Strength (Tarot card)

File:RWS Tarot 08 Strength.jpg

Strength (VIII)

Strength is a Major Arcana Tarot card, and is numbered either XI or VIII, depending on the deck. Historically it was called Fortitude, and in the Thoth Tarot deck it is called Lust. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination.

Description

Forteza

The design of this card is fairly constant across tarot decks. The key characters are that of a woman and a lion, with the woman looking calm and gentle, yet dominant over the lion. Many cards, including that of the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, have the woman clasping the lion's jaws. Another feature of the RWS deck is a lemniscate (a kind of geometric form) hovering over the woman's head. Other decks have the woman sitting upon the lion, or merely with one hand upon it. Some decks feature just one of the characters; flowers are often presented on this card.

History

The Strength card was originally named Fortitude, and accompanies two of the other cardinal virtues in the Major Arcana: Temperance and Justice (the Darkana tarot deck also includes Prudence in place of Judgement). 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, above), made in Ferrara around 1470, illustrates both. The modern woman-and-lion symbolism most likely evolved from a merging of the two earlier ones.

Numbering

Strength is traditionally the eleventh card and Justice the eighth, but the influential Rider-Waite-Smith deck switched the position of these two cards in order to make them a better fit with the astrological correspondences worked out by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, under which the eighth card is associated with Leo and the eleventh with Libra. Today many decks use this numbering, particularly in the English-speaking world. Both placements are considered valid.

Alternative decks

• The Darkana tarot deck refers to Strength as "Fortitude", and depicts a woman getting the words 'Nil desperandum' (never despair) tattooed on her side.
• The "Flemish Deck" by Vandendorre (c.1750 – 1760) renumbers La Force ("Strength") as XI and La Justice ("Justice") as VIII.
• In the Vikings Tarot this card shows Thor trying to lift the Midgard Serpent, which he had been deceived into thinking was just a giant cat.
• In the X/1999 Tarot version made by CLAMP, The Strength is Yuzuriha Nekoi and her Inugami, Inuki.
• In the Mythic Tarot deck, Strength is depicted by Hercules.
• In the Thoth Tarot, Strength is renamed "Lust".

In popular culture

• Strength is the name of the fourth boss in The House of the Dead 2, and is depicted as a giant, chainsaw-wielding zombie. It should be mentioned that all of the bosses in the House of the Dead series are named for the Major Arcana.

• In Saint Seiya Episode.G, Aiolia of Leo is depicted as The Strength in the tarot cards released with the manga.

• In the anime Yu-Gi-Oh GX, the tarot-using villain Sartorious used Strength to represent Jaden Yuki's friend Tyranno Hasselberry.

• In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Strength was a huge ship-like stand controlled by a highly intelligent orangutan.

• In the SNES game Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, the Strength tarot card is labeled as VIII, and depicts a woman wearing a wreath on her head and a white robe, with a ribbon sash around her waist, and taming a big lion by stroking its head and face. On drawing the Tarot card after liberation of one of the towns, it increases the characters' strength by 1 (though much weaker than the Chariot), and, when used in battle, increases their defense by a little bit.

• In the Hyōka anime (ep 09), the main character Houtarou is given this cards title when Satoshi decides to give each member a hierarchy, referring to his laziness and unwillingness. In episode 10 they depict Hautaro to the lion on the card being tamed by the calm woman(Chitanda).

References

• A. E. Waite's 1910 Pictorial Key to the Tarot
• Hajo Banzhaf, Tarot and the Journey of the Hero (2000).
• All works by Joseph Campbell.
• Juliette Wood, Folklore 109 (1998):15-24, The Celtic Tarot and the Secret Tradition: A Study in Modern Legend Making (1998)

External links

• "Strength" cards from many decks and articles to "Strength" iconography
• The History of the Strength (Fortitude) Card from The Hermitage.
• Strength cards from tarot.org.il. (Hebrew)
• Strength from Aeclectic Tarot.
• Fortitudo - Andreia - Fortitude The Pythagorean Tarot