Strength | Tarot & Mental Health

Even though I started building a meditation practice almost three years ago, I still feel like a complete newbie. And that’s fantastic. To quote Shunryo Suzuki, “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.” The less hemmed in by ideas about how meditation “should” look and feel, the more free you are to experiment and find out what works for you, specifically. There is truly is no one right way to meditate.

If science is the study of the past and the future, then spirituality is the study of right now. Internal life practices, art, and many religions give us a space to think about our place in the present world. In community, this can spur us to organize and leave the world better than we found it. On the other hand, studying the present alone can help us find the curiosity and hope we need to keep moving forward.

Why meditate with the tarot?

Short answer: because you can! (And also other things.)

Long answer: Tarot roughly represents the archetypal journey of humanity. Each deck chronicles in its own unique way the wonder of childhood, the experience of building our adult lives brick by brick, reflecting on our legacy in old age, and everything in between. There’s a card for every question, situation, and struggle you might face, which is why I love meditating with them!

I wanted to put these series together for those who understand the basics of a reading, but could use some inspiration for how to meditate with the tarot. I’m starting with the Strength card; everyone seems to be in need of it in some way right now, myself included.

But first, a few disclaimers:

You do not have to be a professional tarot reader, or even all that spiritual, to meditate with the cards.

Meditation tools come in all shapes and sizes; nothing is off-limits. In my opinion, the only rule worth following when it comes to meditating with tools is to pick one that means something you’re interested in or drawn to.

Some people meditate with crystals, statues of deities, crow feathers…you could meditate with a Pokémon card, if you wanted to!

You do not need an encyclopedic knowledge of each card’s assigned meanings, references, and symbols.

In fact, it’s probably better if you don’t; going into visual meditations with a clear mind means your perspectives and insights will be a little more “pure,” coming directly from your own perception.

Think intuitively. Focus less on the little booklet full of keywords your deck came with and more about the stories each card tells, whether or not that story is unfolding in your own life; how many characters it portrays and what they’re doing; whether the setting is joyful, subdued, or aggressive, and how you feel about each of these things.

Meditation means different things to different people.

Your practice doesn’t have to be a quiet, solemn time of reflection. You could even have — dare I say — fun with it!

In my favorite tarot book A Walk Through the Forest of Souls, Rachel Pollack talks about the tarot the same way she talks about her living, breathing human friends: as lifelong companions with their own personalities, thoughts, and insights. I work with my cards the same way. To me, they’re not some conduit of the dark arts or link between sacred spirits; more like a buddy-in-a-box who always sees just a little bit more of the big picture than you do. (More often than not, much more.)

Some people worry about disrespecting their decks by picking a card out of it directly. In my opinion, tarot are what you make of them: if you believe they’re sentient, guided by the hands of spirits, or anything like that, I’d encourage you to also leave room to observe them for what they are in the physical world: cards. I’m not trying to invalidate anyone’s beliefs to claim the tarot should not be considered sacred. Just consider this as another way to work with the cards in your daily life.

With all my preambles out of the way, here’s are some creative ways you can work with the Strength card.

The Strength card in everyday life

Strength shows up most obviously in your relationship to yourself, and how that trickles out into your relationships with others.

Quick storytime: One of the physically strongest people I know looks extremely intimidating, but happens to be an absolute snowflake when it comes to criticism. This used to be bother me a lot. I’ve always been good at exercising compassion for others when it was convenient, like when I’m in a good mood or had some free time to talk, but I’ve also always been hyper-critical of myself.

This person said he admired my progression in Muay Thai and wanted the same for himself, but every time I asked him if he’d been training he would have a litany of excuses in response. After helping him through the third excuse and finding one more in its place, I finally lost my cool. I was strong enough to advocate for myself and show up; why wasn’t he? I couldn’t meet him where he was, picking on him to “do better” because it’s what I’ve always done to motivate myself. I apologized quickly, but he hasn’t spoken to me since, because I was not a safe person for him.

It wasn’t long after that I realized nitpicking myself wasn’t exactly working, either: I was a wreck, especially in the winter months when I had less energy. Back then I would talk down on myself so heavily I would occasionally say in bed all morning, telling myself what’s the point? On the worst days, I’d spend half the day drunk or high — because if I won’t “do better” for myself, why should I even try?

Of course I couldn’t be a safe space for my friend. I wasn’t even safe for myself at the time. This is when I started meditating with tarot cards, beginning with Strength. Instead of blindly demanding “better,” I had to learn how to say instead, “I see you working hard. You’re doing the best you can, and I’m proud of you.”

Embodying the Strength card

The common, capitalist ideal of strength intentionally conflates itself with power, but Strength has always meant much more than that. Blind pursuit of control, wealth, or external markers or success betrays an underlying insecurity; a deep, engrained feeling of being “not enough.” More often than not, this emptiness end up being exploited in patriarchal societies, where people are conditioned to insulate themselves and seek power over others. All of that, too, is rooted in insecurity and fear.

Strength — the card, and the virtue — is built on a foundation of compassion. It’s less about overpowering others with power plays and demands and more about meeting them halfway.

A strong person can hold his boundaries firm even when they’re actively under attack, and still remain calm and kind through it all. In an effort to bridge the gap and lead with empathy, he’s able to take an emotional punch or two. But if things get too hairy and it’s no longer worth it, he can exit the situation without ever resorting to swinging one himself.

A strong person can meet themselves halfway, too. A strong person confidently understands and accepts themselves, warts and all. Rather than raking herself over the coals every time she makes a mistake or misjudges someone, she can listen to her own heart and give herself the love and compassion she needs to make the next right choice in the future.

3 ways to meditate with the Strength card

If you can, pull this card out of your favorite deck — or if you have many, pull from several. What traits of the Strength card do you wish you had more of? Is there anything that bothers you about its portrayal? Make a mental note of your thoughts and feelings about this card, then give one of these exercises a try and see what you can learn about yourself.

Unlearning bad habits while practicing self-compassion

Bring the Strength card with you when you’re working through some difficult habits out in the wild. If you’re the type to forget about stuff you jammed in your pockets, slip it inside a phone case, wallet, or some other flat space so you don’t end up with a brutalized Strength card when you get home!

If you’re in a situation where you feel like you need more compassion than you currently have, do whatever you can to excuse yourself and do a little bit of reflection about those initial feelings you noted down earlier. What part of this situation is making you feel negative, bitter, cold, or somehow “not enough?” What would it look like if you could embody the more positive traits of this card, even for just a minute — just long enough to say the “next right thing” and smooth things over?

Write a story where you and the character(s) in the Strength card have a conversation.

Give yourself 10-20 minutes to sit down and write — not a journal entry, for once, but fully humanize the Strength card and pay it a visit. Imagine finding this card out on its own home turf and talking directly to it. What does this character look like? How does it speak to you? Is it gruff and short, or mild and soft-spoken? What was it doing when you approached it?

When you’ve fleshed out this character enough that it feels real, ask it the first questions that pop into your heart. Actually talk to it and consider its responses. Whatever comes up for you here is probably one of your deeper concerns, traumas, or difficulties related to compassion, inner strength, or setting healthy boundaries.

If something heavy is coming up for you, resist the urge to tamp it down and ask Strength what it thinks you should do next. Bat the idea around in this imaginary conversation. You can go about making it actionable later; what matters is that you can an uncritical conversation, like you would with a friend.

If you need a lot of help from this card, craft a persona in its image.

This persona could be an existing character who embodies the confidence and compassion of the Strength card, or you could create your own. Whenever you’re feeling depleted, let this persona take the reins and lend you its own strength instead.

When I was 9 to 10, back before I knew what tarot cards even were, I created an OC of a girl with long dreadlocks who had the power to talk to animals. Her best friend, or maybe familiar, was a lion. I made this character about five years too early to have seen the card online. Part of me wants to believe the Strength card has been hanging out in my subconscious for decades, waiting for me to come around to growing a goddamn backbone!

Celebrities and public figures use personas to get through their performances all the time; might as well try it yourself, right?