulties together/or who support each other in their individual struggles, etc.

Overall, it seems to be a positive relationship card...one where learning about emotional intelligence is essential and worked toward. I think it's also Tarot's way of saying: 'don't give up yet'.