Sally Anne Stephen

LITERATAROT
LA FORZA XI Strength
The Color Purple

So many of the traditional interpretations and keywords for the Strength card personify the character of Celie in this story. Finding one's way to meet adverse force head on with benevolence and compassion is indeed a central theme throughout. And as we discover, the strongest souls don't always win the match by overpowering the will, but quite often countering with an unexpected reaction is what ends up subverting the opponent's advantage. Celie keeps her innocent spirit safely tucked away among the words of her letters and despite the many unbearable circumstances she faces along her road, she somehow manages to persevere through a substantial part of it without any conscious sense of her own self-worth.
Finding love and understanding, reconciling the forces of the past - with others in her life as well as herself, finally frees Celie's heart and allows her to discover and embrace her personal power.
The card's image shows us a woman whose life story can be accurately gauged by the depth of her expression, occasionally pausing to read between the lines in her face and finding solace among hopes and dreams as could only be seen though her eyes. Always at her side, the young girl that she never really got to be, yet to whom she remains true in her heart. The iron shackles symbolic of another era of oppression have come loose, no longer holding the spirit captive. And should we ever need to find our own Strength within, a reminder to notice the color purple as we pass by the fields.

Bio (CV)

Sally Anne Stephen currently lives a charmed life in Cincinnati, Ohio. In the early 1980's, she attended college at John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, yet has worked in a completely unrelated to the arts career all of her adult life. Ever the optimist, she has not given up on her childhood dream to "be an artist". Sally Anne became enamored of Tarot art several years ago and as a result, now has a considerable collection of decks. Among her very favorites are decks which have been self-published by many of the artists who are also contributing to this collaborative for the LiteraTarot deck. She has taken part in several other Tarot and non-Tarot artist collaborative projects over the years, and is currently working with her friend and noted Tarot historian, Ron Decker designing a deck which follows his research of the Etteilla Tarot. Sally Anne has created two major arcana Tarot decks of her own, which can be viewed online .