Temperance and Strength in Tarot: What Is the Difference?

In Strength, a woman calms a lion without violence, her hands soft on the animal's mouth. Above her head, in many decks, is the infinity symbol. The scene suggests that taming instinct comes from patience and trust, not domination.

In Temperance, an angel pours water from one cup into another, with one foot in the water and one on land. The image speaks of mixing, fine-tuning and integrating opposites. It is not about beating something, but about finding proportion.

Think of a situation of anger. Strength asks how to handle the emotion right now: breathe, not react, speak with firmness and warmth. Temperance asks how to avoid reaching that point again: adjust your routine, rest, redistribute tasks and talk beforehand.

In short, Strength is the act of courage in the face of an impulse, and Temperance is the habit that sustains balance. One works in the moment, the other builds the path.

In the Rider-Waite-Smith, Strength is card VIII and opens the second stage of The Fool's Journey, after The Chariot. Temperance is XIV, the last of that stage, right after Death and before The Devil.

That position helps explain the role of each. Strength appears when a person begins to look inward. Temperance comes after pauses and losses, when it is time to reintegrate everything calmly.

Together, the two suggest a process of emotional maturing: courage to feel and patience to adjust. In a relationship reading, they may point to the need to talk with gentle firmness and give the bond time.

Reversed, Strength can show insecurity, outbursts or loss of self-confidence, and Temperance can point to excess, imbalance and haste. Tarot does not solve this, but it helps you name where to look. If the emotional difficulty is intense, seek professional support.