We have officially arrived at the Tower, perhaps one of the most unwanted tarot cards in the deck. The Tower, even for those (like me) who value and appreciate this card, is no joke. It is a card that brings forward a lot of edges. Ultimately, these edges will cut away what doesn’t serve us, but that doesn’t mean we don’t feel the sting of sharpness.
I am one of the tarot readers who will find the good or the blessings in any card, and the Tower provides lots of blessings. I do not think any card is simply bad or should be unwanted. My goal with every deep dive that I do is to provide you with an in-depth understanding of how to read this card in a way that serves.
So, don’t fear the Tower. We are moving through it, and we must if we want to evolve and reclaim our wild selves. So, let’s get into this card. First, looking at the numerology, we have 16. From one of my favorite websites, it says:
“The number 16 is a karmic number. This means that there could potentially be terrifying life lessons following the 16. The most important experience is the lesson of transcendence – meaning that you need to learn at a deep level that everything in this life is transient and that everything will die, perish, get consumed by existence, and return to nothingness. This aspect can lead to extreme inner anxiety, making the number 16 difficult to master.”
We will see how the Tower is a profound teacher, but one that teaches through experience, especially the hard ones. Click here to read the full article.
Freedom into Chaos into Freedom Again with the Tower
We have just come through the Devil (I have done a deep dive into every card, so back through the archives), and the Devil was the card that helped us break the chains that limit us and hold us down. The Devil liberates us from the shadow through the integration of the shadow. With the Devil, we look internally and sit with the truth, no matter how hard it is, to find a way to free ourselves from the burdens that keep us from being authentic. Once we do that, the ripple effect of the Tower comes in. The external mirrors the internal, ultimately destroying what doesn’t serve our freedom. However, in the moment, all we can do is surrender and just let the structures fall.
The first way that I read the Tower is: Rite of passage- once you are free from that which was holding you back, all that was within your old systems or structures falls away. Once we start the process of evolving, it isn’t just the internal self that is going to be changed. Our external lives must change as well so that the new us fits into the environment. If we changed in a myriad of ways internally, but nothing changed on the outside, then the change didn’t really stick.
This is why the Tower is hard to sit with; the vortex of chaos that swirls from internal to external can make us feel like we have no control, and like we are losing our minds. One of the greatest lessons that comes with this rite of passage is learning how to keep holding to oneself amidst the chaos and find a trust that surpasses proof, validation, or even reality itself. With this card, we learn how to hold on, not let go back into old ways, and keep daring to believe that the storm will pass.
Main invitations with Death:
1. Rite of passage- once you are free from that which was holding you back, all that was within your old systems or structures falls away
2. The initiation of the big change needed for your evolution
3. Upheaval brings intense insight, sudden shifts- reveals if the foundation is solid
The next way that I read the Tower is: The Tower is the initiation of the big change needed for your evolution. Once the chains are tossed aside by the Devil, we have to step into the destruction that comes with the Tower. That destruction and chaos creates a void, or a levelling, where we rebuild on the foundation what we need to evolve and reclaim our wild selves. If we try to simply add things on here or there, we are trying to improve on something that, at its core, is a detriment to our growth.
Think of it this way, you buy a house that you know needs to be condemned. You don’t simply put new windows or new gutters on the house and try to polish it up. You level the house and rebuild from the foundation up. Another example would be: you have a job that you loved, or wanted to make a change in because of the love, or what you believe. You soon realize, though, that this job doesn’t support or care about you. You wouldn’t try to shift departments, or if you did, the problems still persist. You have to leave for your peace, and to make the change you wish to make at a place that will see and value you.
The last way that I read The Tower: Upheaval brings intense insight, sudden shifts, and reveals if the foundation is solid. Like it or not, it is the upheaval, destructive forces, or great changes in our lives that often provide the greatest insight into what we need to do to evolve in better, more positive ways. When everything in life is sunshine and roses, we revel in the beauty of it, but we can also find where we have become complacent or too comfortable.
The Tower is a card that uproots you, and it is supposed to do that. The Tower is doing its job when it brings upheaval, chaos, and destruction. We don’t like this, and in the moment we don’t value it, but at some point we will see the value it brought to our lives (upcoming with the Star). The Tower reveals if the foundation is solid and can be built on again. It may reveal cracks and shifts. Our lives are made easier by knowing this truth. To again use the reference of the house, if you tore down a house because of all the issues, and once the rubble is gone, you realize the foundation is bad, you need to know that. Rebuilding on a bad foundation would only bring the same set of problems.
Symbolism and Imagery of the Tower
The Tower is one of the only physical structures we have to work with in the Majors, with the other two being the Chariot and the Wheel of Fortune. Because these are physical structures, and not titles (like the Emperor), or planetary objects or traits, one of the teachings is: how do we work with this structure from a place of rewilding? This means we have to look at our attachments to these structures and how we engage with them in our lives.
The Tower was once a place of comfort, grandeur, or identity. As we will see with the symbolism, it is hard to let go of this physical stronghold, but again, that is the lesson. Some people never come down or out of their towers. Even when the lightning hits and the chaos ensues, they will pick their sore bodies back up and go right back in. No matter how much the Tower shuts them away from life, they cannot handle the discomfort of being without the Tower. Letting go of the Tower, the Chariot, or the Wheel of Fortune allows us to embrace something bigger, even when it is scary.
So let’s get into the symbolism with this card. Some key pieces of symbolism we will see are fire, lightning, structures, or tall things being brough low.
- Starting at the very top with the Ostara Tarot, we have my favorite depiction. The Tower is an inferno, and it falling, but the Doves inside the tower are finally able to fly free. Now, they can be seen and spread their symbolic message of hope and peace for others, and not be locked away.
- From the Mystical Dream Tarot, we have a tower emerging from a huge skull. The moon at the third eye speaks to intuitive insight, and the Sun in the mouth shows a need to relinquish conventional understandings. The symbolism of death with the skull shows what is no longer, but makes way for what is to come.
- From the Grimalkin’s Curious Cat Tarot, we see some cats who were living in this structure, and now the wrecking ball has come. Here, the message is that comfortable doesn’t mean aligned. A dilapidated house may be a structure, but it’s not a home.
- From the Herbcrafter’s Tarot, the herbal accompaniment is Mushroom. Mushrooms feed on the decay of the old tree and fertilize the soil for new growth to be supported.
- From the Spirit Animal Tarot, we have Serpent, and the Tower has been renamed the Quickener. The Serpent is a symbol of transformation and Kundalini energy. Kundalini is the potent divine energy that lies dormant at the base of the spine. Through various means, we awaken our Kundalini energy. When we do this, illusions and false perceptions are shattered. We change who we are and how we engage with the world. The Serpent tightens his coils around the old and outdated structure, so that we may transform.
- From the Guardian of the Night Tarot, we have a tree full of vultures. Similar to Mushroom, Vultures eat the dead flesh of animals already killed. In doing this, they protect the whole ecosystem from diseases and widespread bacteria. This helps needed nutrients go back into the soil, and even helps with carbon emissions. Vultures will form groups for protection and warmth. When the Tower comes, lean into your community.
- From the Nightmare Before Christmas Tarot, we see Jack’s tower, and him toiling away with the idea of how to take over Christmas. This idea ultimately leads to his demise, but he is reborn when he realizes how he is truly the Pumpkin King, and Christmas is not for him.
- With the last card above, we have a forest fire with the Bird King Tarot. Forest fires can start from the smallest spark and lead to severe destruction. While it is true that fires replenish the land, I think here the Tower shows that we have to change our ways to stop the climate crisis.
- The Tower from the Tarot of Dragons shows a similar depiction to the Serpent. The Dragon coils and crushes the building. No matter how beautiful, we are not immune to life. The Tower asks us to detach our ego from these perceptions and let the wild spirit find interconnection through more humble means.
- From the Shadowscapes Tarot, we see another building hit by lightning. Lightning causes immediate destruction and comes from nowhere. When the Tower comes, we must recognize that all we can do is rebuild or move once the destruction happens. We are not fully in control of life.
From my last four:
- The Hush Tarot shows a group of birds who commune on top of a crumbling tower. Does the tower provide safety and a new place to nest, or would it be better to find another place? That is what Tower asks you to decide.
- From the Crow Tarot, we see a similar scene. The clock tower is an interesting symbol, though. Clock towers symbolize time (of course), but also community, and ingenuity. They become landmarks and focal points for others. The scene therefore, depicts one where greater, more uncontrollable forces are at play.
- From the Wild Unknown Tarot, we see lightning hitting the tallest tree. Here, the tree looks similar to the Emperor (read here), showing that even the mightiest of titles cannot hold back the cycles of life and destruction. We are better leaders when we fight for others, the world, and the climate, and do so with humility.
- From the Dark Wood Tarot, we see a figure falling out of the Tower. The old witch falls away and is reborn into a new, aligned, and more empowered witch to initiate greater conjurings, which equals change.
Thank you for reading. May this deep dive serve you, and your readings well. May it help you reclaim your wild nature, and destroy the cages that seek to confine you!
Ashlie
Ashlie McDiarmid
Hello there! I hope you liked this blog post. As a tarot and oracle reader, my goal with my blogs is to offer you content, resources, and access to the tools that have transformed my life.
I believe that your own intuition is the deepest form of knowing, but here in my little corner of the internet, I share insights based in intuition and instinct. I share my love for nature, witchcraft, and the wild spirit.
- If your spirit is at home in wild places
- If you feel the need to claim your autonomy as ritual
- If you want to more deeply trust your own intuition
- If you want resources or connections to tarot, oracle, witchcraft, and wild sovereignty, then welcome!
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