The Tower Tarot Card: The Tower card depicts a man and woman falling from a tall tower engulfed by flames. At the top of the tower, a crown is being blown off by the lightning. The masculine figure is wearing a blue tunic and a red cape. The feminine is wearing blue with red shoes and a crown. The background is black and there are 22 small yellow flames painted against the black. There are 3 windows but no door to the tower.
The Story of The Tower Tarot Card: We all have our blind spots - all those places in ourselves where we don’t know what we don’t know. The places where we don’t even have enough information to ask good questions, much less find answers. The black background of this card represents our blind spots - all the assumptions we have about being right and on track but couldn’t be further from the truth. The places where we are striving for an ideal but are digging in the wrong direction.
The crown at the top of the tower and on the head of the woman falling from the tower represent our stubbornly held beliefs. The beliefs that prevent us from quieting our minds and being receptive to higher wisdom. The tower itself represents a dogmatic rigidity that can unconsciously manifest in anyone. In spirituality, it can manifest when you think that to grow, things have to be a certain way and that you have to do specific practices or repress certain parts of yourself because they are ‘not spiritual.’
On every evolutionary journey, there comes a time when stuck, ingrained patterns, ideas, ideals, and beliefs refuse to give way to new thoughts and spiritual insights. It is not always out of stubbornness or vanity that these beliefs are held. It could simply be too painful to see past those beliefs. It could be that you’ve spent decades pursuing happiness based on a certain belief in the way it is ‘supposed to be’ and that you have internal resistance to receiving happiness when it tries to come to you another way. Your beliefs could even be about serving people or doing good in the world. But any beliefs, no matter how philanthropic or benevolent, always lead to a stagnant identity and dogmatism.
When these internalized beliefs conflict with the deeper part of ourselves that really wants to abide in truth, a massive amount of tension builds over time. This happens when the liberating energies you are praying for are trying to come in through your crown, but your ability to understand them and surrender your ingrained conceptions of what is supposed to be are blocking the flow. When you unconsciously resist the very things that you are praying for, eventually things explode and it feels like a breaking of The Tower.
When a lightning strike comes into your life and shatters your tower, it may seem sudden, but in truth, it is an explosion that has been building for ages by the time it becomes visible to you. In fact, the conflicting energies would most likely first manifest in ‘mini towers.’ These would be things that happen throughout your day or week that produce anger, frustration, helplessness, or sorrow on a regular basis. When conflicts of this kind start to build up in your life, work, and relationships, they are markers that are telling you that you’re huddled up in your tower and refusing to be flexible or open to the unknown.
If you ignore the smaller signs in your life, the tension builds up and creates an explosion. It can show up as an illness, a divorce, a need for a new job, or anything that throws a wrench in your plans and makes you feel anywhere from frustrated to outright devastated by loss. Even though we usually can’t understand it when it’s happening, however, the gift of the explosion is always a huge mercy, and generally speaking, the answer to your prayers.
This fact is illustrated by the 22 little flames representing the 22 Tarot cards, which are the entirety of the Book of Wisdom. They are like a parent grabbing hold of a child’s hand before touching a flame; it may hurt and scare the child, but it is the best thing for them. The lightning strike isn’t out of vengeance and it certainly isn’t a punishment. This strike is the greatest gift you’ll ever get from your higher self. It is the answer to your prayers even though it may not feel like it at all when it comes.
Association with Mars: The Tower card is associated with the planet Mars, representing courage, boldness, and fierce reflections of truth. It takes huge courage, after all, to face uncomfortable truths in yourself or to offer them to others. It takes boldness to stand up for what you believe in, especially if it is against convention or against your culture. You especially need boldness, however, when you are realigning with your spiritual flow against your own ingrained identity. It can take fierce determination to admit that you’ve been striving for something in the wrong way for years. The association with Mars tells us that to face yourself, you must be a warrior at heart and be willing to face both failure and humiliation on your path to becoming more.
When to use The Tower Card: Use this card when you know there is something inside you that is stuck. When you feel that you are hitting your head against a wall or trying the same thing over and over again to no avail. Use it when you can see that an unconscious pattern or desire is ruling over your actions and that it is time to be receptive to your spirit and surrender to the unknown.
Also, use this card if your spiritual path seems to be taking you into a place of disconnection (living alone in a doorless tower) rather than connection. This may be an indicator that you have unconscious patterns of unworthiness or a belief that to be spiritual means to be alone, rejected, and isolated. A belief of this sort is entirely untrue and actually, to be spiritual, means to be vulnerable in connection with all of life; feeling fulfilled, loved, and nourished by your interactions. Not avoiding humanity, but surrendering fully to your spirit as it becomes more and more embodied in human form.
Altar Cloth / Tapestry details:
~ 100% microfiber Polyester
~ Hemmed edges for extra durability to ensure years of use
~ Advanced tapestry and altar cloth printing techniques guarantee crisp image detail
~ Multiple sizes (26x36 in, 50x60 in, 68x80 in, 88x104 in)
