THE TAROT STRENGTH CARD typically shows a beautiful woman gently closing the jaws of a fearsome lion. When discussing the Strength card
, we talk about taming our inner beast, controlling our impulses, or harnessing our own strength to face challenges. But we rarely talk about how the killer instincts of a lion might preserve us in times of danger or how some people won’t listen to us unless we roar!
Tarot writing prompt
For this prompt, let’s try turning tarot convention on its soft-and-fuzzy ear. Make a quick list of times you’ve loosed your own inner wild cat. (Aim for at least five examples.) Now scan that list. Is there one that still makes your hackles rise?
If so, grab that incident by the scruff of the neck and toss it onto a new page. Write about what incited you. Start by describing the scene. Where were you? Who else was present? Who said what to whom? Was there a moment when you felt yourself getting ready to spring? What was the trigger? What happened next?
Finally, after all was said and done, did you feel you used your strength for good? Or ill? Or some nicely complex combination of both?
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This exercise was created for and first published in Christiana Gaudet’s TAROT TOPICS newsletter.
Thanks to U.S. Games Systems, Inc., for kind permission to use the image of Strength from the MORGAN-GREER TAROT.