The Strength Card Explained and Win a Hand-Finished Strength Art Print

Stand in Your Power

There is a sentence that comes to mind every time the Strength card appears:

You now know your strength; you've overcome the trials, you don't always have to roar to prove it; stand in your power, trust in the work you've done, don't be afraid - know who you are.

This is the energy of Strength. Not dominance, not force, not the loudest voice in the room. It is the quiet, unshakeable certainty of someone who has done the inner work and no longer needs to prove it to anyone.

The Strength Card is number 8 in the Higher Arcana; it's heavily tied to Leo and the Lionsgate energies in August. In our Written in the Stars tarot deck, we chose to re-envision this card entirely - moving away from the traditional Rider-Waite imagery into something older, more cosmic, and deeply rooted in Egyptian mystery schools.

The Written in the Stars Tarot: What the Card Shows

At the apex of the print, a magnificent solar lion radiates geometric pillars of light across a dark cosmic nebula. Its mane flows downward to form a subtle, elegant infinity symbol representing endless internal power that flows without effort, without force, without end.

Beneath the lion's sovereign gaze, two ancient guardians stand beside the cosmic symbol for Sol:

Sekhmet - Solar Fire (left): The lion-headed goddess, pharaonic and fierce, robed in deep reds and golds. She is transformation, divine boundaries, and the raw courage to act. The red nebula swirls around her like living fire.

Bastet - Lunar Magic (right): The cat goddess, luminous and precise, robed in celestial blues and silvers. She is quiet watchfulness, sanctuary protection, and the wisdom to know when to wait. The teal and turquoise nebula around her makes the balance of these two forces visually undeniable.

The numerological signature of infinite abundance - the number 8 - is locked into all four corners of the golden geometric frame, creating a visual anchor for Leo/Tarot August rituals and making it a magnificent piece of spiritual wall art in the UK.

The Significance of 8

• Infinite Abundance - The shape of the horizontal lemniscate, the symbol of infinity that flows without beginning or end
• The 8/8 Portal - The alignment of Sirius, the Sun, and the Earth at the peak of the Lionsgate
• Foundational Growth  - You laid your foundations and have now built up, 8 is a powerhouse of infinite potential

Sekhmet: From Solar Retribution to Goddess of Healing

Sekhmet's story is one of the most powerful in the Egyptian pantheon, and it is the story of Strength itself.

Born from the eye of Ra - the solar fire of divine retribution - Sekhmet was sent to punish humanity during a time of great disrespect toward the gods. Her power was absolute, her fury total. But her bloodlust grew beyond what even the gods had intended, and they conspired to stop her - lacing the battlefield with beer dyed red, so that when she drank, she eventually slept.

When she woke, she did not return as a destroyer. She emerged transformed - as a healer, a protector, a goddess who had transmuted her own most terrifying power into the greatest gift she could offer. The fire that once destroyed now heals.

This is Sekhem. This is Strength. The most powerful forces within us are not our enemies - they are our medicine, waiting to be met with wisdom rather than suppression.

Bastet: Keeper of Temples, Guardian of Magic

Where Sekhmet is solar and fierce, Bastet is lunar and precise. The cat goddess of ancient Egypt was the keeper of temples and households, the guardian of sacred spaces and the magic within them. Her keen senses - the cat's extraordinary awareness, its ability to see in darkness, to hear what others cannot - made her the perfect protector of the threshold between the seen and the unseen.

Together, Sekhmet and Bastet represent the full spectrum of what Strength asks of us: the courage to act, and the wisdom to know when presence is more powerful than force. The balance of male and female, solar and lunar, fire and magic. Harmony found within Power.

Links Across the Deck

Temperance - The card of balance and alchemy, of holding opposites in harmony. Where Strength shows the integration of fire and gentleness, Temperance shows the ongoing practice of that balance - the daily work of keeping the elements in flow. It's believed that once Temperance harnessed her Strength, she transcended, whilst always keeping it close.

The Hermit - The card of the inner journey, of the cocoon. The Hermit retreats inward to find the light; Strength is what emerges when that journey is complete. You've done the inner work. Now you step back into the world - not unchanged, but whole. Our card show Anubis, the journeyman, who helped Sekhmet travel through her cave and emerge renewed. 

Working with the Strength Card This August

• Place it on your altar during the Lionsgate Portal as a focal point for your intentions
• Draw it as your daily card and journal: where  am I being called to stand in my power without needing to prove it?
• Use it in meditation - sit with the image, breathe into it, allow its energy to move through you
• Pair it with your Fire Golem for a powerful Lionsgate altar combination
• Frame it as a permanent reminder of the power you stepped into this August

Win a Hand-Finished Strength Art Print

To celebrate the cosmic alignment at this year's Lionsgate Portal, we're hosting an exclusive tarot giveaway  - one hand-finished Strength art print, printed by our award-winning Cornish printing partner and individually finished by hand in our Devon studio.

Specially finished with recyclable water-based adhesive gold foiling on the solar rays and geometric border, acrylic detailing on the deity medallions and key symbolic elements, and white paint strokes for added depth and luminosity - transforming it from a print into a genuine altar piece.

To enter: Comment SOLAR on our Instagram post featuring the Strength card.

The winner will be drawn on 31st August and announced across our social channels and email list.

Email subscribers are automatically entered. Not on the list yet? Join the Emporos Inner Circle to enter automatically.

Free UK shipping, Reduced International Fees: no matter where you are in the world, we want you to have a chance to win.

The portal is open. Stand in your power.