27 | September | 2013 | Adventures and Musings of an Arch Druidess

Strength

Through adversity or the process of rebalancing in life, we often find courage within ourselves that flows from an unknown source. Sometimes that courage has to do with facing an unpleasant but unavoidable truth or dealing with a person or problem that no amount of physical confrontation or emotional bravery will resolve. That is when the true, patient and resolute attributes of Strength come into play. Strength, drawn from nature’s inherent power to renew and overcome all manner of disaster and climatic change, is what we must also have to foresee outcomes and wait upon the turning of the seasons. Sometimes when faced with a challenging situation we must find our own inner back-stop, the point from which we will not retreat or from which we can move forward with quiet confidence. The Greenwood ethos has much to teach humanity about calm, resolute Strength.

The Strength card concerns following what you feel is right for you, doing your true will. Society is not supportive of individual dedication to an unusual path, and incredible strength of heart is needed to stay on it. If one’s initial impulse to follow your heart (Ancestor and Archer) has been lost by the pressures and attractions of everyday living, i.e. Lovers, Greenman/Woman, then Strength calls to your heart to rededicate your life. At this stage this might require sacrificing some aspect of it, which leads to the tensions in The Blasted Oak. The spear of power (air) is balanced by the cup of compassion. This balance cannot be held for long. It is a card of fullness seeking release, a build up of energy that needs grounding, a thundery sky needing rain, passion, anger, pre-menstrual tension, pregnancy about to birth, ecstatic dance or trance that could become oracular, a harvest ready for picking. It is not an easy energy to utilise yet when surrendered to produces ecstatic liberation that is both tenderness and wildness, a powerful creativity that can be used to transform your life into a dance of the heart.