"Strength" : Original Artwork by Karien Bredenkamp
"Strength" : Mat Boards that Original and Limited Edition Prints get shipped in

"Strength"

$39.00
Print Or Original?:Limited Edition Print
Quantity:
Only 42 units left

Prints: Limited edition of 50

About The Artwork:

“Strength” is a black and white art piece that reinterprets the Strength card of the tarot. Two feminine hands rise from a rocky mountain and support the head of a lion, pointing softly toward a star. The lion wears a crown of flowers, and an infinity sign hovers above it. The power in the image comes from gentleness rather than force.

The lion is one of the most widespread symbols of power, courage, and rule. In ancient Egypt, the lioness goddess Sekhmet embodied both destruction and healing. In Hindu tradition, the goddess Durga is often shown riding a lion, fierce strength directed by a calm will. In the Bible, the Lion of Judah stands for kingship and authority. In “Strength,” the lion is crowned with flowers instead of gold, its power softened rather than defeated.

Mountains stand for permanence, endurance, and closeness to the sacred. In Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, Mount Meru is the axis at the center of the universe. Moses receives the law on Mount Sinai. In China, Mount Tai is so tied to stability that “as steady as Mount Tai” is a common expression. A mountain sits in the background of Pamela Colman Smith’s 1909 Strength card. Here it moves to the foreground, and the hands grow directly from the rock.

Hands express care, protection, and intention. The hamsa, an open hand found across the Middle East and North Africa, is a sign of protection. In Buddhist art, the abhaya mudra, a raised open palm, signifies fearlessness. In Christian tradition, the laying on of hands conveys blessing and healing. In “Strength,” the hands support the lion rather than restrain it, and they point toward a star, directing that strength toward something beyond force.

The infinity sign, or lemniscate, represents the endless and unbroken. The mathematician John Wallis introduced it in 1655, but the idea is older: the ouroboros, a serpent swallowing its own tail, carried a similar meaning in ancient Egyptian and Greek alchemical imagery. In tarot, the lemniscate appears above the figures on both the Magician and Strength cards. Above the lion in “Strength,” it marks a force that is lasting rather than spent in a single act.

Together, these elements describe strength as patience and restraint rather than domination. The tarot card shows instinct met with compassion instead of fear, and “Strength” follows that reading: rooted in the mountain, extended through open hands, steady in the face of raw power. Moving the flower crown from the woman to the lion shifts the focus to what is changed by care. This black and white art piece is about power held steady rather than forced.

"Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it." ― Rainer Maria Rilke