XVI The Tower

This card has its energies related to the planet Mars

The meaning of The Tower card has to do with abrupt changes. Something can change in relation to the questioned situation. Think of a structure or foundation that collapses. A relationship, a job, a friendship and in some cases even physical structures.

On a broader reading, some examples are losing your job, ending a relationship, breaking up a friendship, getting into debt, or even moving can bring up conflicting feelings. You may think that you know someone, or that you know the truth about something, and you end up getting a reality check when you find out you were wrong. It is like you are looking at the questioned situation as one thing, when it suddenly turns out to be another, making it necessary to manage your feelings, embrace change, and move on, leaving whatever is behind.

In a relationship reading, The Tower may indicate the need to be more flexible with your partner. If you do not change, the relationship could collapse. If you are looking for someone, you may have to change your concepts and behaviors a little to find the right person.

For work and finances, while it can point to a change of job, it can also suggest caution with your resources. Be careful not to overspend, get into debt or borrow heavily. Try to manage your resources a little more cautiously.

However, these are just examples. The Tower can simply suggest that we are wrong about something and we have a chance to make amends for our mistakes, even if painfully. The basic meaning is arrogance, i.e. we can be wrong about something and we need to recognize, trying to repair the mistake. Whatever the case, things return to their place in due course, and harmony always returns.

A little more about the card The Tower...

The Tower is the Tarot card number 16 and usually symbolizes an unexpected event, a chaotic event that has happened or is about to happen. It can be a scary card, but like other Major Arcana that inspire fear, this one carries the message that everything happens for a reason and carries a lesson to be learned: that nothing lasts forever, so changes often happen for our good.

The card alludes to the Tower of Babel, that is, it symbolizes man’s arrogance, and ambition built on false premises. Legend has it that after the great flood, God commanded the survivors to scatter around the world in order to rebuild humanity. However, they decided to get together and live together. At one point, they decided to build a huge tower to reach the sky, a symbol of their pride, arrogance and ambition. As a punishment, God caused them to speak different languages. No one could understand each other anymore and, in the midst of the confusion created, the tower began to collapse even before its completion.

Mars is the planet associated with this card. The destruction of the Tower represents the end of a cycle of possible errors that makes room for a fresh start. In the card, we see a tower on fire in the midst of the storm, people falling, in short, a real pandemonium. The people who fall from it are the same people who have not managed to free themselves from the prison of the previous card, The Devil, i.e., they are still trapped by negative situations.

The symbology of the card also shows this sudden awakening of consciousness. It is like a sudden, momentary glimpse of the truth, an instant of inspiration that breaks the bonds of ignorance. People who fall on their heads are awakened by the flashes of consciousness. The flames are the 22 Major Arcana and the gray clouds represent the misfortunes that hang over all of us indiscriminately.

In a present-day reading, this card indicates that a chaotic and unexpected event can mess up the situation. However, we must be open to change and use our common sense to navigate the storm.