Reflecting on Strength
Our card for the week is Strength. A beautiful card that encourages us to express our truth, communicate from our essence and a place of peace.
There are many ways to interpret this card in a tarot reading. It can simply reflect that there’s something you want to communicate that’s going to take a certain amount of courage and possibly tact in order to avoid confrontation.
Even though this woman in white comes with pure intentions, getting her message across comes with risk.
On one level the Strength card reflects a canny communicator, she/he knows how to get others to listen without coming up against their ego. For example when the Strength card turns up in a work reading, I often find myself suggesting that one way of putting your idea forward might be to put it across in such a way that the other person thinks it’s his/hers. A bit devious I know, but an example of one way you might need to work with the Strength card in order to be heard.
Equally this card can represent us, wanting to express an aspect of ourselves without coming up against our own ego!
Fear of getting it wrong, taking a risk, are all aspects of the ego that can get in the way of self expression. Pride for example gets in my way when I’m painting. I hate not being able to do it, being ‘bad’ at something, but luckily I have a teacher who calms my ego and keeps encouraging me on despite the frustration. Plus there’s something about putting painting to express a moment that I can’t resist. So what to do? Embrace the STRENGTH card.
Another aspect that always touches me is the understanding in this card that the feminine principle can be fully heard and received without the need for obvious strength.
This is the reflection card I pulled for today, Monday 22nd May. Strength.
The illustration on the card shows a woman in white, bending down to whisper into the ear of a Lion. The Lion, the king of the jungle, powerful, wild, dominant, looks wonderfully submissive as he gazes adoringly up at the woman (look at the picture on the card). She has managed to subdue his wildness by her gentle approach. Although we know, behind that gentleness is courage and strength as it can be a risky business whispering into a lion’s ear.
Naturally I’m going to interpret the meaning of a card in the context of my week. Strength is going to mean different things to different people depending on their situation, and their week. I am starting with the question …. What is it I want to communicate? What do I want to give expression to this week?
On Saturday I attended the Arrigo Programme ‘New Codes for Living’. This month Fiona Arrigo spoke of women in Leadership and how we can embody the sacred feminine, and bring it down to earth (so to speak….) as an act of feminine activism. She spoke of taking more pauses in our day to anchor into ourselves, Mother Earth and the sacred.
As a result I turned everything off, no radio, music, telephone conversations and spent the rest of the day by myself, which turned out to be the greatest luxury.
I find there is everything in Silence. When I stop.
I had of sense of re-gathering myself, with a lot of help from Mother Nature; the earth under my feet and all the elements at play, sea, air, breeze, bird song, wind, the tide coming in, sand, pebbles, shells, Trumpet barking at me to throw the ball, sunshine, clouds. Letting go of the normal me, that chases information in podcasts, takes yet another course to learn more about tarot, qi gong, energy medicine, Jung, or whatever, restored me to a simpler more complete me. Freedom from the constant wanting more, the to do list. In the pause there was a stillness, a knowing, peaceful, certain. This is the essence I want to experience and express more of, and what for me is expressed so beautifully by the Strength tarot card this Monday morning.
Have a good week everyone and if you’d like a reading with me in Battersea or Online do get in touch. I find Tarot to be a wonderful wise friend.
And please let me know what the Strength card means for you this week?