Strength Tarot Card Meaning
Major Arcana card VIII · Courage, patience, and a calm heart
Strength: 8
Meaning
Your strength is a quiet kind. You handle hard things with patience and kindness, not with force. People trust you because you stay calm.
Guidance
When you feel angry or afraid, pause and take a breath before you answer. Be gentle with yourself, the way you would be with a good friend.
Shadow
Doubting yourself, or holding feelings in until they burst. Real strength also means asking for help when you need it.
In Love
In love, you are patient, kind and calm when things get hard. You can soften an argument with gentle words, but say what you need too.
In Work and Career
At work, you stay steady under pressure and help others stay calm. Care work, teaching, coaching and leading with kindness can suit you.
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About Strength
Strength is card VIII of the 22 Major Arcana. Its main ideas are courage, patience, and a calm heart. In tarot, the Major Arcana show the big themes of life, and Strength is one of them.
If this is your birth card, it is a symbol to think about, not a rule or a prediction. Read the meaning, the guidance and the shadow side, and see which parts feel true for you.
How To Get Strength As Your Birth Card
Your birth card comes from the digits of your birth date. Add every digit of the date (year, month and day). Here is how that leads to Strength, for birth dates from 1900 to 2099.
- Tarot Birth Card method: you get Strength when your digits add up to 8, 26, 35, 44. A total above 22 is reduced by adding its digits again.
- Digital Root method: you get Strength when your digits add up to 8, 17, 26, 35, 44.
- As a root card: Strength also shows up next to your main card when that card is The Star (17).
Do not want to do the math? Our free Arcana Calculator does it in a second and shows every step.
Quick Facts
| Card | Strength |
| Number | VIII (8) |
| Group | Major Arcana |
| Main ideas | Courage, patience, and a calm heart |
| Element | Fire |
| Planet | Sun |
| Sign | Leo |
These links follow the Rider-Waite-Smith order, where Strength is VIII and Justice is XI. The card picture is a scan of the original 1909 deck, drawn by Pamela Colman Smith.
More Cards
Read about the other Major Arcana cards:
Strength FAQs
What does Strength mean as a birth card?
Your strength is a quiet kind. You handle hard things with patience and kindness, not with force. People trust you because you stay calm.
What number is Strength in the Major Arcana?
Strength is card VIII (8) in the Rider-Waite-Smith order of the 22 Major Arcana cards.
Which element and planet go with Strength?
Strength goes with the element Fire and the planet Sun, and with the sign Leo. These links come from the tarot and astrology tradition and are symbolic.
How do I find out if Strength is my birth card?
Use the free Arcana Calculator on our home page. Enter your birth date and it adds the digits for you, shows every step, and tells you which Major Arcana card is yours.