Timely Tarot: Opening Your Heart to Leo Season through the Strength Card By Lisa De La O Wyman
Timely Tarot: Opening Your Heart to Leo Season through the Strength Card
By Lisa De La O Wyman
As we move through the last days of July, we are greeted by the vibrant magnetism of Leo season, which began on the 23rd. A fixed fire sign, Leo is the superstar of the zodiac, the natural performer bringing charisma, creativity, and showmanship to midsummer. Leo rules the heart, awakening warm affection, generosity, and loyalty. The cycle of watery Cancer urged us to go within and deeply explore our emotions, attachments regarding family, home and security, and to reevaluate what parts of our life we might be ready to release in favor of greater personal development. Now Leo is coaxing us to take empowered action on those emotional insights. What exciting little seeds are ready to be planted? How will you do it differently this time? How will you manage fear and uncertainty as you make your way forward? We can take inspiration from the Strength card, which teaches us about a different kind of power to fuel our dreams.
Ruled by the Sun, Leonine energy shines brightly, jubilantly, and with a lot of heat. It encourages rampant growth but can also burn when directed too intensely. The constellation of Leo is named after the mythological Nemean Lion killed by Heracles during the first of his twelve labors. Lions are regal and majestic, the royalty of the savannah. They protect their prides with ferocity, devotion, and tremendous power. Leo is a determined energy, superb at driving progress and bringing inspiration to others, but that same blazing vitality can wreak havoc when too forcefully applied.
The Strength card is number 8, and corresponds to the sign Leo. In numerology, 8 is associated with leadership, achievement, and success. Ambition, strong business sense, and financial acuity are also related traits. But it also speaks to something far more powerful – the symbol of infinity. The infinity loop represents connection to a higher wisdom, as well as transformation through, the closing of a loop – perfect balance. It is a continuous flow of giving and receiving, creating and destroying, moving inward and bursting outward. Our greatest accomplishment, fulfillment, and happiness come from being able to discern and flow with this ever-changing balance and not dominate it with the force of our own desires.
Strength is a heart-centered card, with standard interpretations emphasizing courage, creativity, vitality, and willpower. The image on the card typically shows a figure interacting with a large male lion. Unlike what you might expect, the individual is not using force or intimidation to tame the lion, but compassion and gentleness. This ferocious beast of the natural world represents our inner fears, shadows, impulses, and insecurities, which can easily overwhelm us at times. The wisest step we can take in dealing with them is to meet them with, as Tarot teacher Lindsay Mack says, “an undefended heart.” The key here is undefended, not unprotected. Strength embodies our willingness to face fear, to see and accept what is there. It’s about understanding that vulnerability is NOT weakness. Open up. Knock down the fortress walls you’ve built up around your heart and let some fresh air breeze through. Allow yourself to see and be seen. We often use a mask of pride to hide our pain. We might feel safer, but in guarding our wounds, we can’t access them for healing. We’re shielded but blocked off, unavailable to reach out or be reached. Strength invites us to open ourselves to healing and evolution through self-compassion. This is soft power – not power over, but power through. It invites us to become a conduit for a greater force, be it God, Goddess, nature, the life force, your own higher wisdom, whatever form it takes for each of us.
The lion of the Strength card urges us to engage with our animal nature, which we can also view as our unconscious. Raw, wild, and authentic, it’s the birthplace of our innate creativity and inclinations. Strength is about coaxing out or lovingly restraining those impulses depending on circumstances. It encourages us to meet our unconscious, our “lion,” with acceptance and curiosity. How do you relate to your lion - with criticism, fear, or denial? Try compassion next time and see what happens. Developing keener discernment can help you identify which lion needs attention, a bit of space, or serious boundaries and healing. Recognizing the need for restraint, for thought before action, is a hallmark of mature and wise Leo energy. Heightened self-awareness helps you to make empowered choices, ones that support your growth and happiness and cause less harm to yourself and others. It also encourages the redirection of those energies into creatively-fueled projects, solutions, and expressions of pleasure and delight.
When I’m reading for someone and the Strength card shows up, it often confirms that the client is facing some sort of adversity or might be creatively blocked. It reminds them that their greatest source of personal strength is their willingness to meet challenges with an open heart and a healthy dose of self-compassion. It’s also a warning to resist the urge to isolate, shut down emotionally, or refuse help from trusted friends. From a creativity perspective, it might be suggesting that more play, celebration, pleasure, and artistic pursuit are needed to get the juices flowing again. Let the Strength card, sparked by the fiery magic of Leo, warm your heart, empower your healing and enflame your creative spirit with joy and passion.
Click to Buy Moonchild Tarot Deck
Lisa De La O Wyman is a Tarot reader and writer based in Redondo Beach. At Tarot for Empowerment she works with individual clients, private parties, and special events. Through her work she seeks to connect people with their innate power as well as encounter the mystery in everyday life. She can be reached via Instagram and Facebook at @tarotforempowerment.