Leo Tarot: Strength
The stars (quite literally) have aligned in such a way that we are currently in a time of tremendous Leo energy. As we enter the last week of Leo season 2021, the Leo Lions are the best performing team in the Fantasy Astrology Baseball League. They’re the only ones who have mathematically clinched their division – Pisces is next with a 99% playoff percentage – and things have started to solidify in the Air and Earth divisions as well. But before we go back to the FABL standings, it’s time to examine Leo’s connection to the Tarot.
The card associated with the fifth sign of the zodiac is #8 in the Major Arcana, known as Strength or Fortitude. This is one of three Tarot cards representing the traditional cardinal virtues, the others being Justice (#11, corresponding to Libra) and Temperance (#14, representing Sagittarius). Prudence is notably missing, although some link that card to the High Priestess (#2, and not affiliated with an astrological sign). But I’m getting ahead of myself, in more ways than one.
In the traditional Rider-Waite deck, this card depicts a woman either opening or closing the mouth of a lion, an act that “represents organic force, moral force and the principal of all force.” I don’t know which aspect is more Leo-like: the connotation of force, or the lion shown on the card. Arthur Edward Waite further describes the connection between the two figures in his Pictorial Key to the Tarot: “There is one aspect in which the lion signifies the passions, and she who is called Strength is the higher nature in its liberation.”
Taken this way, it seems like the card as a whole represents an amendment to the Leo nature – from what I understand about Leos, they don’t generally take kindly to anything moderating their passions, even if it is a “higher nature.” Either way, the divinatory meanings for when this card appears in a reading (according to the deck-accompanying booklet written by Stuart R. Kaplan) are “Power, energy, action, courage, magnanimity” – all decisively Leo-like.
The first of those meanings – Power – is also the name of the card that stands in for Strength in the Baseball Tarot. More specifically, this is “the power of well-channeled skill and energy, but not brute force,” according to the book that comes with the deck, written by Mark Lerner and Laura Philips. They go on to explain that there are many ways in which power can manifest itself in the game of baseball, not just “tape-measure home runs” but also “the pitcher throwing fastballs that whiz past batters shaking their heads in disbelief.”
Not to focus on the negative (this isn’t an entry for Cancer), but Lerner and Philips give two other examples of power that are technically not correct. One was made obsolete due to a relatively recent rule change: “the catcher standing ground to tag out a runner barreling in from third.” But the other has to do not with rules, but with fundamentals: “Power can also be seen in the headfirst slide into second base that breaks up a sure double play.”
To illustrate this (pun intended), I’d like to quote from a 1996 Sports Illustrated article about Aquarius second baseman Roberto Alomar and a commercial he was featured in. “In the script for the Doritos spot, Alomar was supposed to slide headfirst into second to break up a double play. But the correct way to slide in that situation is feetfirst, and Alomar wouldn't play his part until the script was changed. That's typical Alomar. Whatever he does, he must do right.” I don’t blame Philips and Lerner for not being as knowledgeable about the game as one of the greatest players of his generation, but for some reason this anecdote always stuck with me.
Philips and Lerner end the section on Power with a paragraph that oozes Leo energy. “One way to ensure that Power is kept “turned on” is to understand that it is a gift of mind, body, and heart. The love of playing, an enthusiasm for the game, and a positive demeanor keep the electricity flowing at all times.” One needs only to look at prototypical Leo baseball player Mike Trout to see that his electricity comes from all these things… or it would if he were healthy enough to play.
Next time, I’m going back to my reverse-chronological journey through FABL history to look at the infamous strike-shortened 1994 season.