Strength

The 8th Key

Colour: Yellow greenish
Sound: E Natural
Sign: Leo (Fixed Fire)
SIMPLE LETTER: Taste

This Path connects Severity with Mercy and depicts a woman gently holding open the mouth of a lion. The lion generally represents physical strength. The greatest strength man can conceive is the Light of the Sun, the ruler of Leo. It is the lion that is permitted open the sacred scroll of the apocalypse indicating that the card can open the higher levels of consciousness.

In alchemy the lion takes three forms, the green, red and old. The green lion is the energy of nature before it is purified and subjected to the Will. The red lion is represented on this card, the force of nature under perfect control. And the old lion, the completely purified consciousness.

The lion symbolism implies a brute force that can be used constructively as well as destructively. The lion depicted on this card is not the same lion found on the Wheel of Fortune where it represents one of the four elements. This is the lion of the Sun's spiritual fire, or kundalini, which is also represented by the serpent.

Attributed to this card is Teth which means snake and the symbol of the snake holding its tail in its mouth is represents wisdom.

It is on this Path that the sword of Severity is formed so the potential exists for being overwhelmed by power. The enlightened man is able to control the animal potency that underlies all existence. Using the tale of Saint Jarome as reference, he removes a thorn from a lion's paw who then becomes his faithful servant out of gratitude. A wise person is able to subjugate the wild animal through the force of his humanity. The highest quality of man is controlling the highest quality of beast, of which the lion is king.

The card represents an initiation involving the serpent power used to stimulate the centers of energy in the body. Paul Case said that those who follow the way of liberation effect changes in their subconsciousness and these changes are symbolised by Strength. The point of meditational exercises is an actual change in the structure of the body cells. Once this is accomplished all mystical literature opens up and becomes genuinely simple. Thus, to bring the energies symbolised by the lion under perfect control within the chakras of the body is to open the seal on the book of reality above the abyss.

As with the Hermit, Strength is a gateway to the Daath as is suggested by the desert depicted in the background of the card. The woman in the card is as innocent as the Hermit and that is why she is able to safely deal with the lion. In this sense she can be related to a Vestal Virgin.