Keywords (Upright): passion, divine intoxication, spiritual strength, embodiment, fearless desire Keywords (Reversed): repression, fear of power, excess, shame, loss of direction
Thelemic Context & Why the Change
In the Thoth Tarot, Aleister Crowley renamed the traditional Strength card to Lust, shifting it from Trump VIII to Trump XI. This wasn’t a minor edit—it was a bold rejection of Victorian restraint in favor of the ecstatic, fearless power central to Thelemic philosophy.
Crowley retained the Golden Dawn correspondences—Teth (ט) as the Hebrew letter, and Leo (♌︎) as the astrological symbol—but infused the archetype with Thelemic fire. For Crowley, Lust meant not indulgence, but union with True Will through rapture, courage, and power. This card does not ask you to tame the Beast—it asks you to become one with it.
Symbolism in the Thoth Tarot
The card’s central figure is Babalon, the Thelemic embodiment of divine feminine force, riding the Beast of Revelation. She is naked, unashamed, triumphant, holding the Holy Graal, overflowing with liquid fire. Her union with the Beast is not submission—it is sovereignty through surrender.
The swirling background of red, gold, and violet evokes Leo, fire, and the sephira Binah—representing divine understanding and the womb of transformation. Lust is not simply passion—it is the sacred intoxication of divine embodiment.
Lust Tarot Card Meaning: Upright
When Lust appears upright, it is a call to embrace your full power—spiritual, sexual, creative—without shame or fear. It’s an invitation to become who you truly are by merging with your Will.
Key Upright Interpretations:
Spiritual Passion: You are being called to live fully and fearlessly, embodying divine purpose with joy.
Creative Power: Energy is rising within you—channel it into art, love, movement, or transformation.
Union with Will: Let go of inhibition. Your power lies not in controlling the Beast—but in riding it, joyously.
This card invites embodied initiation. The Lust tarot card meaning in its upright form is sacred ecstasy—a reminder that true power comes from wholeness, not suppression.
Lust Tarot Card Meaning: Reversed
When Lust is reversed, it reflects disconnection from one’s vitality or fear of personal power. This may show up as repression, shame, or loss of direction through overindulgence or dissociation.
Key Reversed Interpretations:
Suppressed Desire: You may be denying your instincts or afraid to express your true passions.
Fear of Power: There could be inner tension around embracing leadership, sensuality, or visibility.
Scattered Energy: Desire without direction can lead to burnout or dependency on fantasy or stimulation.
In reversal, the Lust tarot card meaning warns against false control or self-negation. To live half-heartedly is to withhold your truth from the world. Let your fire flow—but with sacred intent.
Summary: The Power of Ecstasy
Lust is not a card of indulgence—it is holy intoxication with divine purpose. Upright, it is the union of body, will, and soul in radiant power. Reversed, it reflects inner blocks, fear, or the misuse of vital energy.
The question it poses is simple but profound:
Do you dare to drink from the Graal—and become who you truly are?