Strength
Chesed to Geburah (Mercy to Severity)
The Letter Teth (ט)
Meaning: Serpent, primal energy, coiled power
Teth means "Snake" or "Serpent," also "coiled." It symbolizes the Kundalini energy or libido—primal life force waiting to be awakened and integrated. Its shape is a serpent with its head raised, or a vessel/basket containing power. Gematria 9 is the number of Yesod (foundation) and completion. Teth is a Simple Letter associated with Leo (The Lion).
Connecting Sephiroth
From expansion to restriction through love
📜 The Intelligence of the Secret of all Spiritual Activities
The alchemical fusion of opposites—balancing expansive mercy and restrictive severity through gentle mastery.
⚔️ Challenge
Taming the Beast—controlling raw animal nature without suppression
🎁 Gift
Courage and vitality—the power of love over force
Path Interpretation
Connecting Chesed (Mercy) and Geburah (Severity), the 19th Path is the horizontal bar of the Ethical Triangle, balancing Jupiter's expansion and Mars's restriction. Teth is the serpent—coiled kundalini energy. Strength bridges mercy and severity through the gentle mastery of primal forces, taming the lion through love rather than force. This is the only horizontal path connecting these polar Sephiroth.
✨ Spiritual Lesson
True strength is gentle. The primal forces within you respond to love, not domination. The woman calmly opens the lion's mouth not through force but through inner power—the integration of instinct and spirit.
🃏 The Tarot Card
Card Imagery
A woman gently closing (or opening) the mouth of a lion. The infinity symbol floats above her head. There is no violence—only patient, loving mastery of the primal force. The lion yields willingly.
Meditation Use
Cultivating courage, vitality, and handling anger or passion. The Strength meditation integrates the animal nature through love rather than suppression.
Common Misunderstanding
That it means physical strength or domination. The card represents moral strength, inner fortitude, and the power of gentle persistence—love as the ultimate force.
⭐ Golden Dawn Correspondences
🧘 Pathworking Meditation
Walk through a hot savannah. You encounter a lion. Instead of running, you approach it with love. The serpent power (Teth) rises in your spine as you and the lion become allies.
Best Timing
Sign of Leo (July 23-August 22)
Signs of Activation
Heat, heart palpitations, encounters with cats, feeling a surge of libido or vital energy, situations requiring courage
Warnings
Lust, arrogance, or being consumed by one's own passions—"the lion eats the trainer." Suppressing rather than integrating primal energy.
🧠 Psychological Dimension
Psychological Meaning
Path 19 is Libido Integration—the alchemical "Green Lion." It involves accepting one's animal drives (sex, aggression) and sublimating them into creative or spiritual power. The serpent and lion both represent raw life force.
Shadow Aspect
Narcissism and rage. Using "strength" to dominate rather than integrate. Sexual excess or complete suppression—either extreme misses the path.
🔮 Path States
✓ Open/Flowing
When flowing freely, you access deep reserves of courage and vitality. Primal energies serve your higher purpose. You face fears with quiet confidence.
✗ Blocked
A blocked 19th Path manifests as fear, exhaustion, feeling overwhelmed by passions, or complete disconnection from vital energy.
⚠ Excess
Too much 19th Path energy leads to pride, domination, using power to control rather than serve, and inflation of the ego through identification with primal force.
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Common Questions
What does Path 19 represent in Kabbalah?
Path 19 balances mercy and severity—the only horizontal path connecting these polar Sephiroth. Strength represents the inner power that harmonizes compassion with necessary boundaries through gentle mastery.
Why is Teth (serpent) associated with Strength?
Both serpent and lion are symbols of the Life Force. The Serpent is the energy in potential (coiled kundalini); the Lion is the energy in action (roaring vitality). Path 19 manages the flow between Mercy and Severity using this raw fuel.
Why is the woman stronger than the lion?
She represents the higher self that masters the animal nature not through suppression but through loving integration. Her strength is spiritual and moral—the power of consciousness to transform instinct.
What is the relationship between Strength and the Chariot?
The Chariot controls opposing forces through willpower and containment. Strength controls through love and gentle integration. Together they show two aspects of mastery—external discipline and internal transformation.
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