Bohemian Gothic Tarot

VIII STRENGTH

Lighter or more conventional meanings

Applying inner strength * Using calm courage and bravery to achieve your goal * Taking control with quiet fortitude and determination * Taming your own rage and anger.

Darker, shadow or more hidden meanings

Forcing others to bend to your will * Abusing your power * Using your willpower and bravery to control and manipulate * Believing that might, including mental and emotional might, is right * Letting loose your anger and pride.

Of all the cards in this deck this one definitely seems to be a favourite with many people. In part, this is probably because the combination of lady and lion makes for a powerfully emotive image; in whatever style it's depicted it has a power to both fascinate and attract, and this seems to be particularly true for women. Beyond that though there is something in this particular image that we've found people respond to. Maybe this is because, like so many cards in this deck, there is an ambiguity here that makes you stop, think and reconsider some of the classic interpretations of this Major.

The traditional tarot Strength card shows a woman calmly subduing a lion. As the woman is obviously much the weaker one physically, the image signifies the strength of mental will over mere brute force. An attractive message. However, in the Bohemian Gothic Strength this traditional image is subverted. The woman, who is clearly a demon, leans on the lion casually. He is held in control not, seemingly, by her, but by a heavy chain. He appears meek and accepting of this, while it's the demon who seems aggressive, glaring straight out at us with both challenge and contempt on her face. However, on the wall behind there is a relief of a lion that looks much more angry. This may represent the way the lion would like to behave, if only he dared.

What we're seeing is an illustration of the way that strength of will - that of the demon with her determined and even insolent pose - can control and overpower simple physical strength. But the meaning has been changed so that we see this not as a good thing, but rather as a warning that malevolence and evil purposefulness can overcome even the strongest of us. The demon here is strong and calm but she is not well-intentioned, instead she seems simply to want to demonstrate the ease of her power over the lion. When this card comes up in a reading, it's time to ask about the ways in which strength, determination and will are being used in personal and social relationships.

Some further ways to consider this card

The woman on this card is a winged demon - how does she relate to The Devil card which also shows a female devil? Can the Bohemian Gothic Strength also be interpreted as being about ensnaring people, taking power over them, through temptation or addiction?

Look at this card together with the Five of Swords (the "Beauty and the Beast" or werewolf picture). In what ways is the relationship shown between woman and animal different in these two cards? In what ways is it similar?

The chains on the lion imply that he is a captive - but could he escape if he really wanted to?

In the sickly light I saw it lying on the bed, with its grim head on the pillow. A man? Or a corpse arisen from its unhallowed grave, and awaiting the demon that animated it? There it lay - a gaunt, gigantic form, wasted to a skeleton, half-clad, foul with dust and clotted gore, its huge limbs flung upon the couch as if at random, its shaggy hair streaming over the pillows like a lion's mane. His face was toward me. Oh, the wild hideousness of that face, even in sleep! In features it was human, even through its horrid mask of mud and half-dried bloody gouts, but the expression was brutish and savagely fierce; the white teeth were visible between the parted lips, in a malignant grin; the tangled hair and beard were mixed in leonine confusion, and there were scars disfiguring the brow.
- Anonymous, "Horror: A True Tale" Stories by Modern American Authors.