Strength vs Justice. The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck swapped the order of these cards from what the Tarot de Marseille cards followed. This has long been a source of debate and controversy in the Tarot world. Today, let’s dive into how this change plays out in the Fool’s Journey in the Major Arcana sequence.

Traditionally, in the Tarot de Marseille deck, the Justice card was numbered the 8th in the Major Arcana, while the Strength card was numbered the 11th. However, when A. E. Waite published the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot card deck, he swapped their positions. Here, Strength became the 8th card, and Justice became the 11th card in the Major Arcana sequence. Naturally, he was quite criticized for this. Following that, when Aleister Crowley published the Thoth Tarot deck, he put the Strength and Justice cards back in their former positions.

Let’s explore how both these placements reflect upon the Major Arcana storyline of the Fool’s Journey.

Strength Vs Justice: Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck

In the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, A.E. Waite placed Strength as the 8th Trump and Justice as the 11th Trump.

The Strength card depicts a woman in a white robe, wrapped in flowers and leaves, petting a lion. The lion licks her hand and seems tamed by the lady. Additionally, there is an Ouruborus (or a Lemniscate) on top of her head. Astrologically, Strength is linked with the Zodiac sign of Leo.

In the Justice card, we see a woman in red robes, holding up a sword in her right hand and a pair of scales in her left hand. This woman is often linked with Themis, the Greek Goddess of Justice, or with Ma’at, the Egyptian Goddess of Justice. Unlike the traditional portrayals of Justice, she isn’t blindfolded — rather, she keeps her eyes wide open while performing her duties. Astrologically, Justice is linked with the Zodiac sign of Libra.

However, back in the day, the Strength and Justice cards weren’t placed there.

Strength vs Justice: Tarot de Marseille Deck

Traditionally, the Tarot de Marseille decks had the Justice card as the 8th, and the Strength card as the 11th card in the Major Arcana.

The images were pretty much the same as they are today – just the numbering was different.

Justice still sat on a throne with a sword in one hand and a pair of scales in the other, while Strength still tamed a wild lion and wore a hat that had the shape of an Ouruboros. Justice was still astrologically associated with the sign of Libra, while Strength was linked to Leo.

Changes like these don’t come easy—after all, we were looking at a placement that had been accepted as the norm for over 100 years.

Strength vs Justice: The controversy

The traditional placement of Strength and Justice in the Tarot de Marseille decks did not align the Major Arcana cards with the natural order of the astrological signs. However, from a numerological point of view, this placement made a lot of sense. 8 is the number of balance, and therefore Justice sits just right in this situation.

The Tarot de Marseille cards were rooted in the core principles of Numerology. The Minor Arcana cards were typically interpreted using a combination of the qualities of the Suit Element combined with the qualities of the card number. Therefore, one can argue that this placement was more in keeping with the numerological system than the astrological system.

However, with the new placement in the Rider-Waite-Smith decks, the natural order of the astrological signs had been preserved. Strength/Leo was in position 8 and Justice/Libra was in position 11, in alignment with the order of the Zodiac signs.

Although Waite was criticized for changing the traditional placement of these cards, the placement makes more sense from an Astrological perspective. According to Waite, this was, in fact, the true order of the cards in the Major Arcana. The earlier order, it was implied, was created to keep people from learning the truth.

Strength vs Justice: How Does It Matter for Us?

As I have always said, the cards of the Major Arcana tell a story – a story of the Journey of The Divine Fool. They depict this journey as it moves through all the 3 planes of existence – the Material plane, the Mind plane and the Spiritual plane.

So let’s see how both these placements (of the Strength and the Justice cards) make sense in the Journey of the Fool.

Strength vs Justice: The Fool’s Journey (Traditional Style)

In the traditional placement, Strength is Trump 11, and Justice is Trump 8.

So, if we arrange the cards of the Major Arcana in 3 rows of 7 cards each (of course, keeping The Fool card outside), we can see the placement of the Strength and Justice cards in the second row.

If we look at the Journey of the Fool in this particular manner, the journey appears like this:

The Fool begins his journey with a bag of hidden talents and ideas, despite all the hurdles in his path.

Strength vs Justice: Traditional Style: On the Material Plane

The Fool transforms into The Magician who opens his bag full of ideas and talents to manifest his desires in the outer world. He then aligns with his inner self and secret esoteric knowledge through The High Priestess. Then, the Fool transforms into The Empress whose maternal energies nourish The Emperor, who rules his realm with discipline and order. The Fool then learns his way through the rules and regulations of society and religion in The Hierophant, and chooses his partner in The Lovers card. He then embarks upon a journey in The Chariot to make his mark in the world, to grow and accomplish his ambitions.

Strength vs Justice: Traditional Style: On the Mind Plane

The Fool now weighs the pros and cons of his actions, and with true Justice, decides upon the next parts of this journey. He centers upon his inner wisdom, in his solitude as The Hermit, even consulting the wisdom of others who went before him. This wisdom shows him the cycles of cause and effect that keep The Wheel turning in the various planes of existence, including on the Karmic. This knowledge gives The Fool the deep inner (and outer) Strength required to tame and control his animal urges. After unlocking his compassion, The Fool shifts his perspective. In The Hanged Man, he sees a different side of the story — one he hasn’t seen before. His old self, now no longer his true self, undergoes a metaphorical Death. All the parts of himself that weren’t relevant anymore were discarded. Finally, in Temperance, he alchemizes this into a transformative experience that elevates him to the level of a Master.

Strength vs Justice: Traditional Style: On the Spiritual Plane

The Fool must now come face-to-face with the suppressed dark desires in The Devil, and consider his attachments to material pleasures. At this point, the Universe steps in to shake up the structures that The Fool has been building, consciously and unconsciously. These structures were the foundations and the support systems he’d built in his life. The shake-up of The Tower throws The Fool out of that framework, and he lands under The Stars. Bare naked but free from all that restricted his Spiritual progress, The Fool now detaches his mind from attachments. He is now positive and open to what the Universe has to reveal. Now, he fearlessly dives into the emotional waves of The Moon and walks through the threshold of darkness, taking life’s contradictions in stride. The dark night of the Soul now transforms into the bright light of The Sun, unlocking The Fool’s inner child. He looks at his other self with love and acceptance as the trumpets blow, signaling Judgment Day. Free from all Karmic cycles, The Fool is now closing all the open loops and tying all the loose ends of his Journey. And when that is done, The Fool dances in tune with the eternal music of the Universe. The World is now open to him, and he has become the goal that he had been seeking all along.

Wow! That was quite a power-packed Fool’s Journey story!

Now, let’s see how this story can be told with the cards and images of the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot Deck.

Strength vs Justice: The Fool’s Journey (Modern Version)

In this changed placement, Strength is Trump 8, while Justice is Trump 11. So again, if the cards are arranged in 3 rows of 7 cards each, with The Fool card kept outside, the Majors would look like the arrangement above.

Let’s now look at the Journey of The Fool with this placement:

The Fool begins his journey with a bag of his hidden talents and takes the leap into the unknown.

Strength vs Justice: Modern Version: On the Material Plane

The Fool transforms into The Magician, who connects with the Universe and channels its energy to manifest his desires into the world. He then encounters The High Priestess, discovers his hidden inner self and subconscious, and learns deep secrets hidden within him. The Fool then grows and matures into The Empress, who nourishes The Emperor, who brings structure and order with his discipline and hard work. Within this structure, The Hierophant sets down the rules of society via the regulations of religion. It is during this learning process that The Fool awakens to his sexuality within The Lovers, and chooses to accept the true insights that arrive with embracing his other self with love and joy. Then, The Fool sets out in The Chariot to prove himself by achieving success and victory in the Material Plane.

Strength vs Justice: Modern Version: On the Mind Plane

Victory on the Material Plane enabled The Fool to also achieve victory over his inner beast. He used his inner Strength to tame his ego. This compassion enabled him to seek guidance from his inner self, and from other teachers and mentors. The Hermit analyzed the insights gained so far in solitude and contemplation. The Fool then unlocked the deeper knowledge about the cause and effect of Karmic and other cycles in The Wheel of Fortune. These cycles were governed by the rules and regulations set and enforced by Divine and Karmic Justice. This information totally changed everything. The Fool now saw a different perspective of Existence from his upside-down position as The Hanged Man. Now that the old perspective had outlived its usefulness, it was time for it to go. This metaphorical Death of his old worldview meant that The Fool had now transformed into a Master as Temperance.

Strength vs Justice: Modern Version: On the Spiritual Plane

The wisdom of the Master also shows The Fool how deeply he is still tied down to the Material Plane. His inner demons and fears have transformed themselves into The Devil, who is locked within the shadow self. However, the Universe steps in. The walls of this dark structure are built on the foundations laid down by the old self. The Tower, therefore, must be struck down and destroyed. When it collapses, The Fool is thrown down, free from all the inner and outer shackles. Bare and true, The Stars in the sky give him Hope. He lets go of what he still held on to, and opens up to the Universe. He walks past the threshold of his fears, in the light of The Moon. He can now sense the ebb and flow of the Universe. This dark night of the Soul finally sees the warm sunlight of the day! The Sun pours light upon The Fool, who has now transformed into his true self — a divine child. He can now see the truth, and so he rides forward. When the trumpets of Judgment Day make their sound, The Fool is now ready to wrap up all his ties and attachments. The World is that one final loop that comes to a close. The Fool, now transformed into his full potential, is at one with the Universe, dancing upon its waves and floating among the clouds.

Wow! Another powerful storyline!

Strength vs Justice: What does all this add up to?

Strength vs Justice: On the Spiritual Plane

Now that we’ve examined the Fool’s Journey from both perspectives, we can see how it makes sense either way. Whether Strength comes first or Justice, the Fool goes through a journey of awareness, discovery, and understanding and evolves into The World.

Strength vs Justice: On the mental Plane

No matter which version you worked with, or liked and preferred, it didn’t change the meanings of the Strength and the Justice cards. The imagery still delivers the insights the card is said to convey.

Both journeys were powerful and impactful, and they delivered the same ending to the storyline, as it were. The path only twisted slightly at the junctions of Strength and Justice, wherever they may have been placed. The final destination was always the same.

Strength vs Justice: On the Practical Plane

This is a relief when you are doing your Tarot Card Readings. This means that while the insights you can gain from looking at The Fool’s Journey from either perspective will give you more knowledge, insight, and understanding, the practical aspects of your Tarot life won’t suffer because of it.

This is why I look at the Tarot Cards as a lovely tool to work with, both for the purposes of inner guidance as well as divination.

Your Turn

What do you think of both these placements of Strength vs Justice? Do you have a particular preference? Does any particular placement of the Strength and Justice cards make a lot of innate sense to you? Does the placement matter to you when you do your readings, or choose a Tarot card deck?

Let’s get talking in the comments section below.

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