The Lion in Strength

What does the lion/beast represent in the Strength card?

Is it anger, passion or both? Does the lion signify pretty much everything that's opposite to the intelectual or spiritaual nature? And the girl represents the "higher" faculties subverting the lower ones? Or is it about feeling any sort of conflict that needs strength to endure?

I was just reading somewhere that the lion is a "symbol of fire which burns within us." So that would be passion incarnate then right? Any thoughts on this would be very much appreciated!

In my opinion, there is never only ONE meaning to an image. For ME, lion represents raw power. Lion happens to be my power animal, and he is there for me when I need strength of any kind. Perseverance, patience, the strength to stand up to someone else's anger, as a few examples. For ME, he isn't about sexual passion, but is sometimes involved in creative passion. For ME, he's about recognizing that we are as important as anyone else, and that when we give up our own power to someone else, we give up an essential part of ourselves. For ME, he's often a quiet presence in the background, reminding me that I matter.

The most important question you should ask is what does lion mean to YOU? What images come up? What emotions come up? Does the lion in your particular set of cards look angry, sad, happy, or other? Your instincts about what he means will lead you down your own path.

Best of luck, and I hope you enjoy the journey of discovery!

Gryffin's correct, of course, it's what it means to you--and that's at any given time, in any given spread.

But why let that stop me from offering an opinion

One of the best descriptions of this card I ever read talked about the Maiden as humility. The Lion is a beast of power, creativity, drama, majesty. He is the symbol of kings, and there is nothing symbolically humble about him. He is proud, regal, commanding.

Yet he bows and submits to this humble, fragile, gentle girl. I think, in a lot of ways, the message is that true strength is not that which roars and pounds its chest. It is that which quietly insists on what is right. That which will not bow to any great power, no matter how big and scary the teeth, how sharp the claws.

Obviously there's an element of Christian idealism in this interpetation, that of the peaceful Christ against the violent Roman Empire. But in modern terms it really does ring an important note. It makes us think of the peace marches of Ghandi in India, and of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. It's Joan of Arc, a 17-year-old peasant girl leading troops against the might of the English Army. Dorothy defeating the Wicked Witch of the West come to that. If I were to do a modern card of Strength, it might well be that famous image of the man standing alone and unarmed before a tank in Tiananmen square.

True strength gains submission through gentleness and meekness and the validity of it's purpose, not through roaring and baring its fangs. Even the King of Beasts recognizes it's superior power.

Beautiful, Thirteen! I remember when I first saw the Strength card that way. It was in the Hanson Roberts deck. The woman is so serene, so soft, and the lion is completely relaxed and gentle looking, with his chin in her hand. That's my favorite Strength card of all time because of that. A deck that has an aggressive looking strength card will turn me off. For instance, the two fighting centaurs in the Art Nouveau. I really like your card idea of the person in front of the tank. If you do it, I'd love to see it!!!

One take is mind over brawns. Gentle idea's over brute power.

Courage.

Controlling base instincts.

This is a card of intelligence.

Thirteen said:

.
.If I were to do a modern card of Strength, it might well be that famous image of the man standing alone and unarmed before a tank in Tiananmen square.
.

Click to expand...

That image still gives me the shivers!! I love this analogy!!

Getting a grip on your own inner beast; your primal urges, whatever they are. Self-control.

For the longest time, that was how I saw the Strength card too. Of the girl taming the beast within, which to me means that it is inner work first before external action. Its the receptive, inactive side of us that gently guides the raw power of our instinctual side.

However, the more I study the card the more I wonder; what if the beast we look upon as our base self is in fact the girl and not the lion? What if the girl is trying to tame a beast she looks upon as wild; when the lion was meant to be wild. What if the lion was made the way it was by nature because it was intended to be that way; powerful, predatory, fierce, untamed.

The ways of the lion indicates that they are far more socially sophisticated than they are given credit for. Male lions play an important role in protecting their prides; what can the lion teach us if we look to nature for answers? Is the lion shown here a guardian protecting the weak or merely an animal with basic instincts for food and survival? Reading up about them somewhat changed my perception of this card.

What if the girl dressed in her lofty ideals of purity is imposing them on a beast that is meant to roam unchained? Would flowers lessen the burden of captivity because they are prettier than metal? I cannot imagine how an animal used to such freedom would submit willingly to a life of captivity "for its own good". Would an animal such as the lion go mad behind gilded cages despite our good intentions? Lions like other cats are highly territorial creatures. Do we change its nature because it does not suit our own ideals?

This card to me speaks more of toleration; the strength it takes for us not to impose our will on others simply because we think we know better or because we think we are better.

It tells me that if I was the beast and not the girl; I don't want to be tamed and humanized because then, how would I fit into the mold of "who" and "what" I am amongst my own kind? I would not wish to be a little girl's pet because I wasn't created to be one. I would want to be the best at what I was meant to be.. hunter, guardian, predator; fierce and proud of it.

Being human, would I look upon something so magestic and not want to own it? Would I wish to bind it to myself and control it? Not all of us feel this way of course, but too many do. Lions have been used in the past as symbols of power and wealth. What better way to flaunt it than the real deal?

Sorry if this offends anyone but really, I think its "us" that need the chain around us.. not the lion. Look at what we have been doing; its not the animals that's been skulking around with guns and traps; killing humans for our pretty fur or our body parts just so they can have it decorating their nice homes. To them we're just food; to us.. well they're more than "just food".

Sometimes I wonder, if we were compare ourselves to an "animal"; what makes us think we are less of a beast then the lion or any other animal?
Are lions and humans the same though?

We may all fall under the animal kingdom but we must have been created different for a reason.


Ash

Lots of very thoughtful insights, Ash. The Strength card is one of the cards I look at first, when considering a new deck. Ones where the lion is obviously being subjugated, forced against its will, are cards that bug me. That seems the dark side of strength. The shadow.

I think the lion represents something big, scary, and external that shows up as an obstacle in our path.

Something that threatens our survival in some way (perhaps only in how we perceive ourselves).

Something that can't be dealt with all that quickly or easily.

Something that seems at first to show that our individual power is lesser than that of the external thing we're facing now. Especially if we wanted to try to 'kill' whatever it is and just make it go away. If we went that route we would absolutely lose because it is either impossible, or it would kill us first and way, way more easily. lol

Now that I know about animal spirit guides it's easy to see the lion in that sense if it's depicted in a peaceful way on the card. I'd never even heard of animal spirit guides when I started learning to read tarot though, so that's a newer way of looking at it.