SUN and STRENGTH: easier said than done?

[seaglass]

I recently got SUN and STRENGTH as the "key" to what will help me in my current situation.

(I used my Marseilles deck, no reversals.)

I get that both cards are about freedom, creativity, consciousness guiding primal instinct, maybe what we'd call the masculine principle. I mean, they sound totally glorious and wonderful... Sure, I'd love to be the Sun, to be Strength. I'd love to be a radiant, primal, powerful creature of consciousness.

But it just seems easier said than done to me. Some cards as advice I find easier to follow, like Empress or Hermit. But with the higher level Majors (I follow the system where Strength is numbered 11, not 8), I find it harder to just "will" these qualities into happening. While I'm talking, I guess I'll mention that I see the Wands as lower echoes of both Sun and Strength, and I have a similar issue there. Maybe this is a personal flaw, and it's hard for me to just summon courage and vitality for their own sake?

I guess I'm writing here to see what your thoughts are about how to achieve SUN-STRENGTH, steps to take, that kind of thing. I've seen other posts on this forum about this combo, but I was not satisfied with the answers. Maybe we can generate more clarity here?

Thank you!

 

[laurence]

In this combo, Strenght comes after the Sun. To me, Strenght is deprived of the Sun's love and energy and she (strenght) either doubts the sun and do not bring her creative energy to the combo, or she seems alone and observes the love of the cosmic father as something that she is deprived of: the sun gives to everyone but Her.
Be aware that I was very influenced by Jodorowsky when I studied the Marseilles.

So, maybe the key is to come to terms with the Masculine energy (action, father): It can be too idealised or despised. A new creative beginning (Strenght =11 in Marseilles!) cannot be possible without the masculine energy.

Strenght in the Marseille represents the start of an activity or a stage of life placed under the sign of instinct and creativity, It's like the emergence of a primal and natural authority demanding to express Itself (That's why we wonder whether the lady in the Strenght lets the animal express or tries to bridle It).
In my humble opinion , this combination is not "well balanced" as the strenght really turns back on the Sun.
It could be that you currently restrict yourself, you do not let your true wish to be aknowledged. You need to trust ( sun) your pure will ( strenght).
It could also be that you need to let your real needs to come to light, to be aknowledged.

It's awfully not creative but I hope It makes sense.

 

[Intotouch]

I think of the majors more as big energies/events/ archetypes that we experience or that act on us rather than things that we have to manifest or will into being. So if I get Strength I know that Strength that I need will manifest. It will act on me if you like. Strength does in fact appear sometimes when I need it, even if I'm feeling weak or vulnerable sometimes it just emerges as if by magic. It usually comes up though when I will need to be strong and wrestle with a lion so in that there is something of a warning. The Sun is often joy in life and in freedom and in purely being. I don't see that one contradicts the other. To make a more accurate interpretation I would prefer to know the context of the reading and the position of the cards.

 

[seaglass]

In this combo, Strenght comes after the Sun. To me, Strenght is deprived of the Sun's love and energy and she (strenght) either doubts the sun and do not bring her creative energy to the combo, or she seems alone and observes the love of the cosmic father as something that she is deprived of: the sun gives to everyone but Her.
Be aware that I was very influenced by Jodorowsky when I studied the Marseilles.

So, maybe the key is to come to terms with the Masculine energy (action, father): It can be too idealised or despised. A new creative beginning (Strenght =11 in Marseilles!) cannot be possible without the masculine energy.

Strenght in the Marseille represents the start of an activity or a stage of life placed under the sign of instinct and creativity, It's like the emergence of a primal and natural authority demanding to express Itself (That's why we wonder whether the lady in the Strenght lets the animal express or tries to bridle It).
In my humble opinion , this combination is not "well balanced" as the strenght really turns back on the Sun.
It could be that you currently restrict yourself, you do not let your true wish to be aknowledged. You need to trust ( sun) your pure will ( strenght).
It could also be that you need to let your real needs to come to light, to be aknowledged.

It's awfully not creative but I hope It makes sense.

Hello, Laurence! Sorry for the slow response. I, too, am a big fan of Jodorowsky's writing on the Marseilles, so I'm not sure if it was obvious that his interpretations have helped shape mine.

I think the idea of Strength turning her back on the Sun is telling, because I do restrict myself. I also think that I may have been deprived of the "sunlight" as you suggested. Coming to terms with the masculine energy seems to be the key here indeed.

 

[seaglass]

I think of the majors more as big energies/events/ archetypes that we experience or that act on us rather than things that we have to manifest or will into being. So if I get Strength I know that Strength that I need will manifest. It will act on me if you like. Strength does in fact appear sometimes when I need it, even if I'm feeling weak or vulnerable sometimes it just emerges as if by magic. It usually comes up though when I will need to be strong and wrestle with a lion so in that there is something of a warning. The Sun is often joy in life and in freedom and in purely being. I don't see that one contradicts the other. To make a more accurate interpretation I would prefer to know the context of the reading and the position of the cards.

Hi Intotouch, the reading used only majors and was about crossing a hurdle in life. I was told by the cards that my path was Judgment and Star, and to get there I would have to be Sun and Strength.

I'm not sure how to let these majors act on me, as you suggested, besides being receptive and aware.