Karrma
Frieda Harris, at the exhibition, told a young boy who asked her about this card something like "imagine wanting a chocolate very badly. Now imagine the feeling you get when you finally get the chocolate. That feeling is what this card is about."
Traditional Strength cards seem to speak of a certain serenity, of finding quiet strength in the face of odd. Not so Lust. Lust is about the ecstasy of that same internal power, being drunk on it, consumed by it. The final realization of what you True Will is, the happiness and sexual drunkenness that go with absolute certainty.
I'm not well versed on the subject, but Aeon once told me that K&C is achieved at the intersection where Lust meets the Priestess, which certainly makes sense. The woman is a harlot, but in a very sublime and holy sense, accepting all, denying none. As Babalon, she holds all existence in her womb, and every man and woman exist inside her, and she is in a constant state of wanton abandon, as every action of True Will is in fact an action of making love to her. "Existence is pure joy."
A very exciting card, one that, when meditated upon, does not evoke in me either serenity or peace but... well, I suppose I'll just say "excitement," and leave it at that.
It's hard to know where to begin. It might help if I point out that the 7 heads of the Beast relate to the 7 chakras. That gives you a direct link back to sexual energy. The reigns held by the woman are big clue too. Look where the loop is. This energy can be expressed and grounded through sex. (There's nothing wrong with that. ) Then again this 'desire force' can also be directed into spiritual growth. It all depends on where you want to go and what you want to do. It's not a moral issue though.
Although I can understand your point of view when I look at the card, your explaination goes against everything I have read about it, the card is called lust instead of strenght because; "the path (on the qabalistic tree of life) corresponding to the card is not the Strength of Geburah but the influence from Chesed (mercy) upon Geburah", this quote comes from the book of Thoth.
The woman on the beast is Babalon, the scarlet woman, to my understanding she is a depiction of the great mother (Binah, which is connected to Geburah) and the 'lion' is a depiction of the father (Chochmah which is connected to Chesed) (mind that Chesed and Geburah are both on the physical plane, they seem to be physical reflections a Chochmah and Binah in a sense, although on the other hand they are te opposite).
"It represents the act of the original marriage as it occurs in nature", another quote from the book of Thoth.
So to me this card represents the power that lies within the wonder of creation, the energy that is channeled trough the active male power and which takes shape within the passive female force, so to speak, the bliss that connects these forces in the 'deeds of the flesh' bring forth great power.
Offcourse there is much more to say about this card, and maybe not all that I write is right, but for now this is my main impression.
When I read your post, a poem by Crowley that I recently read came to my mind:
"The world for a whore!
The sky for a harlot!
All life - at your door -
For a Woman of Scarlet!
A bitter exchange?
A bad bargain to strike! It
May seem to you strange-
The fact is - I like it!
You offer me gold,
Place, power, and pleasure
To have and to hold-
Inexhaustible treasure!
I'll give it and more
In this planet of boredom
For a girl that's a whore
And is proud of her whoredom."
This does not seem to be a poem written by someone who would depicture a man as a willess victim of lust, it seems more like it's a (sacred?) game is which men an woman engage willingly on the material plane to enjoy a feeling of bliss and at the same time give shape to energy.
EDIT: I was thinking about what I just wrote about passive female energy and male active energy and realized that on the material plane, the sefirot which are passive on the astral plane, are active, Geburah is a very active Sefira (Mars is the planet which is attributed to Geburah) and Chesed is of a more passive nature, I think, that could explain why the beast in the Lust card has sort of a submissive look to it in a way.
I would like to get this thread back on topic. As a female, a Leo, and a newbie, I have lots of questions.
The word Lust has so many connotations, almost as many as Love.
This card makes sense to me, if the egos get out of the way. A healthy Lust, to me is pure passion united with pure earthiness, it is for its own sake. (a lusty laugh, a lusty enjoyment of life.) Once you get the self emotions (Cups) involved, there can be obsession, neediness, clinging, which is lusting, as an emotion, wanting something you cannot have or cannot be possessed. Or lust as an idea only (Swords) which when you are trying to create or manipulate Lust, using it as a tool for other ends. (such as the idea of the female controlling the male)
And in most typical cultures, the act of reproduction is one of the few times that the feminine is seen to be as strong or stronger than the masculine. For those that are uncomfortable with weakness, that will be threatening.
But it does need to be internal, at least for me, as I am by nature (and HGA) a virtuous woman, so I cannot go against my HGA to fit someone else's view.
There are several reasons this card fits better between the wheel of life and the hanged man, rather than between chariot and the hermit.