Strength & Leo
At Key 8 in the Major Arcana we reach the Strength card, which has an astrological overlay with Leo our natural “ruler” of the Sun. Looking at the Strength card image from the Rider-Waite deck, we find a femme in a white gown covered in garlands of roses and a peaceful facial expression with her hands around the mouth of a male lion with a big beautiful, his tail hiding between his legs.
Seeing the Lion appear in a card associated with Leo shouldn’t be too surprising, however this image was used in an astrology book I read nearly 2 decades ago describing the relationship between Leo (the lion) & Virgo (the femme). One could take it there if we wanted - Virgo’s mutable Earth nature calming, or taming, or caring for the fixedly strong Fire nature of Leo. Keeping this interpretation focused on this image’s relationship to Strength & Leo I see:
Power, especially personal power - the femme is not struggling nor does she appear forceful, and exerts her own
Courage - getting right up close where could be afraid if we were in either the femme’s or the lion’s position
Vulnerability - the femme could be bit, the lion has some of its power restricted.
Creativity - so many possibilities of what could be created between the two. What happens following the scene this card?
Pain - that lion has to be in some degree of emotional pain, and sometimes this image brings to mind memories of trying to give a cat a medication
Personal power, courage, vulnerability, and creativity are all very classically associated with Leo. Pain? Wait, isn’t one of those other typical Leo keywords the opposite of that - fun? While many things are going on in this image, most people wouldn’t see fun in there. So what’s with this polarity with pain and fun being set up? This perspective comes from Evolutionary Astrology. Steven Forrest explores the polarity of pain and joy held within Leo: on some level Leonic playfulness is the anecdote to pain. Out of whack, this can turn from play and expressiveness and turn into chronic pleasure seeking and eventually self-numbing to cover over layer upon layer of pain without ever addressing it.
Consider how much courage, vulnerability, creativity, and personal power (as well as collective and spiritual power) it takes to recover from an addition! THAT, to me, is an exquisite expression of the strength card. And if we choose to now see the image as the femme facing the lion representing an addiction of theirs, how beautifully firm yet caring I see her to be.
In the spirit of strength and vulnerability, I want to share just how hard this post was for me to write. Leo energy is exceptionally absent in my own chart, and as I’ve gained self understanding over the course of my life I’ve seen my own struggles in these realms rear their ugliness in new forms. Each year I do a Celtic Cross reading around either New Year’s Day or my birthday, January 24. This year, the Strength card appeared as the first clarifier of my outcome card, the Six of Wands, which itself is given the astrological correspondence of Jupiter in Leo. Perhaps I’ll be writing you an updated version on my learnings with the Strength card a year from now.
Leo rules the heart, and later this year we will get a transpersonal lesson in lion-heartedness when we experience a Venus retrograde through Leo this summer. Venus retrogrades once every year and half and stays retrograde for around six weeks. Venus will first enter Leo on June 5, 2023 at 9:46 AM EST. On July 22 the retrograde will begin at 9:22 PM EST at Venus 28° Leo 23’, and just 17 minutes later the Sun will enter the sign of Leo. On September 3 at 9:20 PM EST at 12° Leo 13’ Venus will station direct, and finally on October 8 at 9:10 PM EST Venus will finally make its way into Virgo after having spent a full four months in Leo. Where may themes associated with the Strength card show up in your sensory experience of your world and your relationships in that time?
As the Moon will be in Leo on the night of February 5, 2023, let’s Explore the Full Moon in Leo.