Key 16: The Tower - Introduction
The Tower Introduction
In Tarot, The Tower is the 16th card in the Major Arcana. Although the imagery may be alarming, this is a very deep and profound card. Seeing it tends to evoke immediate emotion, as it should. This card is a wakeup call or an alarm bell that something going on in your life needs immediate attention.
The Tower card symbolizes a great downfall. This is a physical downfall that will be felt in the outer world, it will shake the foundation of what security and stability truly represent at the core of your being.
When we get stuck in our egos, pride, and ambition we align our life-force to the physical world. With the Tower, this connection is more extreme and destructive representing hubris, superiority, and control.
Overall being an ambitious person is a great life skill. Those who are ambitious generally have a positive outlook on life and know any challenge can be overcome with hard work and determination. They do not allow the pitfalls of life to stand in the way of achieving their goals.
With the Tower there is a warning about blind ambition. While ambition can help us achieve our goals in a healthy way, blind ambition can lead us down the wrong path. Lacking clear purpose or direction will lead to poor choices, irrational behavior and negative consequences.
The Tower is a Soul Life Lesson in Humility, teaching us the importance of building and nurturing a solid spiritual foundation. Operating from the ego and shadows, employing cunning and ruthless tactics to get ahead, hurting others and ourselves in the process, will result in a hard and fast ascent downward.
The energy of the Tower card indicates a sudden and unexpected jolt; however, the lightning symbolism suggests that there will be a sudden epiphany, a realization of great significance. There is the potential for profound spiritual growth as a result.
Where there is destruction and loss, there is the opportunity to evaluate and to rebuild. To transform and shed old thoughts, beliefs and fears and find the wisdom the experience is there to teach. The aftermath of the Tower is truth and rebirth.
Facing ourselves can be our greatest challenge. We may think we are doing things right or perhaps we are fully aware we are acting out in shadow patterns. With the Tower, it is time to face ourselves and get to the truth of who we are and how we got to this point.
Getting to the root cause of our past pain and traumas is the first step in healing from our fall from the Tower. When we release the hold of the past, we can find the truth of who we really are, without the shadow masks of what society and our human companions expect us to be.
There is a path forward from the Tower. With destruction there is transformation and rebirth. There is truth, and there is healing. The journey will require great strength, endurance, and faith but there is hope, and a chance to start anew.
Key 16: The Tower - Meaning and Symbolic Keywords
The Tower Meaning
The Tower indicates a sudden and unexpected jolt, as if the bottom has dropped out. The Tower serves as a life-altering change notice. The experience will shake the very foundation of your being. However, the falling crown symbolizes choosing the spiritual path and the destruction of materialistic ambitions.
This represents a lesson in Humility and that when rising to the top it must be paired with spiritual understanding. When one does not stay humble, it will result in a sudden crash to the bottom. The experience is designed to teach a Soul Life Lesson in Humility.
Another interpretation of the Tower represents the result of one’s downfall due to selfish, egotistical, cutthroat ambition. This may represent a person who embodies the combination of high intellect, extreme talent (and they know it), are highly ambitions and filled with pride and ego.
There is nothing they will not do to rise to the top. However, it is important to be mindful of this path as acting in unethical, immoral ways through ruthless and pathological tactics results in soul loss. There will come a point in time when acts of hostility, control and aggression catch up and what rises will suddenly fall.
From an emotional perspective, seeing the image of the Tower card tends to evoke immediate emotion. For most it is fear, for many it is shock, and for some it may be desperation. Due to the deep and layered meanings behind the Tower card, there are many emotions this card can generate.
There is a sense of urgency with the Tower and that is part of its energy. It is an immediate call to action and a time to take notice and pay attention. There is no more time to wait, now is the time to embrace the changes that need to occur in life in order to find a path forward. Ignoring the change notice now will result in further destruction. There is still a path forward and revelations will be had.
Although most things in life can be healed and rebuilt, some things do have an expiration date. Sometimes the Tower collapse results are irreparable. It could be the end of a relationship that is connected to physical security or the end of a job or living situation. This drastic ending is necessary for change.
In one interpretation, the energy of the Tower could also represent a situation with no path forward. Whether that is a terminal illness or the death of someone with whom you have a deep connection. There is an energy of finality deep within the energy of the Tower and the potential for complete destruction of which rebuilding is not possible.
With such a great loss, it may seem like there is no path forward at this juncture but rest assured, revelations will be had as a result of the experience. There is an opportunity to find a path to healing and to learn deep and profound Soul Life Lessons.
Due to the deep meanings behind the Tower, this card represents many Soul Life Lessons, including Humility, Acceptance, overthrowing survival fears involving money, physical world security and fear of change, and developing a spiritual foundation.
Whether we have been given a final call in life or we just need to find a path out of the darkness, we have the ability to clear up our unfinished business from the past and the Tower can guide us on this path. We can choose to live our lives with clean hands, and we can choose to leave this life with clean hands.
Another interpretation of the Tower is feeling that a situation is thrust upon you that feels out of your control. Something that was once secure is now fading in the distance and what was thought of as stable and secure is now weak and cracked at the foundation. This is a message that it is not indestructible and can be destroyed if drastic changes are not implemented.
An additional meaning to the Tower card represents bankruptcy and that as a result of ego and hubris the destruction will destroy financial security. With all destruction comes a revelation and a chance to rebuild and start over.
The Tower Symbolic Keywords
Card: Downfall, sudden change, revelation, rebirth
Upright: Catastrophe, disaster, chaos, destruction, sudden change, revelation of truth
Reversed: Fear of change, avoidance, misrepresentations, inner strength and resilience
Elements: Fire, Active Energy
The Tower Reversed Meaning
The Tower can denote several meanings in Reverse.
The Tower in reverse can represent the inner strength and character of a person. The current situation is dire and cosmic sized and may even appear unresolvable on the surface – The Tower reminds us that we possess the power, courage, endurance and inner strength to overcome this catastrophic event and emerge stronger, wiser on the other side.
It is the card of ego but in reverse it can depict a reliance on the misrepresentations and false impressions made by others. As a result of finding out the truth, there is a jolt back to reality. There is a path forward, by acknowledging the experience and letting go of the pain, there is truth, our Soul Life Lessons.
When the Tower appears in reverse it can signify fear of change. It can represent putting our heads in the sand, trying to ignore the situation in hopes it will just go away on its own. It will not because the Tower serves as an immediate change notice.
Although the Tower symbolizes change and destruction there is truly nothing to fear. Change is part of the cycles of life, and it serves as an opportunity to start a fresh, new beginning. It is a time for growth and rebirth.
Trying to hold on to a person or situation that no longer serves us can be detrimental to our health and wellbeing. Now is the time to overcome this difficult period of adjustment and take in the significance of the lesson being presented.
Key 16: The Tower -Shadow/Light Archetypes
The Tower Shadow/Archetypes
The Tower represents Soul Life Lessons in Humility, Acceptance, survival fears involving money, physical world security, fear of change, fear of loss. These fears manifest in shadow form as anxiety, panic attacks, emotional outbursts, anger, rage, and frustration. There will be chaos and upheaval in relationships, career and daily life.
The inner struggles that result from the Tower primarily manifest from our survival fears. This is the foundation of our existence in the physical world. It is our connection to power, survival, safety, personal and financial security.
If we chose to align our life-force energy to the physical world, we are defined by that object. For example, we build our lives around money and place our value in money. The issue with this is when we experience financial loss, we become obsessed with retrieving the object of loss, in this case money.
We continue to chase things that only bring us monetary satisfaction and we miss the importance of the lesson. We put ourselves into situations that are not right for us just so we can obtain financial security to quell our fears, so we can rest at night. One would guess that even on this path, there are still many sleepless nights.
Choosing the path of the physical world to align our life path only leads to spiritual degradation. When we conform out of fear, we lose ourselves in the process. We can only get so far away from our true self before the Universe comes and wakes us up.
The Tower card is the depiction of that moment in time when our Tower collapses and all that we once held as truth is shaken and destroyed before our very eyes. A humbling experience indeed as we are forced to face the truth. The truth of ourselves and what we have become.
The further away we get from our true nature, the more our shadow sides emerge and take control of our lives. Getting to the root cause of our struggles and releasing the hold of the painful memory or experience is the first step to healing.
As we release the baggage, we make space within and we can begin to understand and appreciate our shadow sides and the positive influence they can have on our lives. We can begin to work in their light and find a path forward to healing and spiritual growth.
The Tower Light Archetypes
Working with the Tower in its light may seem difficult but rest assured, where there is darkness, there is light. In fact, the Tower offers deep soul level healing on the journey within.
Learning humility is something that we all share. For some it may be less dramatic from the Tower and come more in the form of day-to-day life with the Six of Pentacles, Reversed. This card represents generosity, charity and using material gain to help others.
In Reverse, one of the Six of Pentacles representations is humility. Acceptance that there will always be more to learn and discover but no one human being can possibly master all that knowledge. Allow yourself to be humble and accept the failure to learn more.
While for many of us, the Tower is the representation that hits the core of struggles, even if we only ascribe to one of its meanings. The Tower is a powerful reminder that choosing the physical world and materialism as our life-force energy has spiritual consequences.
Developing a solid spiritual foundation is the key to working with the energy of the Tower card. Digging deep within to get to the root cause of the choices we have made throughout our lives can help guide us on our path to healing.
Developing self-esteem, trust and faith are part of the journey with the Tower card as well as identifying fears, anxieties and areas of life that cause severe panic and distress. These experiences are meant to alert us to a significant change or lesson we need to learn on our journey.
Working with the Tower can help break down our ego and our selfish and self-serving ways. We can let go of the need to always be right and the need to have more in order to feel more powerful. We no longer need to use cutthroat tactics to control others so that we feel like we have control over our own lives.
Working with the energy of the Tower we can begin to accept change in our lives and find a true path to soul centered healing.
The Tower Collapse Moments
It is important to point out that understanding the significance behind the Tower card does not prevent future Tower collapse moments from occurring in our lives. One may wonder how is that possible, once I have gone through this, there is no way I am letting that happen again. But it can happen again, and that is the point of the journey.
The journey with the Tower is a long one. With its deep and hidden layers, it can take us through many of our past experiences and guide us on our path to healing. Along the way we continue to learn our Soul Life Lessons in Humility and Acceptance as well as many others that can be derived from this deeply powerful card. It can serve as our foundation for inner strength and endurance.
The Tower can guide us through our life-collapsing moments as they reoccur in our lives. We can recognize what is happening and work through the fears and chaos of our minds to get to the root cause of the experience, our lesson for growth. We can find peace and calm in the eye of the storm tapping into our inner strength and resilience.
We can pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, perhaps put a few small fires out, and then we can find a path forward. We can surrender and work with the experience vs against it. In doing so, we can begin to rebuild and transform our lives. We can find a path to rebirth.
Key 16: The Tower - Card Connections
The Tower Card Connections
There are multiple cards that connect to the Tower in the Tarot deck. Whether that is in a spread or on the inner work journey, there is a great deal of wisdom held deep within this card.
One depiction of Key 16: The Tower is part of the painful journey that begins with the Hanged Man. This path continues through Death, to Temperance and the Devil to arrive at the Tower. However, after the Tower comes the Star, a ray of hope and light after the difficult journey.
Key 12: The Hanged Man symbolizes the traditional theme of self-sacrifice. The card represents choosing the self and the path to enlightenment vs what society and personal human connections find acceptable.
Breaking free from societal norms has its challenges and with this comes loss. Loss of connections and what was once familiar. Transformation can be painful, but the Hanged Man indicates there is a deep need for this soul level transformation.
However, there are times that we become too fearful to follow this path. We fall into the trap of listening to what society and the people in our lives think we should be doing. What is accepted and normal. Over time we conform to this path, and we get further and further away from ourselves.
The Hanged Man is a lesson in the painful journey that can unfold when we do not honor our true self.
The journey continues with Key 13: Death. Death is about change and symbolizes transformation and rebirth. It indicates a passage of one phase of life and the beginning of a new one. As humans we are resistant to change as we fear losing our comfortable routines, relationships and possessions.
However, as we look within, we discover the root cause of our inner struggles and begin to heal our wounds. We experience the death of old ideas, thoughts, and behavior patterns that hold us back from progress and growth. Death of long held beliefs can be painful but Death is a powerful reminder of the bright new road that lies ahead if we stay the path.
As we continue our journey, we meet Key 14: Temperance, where we arrive at our inner world. Temperance symbolizes healing and tempering the balance within. It represents the balancing of two contrasting elements and bringing them into harmony. Working through our emotional and mental struggles and discovering our shadow patterns and accepting and integrating them into the light.
The challenges we face with Temperance are our shadows and ego. Temperance represents balancing the extremes within and emotions such as anger, hostility and anxiety. Navigating our inner world to discover our ego and shadow patterns can be a tricky journey but uncovering the traumas and fears that are the root cause is the true path to healing.
If we ignore this aspect of the journey and do not address our emotional wounds and painful memories and leave our shadows in the dark, we will continue to live in the death state. Our mental, emotional and spiritual centers will continue to remain unbalanced, leading to a decline in physical health.
This state of existence ultimately leads us to choose the physical world as the only thing we know can bring us peace. Even though deep inside, we know this is not the path to peace.
In Key 15: the Devil our journey continues where we have chosen the physical world, our shadow patterns and ego over spirituality. We gave up on the journey within and we have bonded ourselves to the material world and are prisoners to our survival fears. We are in a state of hopelessness and loss. We may even be physically bound either by complete loss of physical health or incarceration.
The Devil symbolizes choosing materialism over spiritual, bondage to the physical world, acting immoral or unethical resulting in loss of honor, and temptation, which could lead to severe addiction.
The Devil represents giving into our temptations and indulging in excess in our superficial and materialistic desires. There is a connotation of perversity with the Devil and with a sexual undertone some may find deplorable. The Devil is about seduction and force and giving into our ultimate desire, even if that path is to destruction of our mind, body, and soul.
Choosing the path of the Devil can lead us to Key 16: the Tower. Our final collapse and crumble of all we held as truth within the physical world. It is the light bulb moment, the epiphany, and the realization that NOW is the time for change. There is no more time to wait. This stage of life is now over.
In the Tower, the characters falling to their demise from the crumbling tower represent the prisoners depicted on the Devil card. The falling figures have their heads pointed down, symbolizing a sudden change in mental perception and the lightning symbolizes an intense shift of previous beliefs between consciousness and self-will.
The Tower provides the path to healing and how we got to that point in our lives. We can trace back our history through to the beginning with the Hanged Man, and the path continues through Death our point of change and transformation, to Temperance where we go within and work through our inner struggles and shadow patterns.
But if we fail to address our inner world, the path leads to the Devil, and we choose to align our life-force energy to the physical world. We chose materialism over spirituality. We chose control and excess over our inner self. Then our Tower collapses. It must collapse as we need to be shaken to our core to wake up to the truth of what we have become.
If we embrace this truth and embark on the journey, we arrive at Key 17: The Star, a ray of hope and light after the difficult travels through our inner landscape. With hope there is a path forward. We can endure the journey to find truth. We can begin to embody the wisdom, understanding and healing in our lives. There is soul growth and a path forward into the light.
After the downfall of the Tower, The Star card is an indication of things starting to resolve and the future starts to become visible. There is hope after the pain and suffering resulting from the Tower. The Star card represents hope, inspiration, and spiritual replenishment and could indicate a personal and spiritual rejuvenation.
Key 16: The Tower - Symbolism
The Tower card depicts strong imagery. The background is black with the leaves from the tree of life falling from the heavens. There is a large grey tower that appears suspended, exposing its foundation, its roots.
The tower is being struck at the top of the structure by bright yellow lightning, there is a bright yellow crown falling from the structure. The tower is on fire from within and large grey smoke clouds fill the atmosphere. The figures are falling headfirst down to their demise.
Building/House
Houses, or multilevel buildings represent the whole of the self, from the subconscious in the basement, to our physical world/external environment on the first floor, to the superego in the attic. This symbolic representation depicts our inner world and how our thoughts, choices and actions connect to our mental, emotional and physical struggles in life as well as in our relationships.
In the Tower card, the exposed foundation and the destruction of the Tower represent the necessary release of old attachments, fears, tribal beliefs and negative behavior patterns. It represents the dismantling of outdated social structures and ideologies and familial constructs that hinder our progress and growth.
Change can be difficult as we lose what we find familiar and routine in our lives. Fighting the process and trying to control the narrative will only cause further angst and pain. Surrendering to the process of deconstruction allows us the opportunity to rebuild and realign ourselves and our individual beliefs and energetic body. We can release the hold of the past and rise above the rubble to embrace the potential future that awaits us.
Tree of Life
The Tree of Life contains branches that reach the sky into the heavens and roots that are deeply ingrained, spreading out to reach the core of the earth. This is a universal symbol that represents growth, rebirth, and connection.
One interpretation is that the Tree of Life symbolizes the interconnectedness of all beings and what sustains and nourishes all life. Each leaf represents a different species with the branches showing its evolution throughout history.
This connects to the Tower card as humans are one of the species represented by a leaf. This can depict a personal evolution and changes in life patterns within this lifetime or it could represent past lives and our soul journey.
The Tower represents destruction and the death of the old and the leaves falling to the ground from the Tree of Life symbolize the growth and rebirth process that naturally unfolds with the cycles of change. It also symbolizes connection to our spiritual nature and our spiritual foundation.
Many ascribe to the belief that the Tree of Life is derived from the Flower of Life. The Flower of Life symbolizes creation and the interconnectedness of all beings, and the cycles of life, death and rebirth. Life represents phases of change and growth, whereas death represents the phase of transition and the need for rest and renewal. Rebirth is the stage of revival, the start of a new beginning.
Crown
The crown symbolizes wealth, financial stability, status, power and control. In the Tower, the falling crown represents toppling materialism and letting go of materialistic ambitions for a spiritual path. The falling Crown represents going within to the inner landscape and letting go of attachments and fears and choosing to build a spiritual foundation with soul centered intentions.
Lightning
At its foundation, lightning is profoundly symbolic. Lightning represents a sudden awakening, an epiphany, a life-force strike that cannot be ignored. Lightning is a catalyst for change, destroying what is old to make way for the new.
With its fierce and unpredictable nature, representations of lightning should not be ignored as these references indicate a life-altering change. These types of changes can destroy the very foundation of what we once held as truth.
However, lightning should not be feared, as it illuminates hidden truths and exposes the cracks within the foundation that need to be addressed. The destructive aspect of lightning is a necessary part of growth and evolution.
Key 16: The Tower - Symbolism Continued
Fire
Fire is the elemental force of the Tower card as well as the symbolic depiction within its imagery. There is a dual force of fire energy present in the Tower. Fire symbolizes destruction, transformation, and change. In the Tower, fire represents the burning away of survival fears, insecurities, tribal beliefs and negative behavior patterns.
Light lightning, fire is also fierce and unpredictable. It represents the pain and struggles as we experience the destruction of our old belief systems and what we once held as truth. As fire destroys, it also leaves a clear path, allowing self-discovery, growth and healing.
While the process of deconstructing what was old to make way for the new can be an uncomfortable, destruction is not always a negative process. When we embark on the journey within, we are allowing profound change, healing and growth to occur within our lives. We are given the opportunity to rebuild a solid spiritual and physical foundation and emerge from the rubble wiser, stronger and more resilient.
Smoke
Smoke holds profound symbolic significance. Smoke represents the bridge connecting the physical world to the spiritual world. This is the grey area of life, what we cannot see with our five senses. It represents our inner world and the unseen realm. It is where we must trust and have faith and listen to the soft voice within.
Smoke also represents purification, sacrifice and death. It has been seen as the journey of the soul and the destruction and purification process that results from our Tower collapsing experiences. Through this journey of self-discovery, we release the hold of our past pains and ego attachments.
As we do so we feel as though we are sacrificing ourselves and all we hold dear. Change is difficult but it provides a powerful source of healing and growth. When we surrender to change and let go, we experience death of old thoughts, feelings, beliefs and behaviors that held us back from progress and growth. We find a path to healing and reestablish a solid spiritual and physical foundation.
Falling Figures
The depiction of falling symbolizes loss of control and a humbling descent from a place of hubris. It serves as a powerful reminder that no matter how high we climb in life, we are never immune to the universal forces of change and catastrophe.
The falling figures symbolize a humbling experience that is life changing. The experience is difficult and unsettling. The figures represent the shattering of the ego and a forced reconciliation between pride and arrogance.
The Tower serves as catalyst for introspection and causes us to assess our lives and the path we have been living. We are forced to face our attitudes, behaviors, personal belief systems and reassess our values and priorities. Confronting these aspects of ourselves offers greater self-awareness and the opportunity for personal growth.
Although painful and challenging, the experience is necessary for transformation and rebirth and serves as a connection to learn our Soul Life Lessons. Humility is a lesson we all are tasked with learning on our journey in some form or manner. Staying humble as we rise to the top and always remembering our roots and where we came from.
For the inner world journey, the Tower reminds us of the value of humility and acceptance and the importance of releasing attachments, fears and inflated self-perceptions. Although falling feels like a loss of control, the act of falling signifies that we are being given a chance to rebuild and start anew. A chance to get to the root cause of our struggles and rebuild our foundation and gain a deeper understanding of ourselves and those around us.
Colors
Black symbolizes protection, power, authority, introspection, mystery, hidden/concealment. Black also represents resilience, control, death, and rebirth.
Grey symbolizes neutrality, balance, and calmness. Grey can also represent transition, reflection personal and spiritual growth, as well as higher spiritual attainment, serenity, and connection between the unseen and natural realms. Grey is a combination of black and white, things are not always what they seem.
Yellow symbolizes contentment, optimism, and positivity. Yellow also represents inner clarity and enlightenment guiding us on our path to spiritual growth.
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