What does the Tower Tarot Card represent?

Do not be afraid of this card falling out: new opportunities are coming and they are much better than those that are now. The senior Arcana Tarot card Tower may mean that you will have to change your beliefs, or maybe it will affect your family, friends and loved ones. In this article, we will consider the description and meaning in the relationship of a straight and reversed card, interpretation and combination with other cards in the spreads of love, health, career and work.
The Tower of the Tarot is negative and scary, but nevertheless the most correct card in the deck. You shouldn’t expect good things from it. If you are unlucky, and the 16th Arcana fell out, get ready for troubles and dramatic changes in life that you can face.
The cause of the disaster is not that you have gained too much power, but that you misused it.
Destruction is a direct result of your own misunderstanding, of wrong judgments, and / or abuse of your free will.
This is a tower that has been struck by lightning and is on the verge of collapse.
The tower characterizes situations and circumstances that limit and suppress our ability to develop comprehensively.
Everything external, contrary to our inner truth and spiritual needs, must be eliminated so as not to hinder our development.
The inevitable destruction of the tower is actually a hidden blessing, as it brings with it the realization that the status quo has turned into a confinement for us and no longer serves as a bulwark of our security.

Depiction

The card shows a tower that was hit by lightning, as well as two people who fall down.
(For a detailed depiction, analysis of the Symbols and all Elements of the The Tower Tarot Card, click here)

Meaning of the Card

You built your house on the sand. What you considered to be an unshakable foundation of life turned out to be an illusion and suddenly crumbled like a house of cards. All your labors were wasted. Do not try to rebuild what was destroyed, you will not succeed. Better wait out, get over your despair, and start building a new house. Soon you will feel new strength pouring into you.
Everything you have achieved has collapsed. In many cases, this disaster would not have happened if you had acted wiser from the start. If you act wisely now, you can avoid at least some of the problems.
You have gone too far and you have to pay. This catastrophe is the result of the fact that you believed in your authority, which does not exist. Maybe you used your authority not very wisely or for the wrong purposes. In other words, you finished badly, and the fall is your fault.
The most familiar story to match the symbolism of this card is the Tower of Babel. The Babylonians came very close to achieving what would be the greatest goal of humanity: the complete unity of nations. They spoke the same language and worked together to achieve a common goal. The result of their labors was destroyed, their languages ​​mixed, and all of them were scattered on the four cardinal points.
It is important to understand that the construction of the tower itself was not a mistake, and not the fact that they worked together. The mistake was the reason they were building the tower. Instead of using their combined power to reveal the divine in themselves, they challenged God and tried to rule the Earth instead of God.
The Tower Tarot card follows Arcana Devil. The goal of your spiritual improvement is to become like God. But Tarot says that you will not become like God simply by gaining material power. If you are tempted to rule this world instead of striving for wisdom and spiritual growth, you will lose everything you have gained. The cause of the disaster is not that you have gained too much power, but that you misused it. Destruction is a direct result of your own misunderstanding of the wrong judgments you have and / or abuse of your free will. The Falling Tower Tarot also symbolizes actual material losses: in finances, relationships, prestige, or personal influence. It can also be understood as a warning that your powers are not so great and your understanding is not as complete as you think. In this sense, the Tower of the Tarot illustrates the catastrophe that can and will happen to those who use magic without understanding its true purpose. The downfall of a person who plays with forces beyond his power and understanding.
In a spiritual sense, the Tarot Tower symbolizes the result of seeking. It shows if you accepted the Devil’s offer, even if you try to deny it.
Although there have been hints of this throughout the Tarot path, this is the first direct statement of how you should see your ultimate goal. This is not the world you are trying to conquer.
At this point of quest, there is still a temptation to evaluate oneself in terms of this world, according to one’s impression on others, according to one’s earthly position. Now the temptation is even greater, because you have attained the power, at least for a while, to turn the world by your own free will. But your goal is much more.
You must learn to see a higher level of achievement behind the obvious. If you exchange your spiritual growth for material power, you will lose everything that you have gained.

Positive Aspects of the Card
Illumination and awakening, purification and triumph of truth, freedom and enlightenment, breakthrough, painful changes, unexpected break.

Negative Aspects of the Card
Destruction and decay, devastation and crisis, shock and disappointment, pain of loss and sweeping away, catastrophe, negligence.

The Main Meanings of the Card In an Upright Position

Key Words and Phrases

Destruction of the old way of life. Modifications. Split. Shock. Devastation. Awakening. Instability. Sudden insight. Shocking discoveries. Painful experience. Significant changes. A crisis. Surprise. Inevitable changes. Liberation from the shackles. Defects in the structure. Death of illusions. Liberation. Incredible spiritual discoveries. Purification. Rapid change, darkness dissipates. Something touches a living. Exciting news. A sudden flash that will set you free. Useless insight. Liberation from the captivity of your own limitations. Confusion. Disappointment. Rejection of false beliefs and outdated forms. Violation of plans. Destruction of useless structures. Experiencing shame or guilt. Weeding out false values. The moment of truth. Destruction of corrupt structures. Separating the wheat from the chaff. Freedom. Enlightenment. Generally accepted conventions that shackle you. New job. Change of residence. An unpleasant incident. Parting. Divorce. Accident. Property problems. Bankruptcy. Loss of security. Earthquakes. Natural disasters. In a medical situation, a sudden stroke. Hospitalization (especially if there is a Four of Swords in the spread, indicating the need to restore health). I see the light. Someday you will thank me for this. You can’t come home again. “And the walls, shuddering” fell. Battle of Jericho.

The main meanings of the card in an upright position

The appearance of the Tower in the spread most often foreshadows imminent shocking and tragic changes. Your habitual way of life begins to crumble, and you have to watch the disintegration of the old way of life. It may happen that you suddenly have to sell your house, move to a new place of residence, change your place of work, change your profession, visit a psychoanalyst, or there may be significant changes in your relationship with someone. The meaning of these changes lies in the fact that you will need to learn some important truth about yourself and act in accordance with the knowledge gained. The changes heralded by this card will entail the comprehension of the truth, which will force you to free yourself from false constructions in your life and determine your true value. The more you cling to a false lifestyle, the more destructive the change will be. Now is the time to let go of the generally accepted conventions and false beliefs that hold you back. The structure that limits you must be destroyed, and only then will you gain enlightenment. Sometimes this card denotes theft, job loss, family quarrels, or property problems. The old order must be destroyed in order to make room for the new. Rotten structures will collapse with shuddering.

Persons designated by Upright The Tower Tarot Сard

Aggressive, energetic people who challenge your opinion. Those who hurt or rupture. People who have suffered a severe life blow. Victims of natural disasters.

The Main Meanings of the Card In a Reversed Position

Key Words and Phrases

Positive values:
Trauma is a thing of the past. A change has taken place. Your life will never be the same again. Time to collect the pieces and start over.
Negative values:
Voluntary acceptance of additional responsibilities. Prolonged depression. A situation that cannot be changed. Failure to change yourself. Restrictions on freedom. Shackles of flesh. Imprisonment. The gap. Breakdown. Chaos. Coup. Catastrophe. The value of freedom. Tyranny. Injustice. Failure to get what was expected. Freedom or death. Stone walls are not yet a prison, iron bars are not yet a cage.

But now you have to cleanse yourself of everything that interferes with further growth in order for balance to come in your life, and complete harmony to settle in your soul. Of course, you will not immediately perceive everything that is happening with delight, but, nevertheless, all the changes will only benefit you.
Tarot card Tower will tell you that the walls that seemed to you strong and unshakable will collapse before your eyes like a house of cards. One stage will be replaced by another and everything will happen lightning fast and this will hurt and will be unpleasant for you.

Change is coming
The Tower itself means that your path will now be different, and everything will happen quickly and in the shortest possible time. Changes can be both global and minor. If the Tower dropped to your question along with cards bearing a positive character, then some of the evil forces surrounding you will soon collapse, a black streak in life will end, and there is only a bright future ahead.
It’s another matter if, on the contrary, you expected joyful events. In this case, unpreparedness can unsettle, break your fragile world. But it is very important to remember that you should not resist the blow that the future is preparing for you. Boldly look ahead and do not regret what has already gone irrevocably and even died.
The Tower has different meanings with different cards. Shocks can be both external and internal and in scale, both large and small. About the present, the card says that you need to stop, look around and understand that what you have now is extremely unstable and fragile. Everything can change at any minute.
Sometimes, in order to find something new, you should free your life from the old, allow future metamorphoses to make you better. The tower falls out only when you need to clear your life of trash, get rid of the accumulated obstacles that hinder your development.
It happens that you have a certain idea that cannot gain the necessary strength for further implementation in life. In this case the Tower will let you know that something is about to happen that will give you new strength to carry out everything that you have planned.

Prepare for the worst
The Tower also has such a meaning as the collapse of plans, suffering and frustration from unexpected sorrows and troubles. Depending on your question, it could be a divorce, a fire, a breakdown at work, or even a prison. In everyday life, conflicts can arise, as a result, scandals bearing a rather aggressive nature. But all these transformations in the end will only benefit, like a thunderstorm, you just need to survive, so that you can then exhale fresh and clean air with full breasts.
In extremely rare cases, the Tower symbolizes triumph. But, usually, the victory comes at a very high price. The Tower is believed to indicate other cards in a negative way. Sometimes it predicts accidents, destruction, breakdowns, occasionally attacks or accidents. If we take the meaning in a more global sense, then the card can predict wars, plane crashes, terrorist attacks, the fall of the regime, natural disasters.

If you drop the Tower Arcana accidentally while shuffling, Tarot will warn you about the destruction of things that you are used to. The path of life will suddenly change course and the balance will be disturbed. Do not be upset, sometimes life changes are useful, they force you to make drastic decisions.

Pulling out this card means that your current plans and projects are selfish and will lead to nothing. You find yourself in a situation of conflict and change that can be disastrous. Anything you took for granted will be questioned.

In a Reversed Position:

In a reversed position, the Tower speaks of a strong dependence on existing circumstances, which at the moment cannot be changed. The opportunities are limited, and individuality is oppressed. You are walking the same road, living according to the old, familiar pattern.
On the one hand, the Tarot Tower card in an inverted position is not evil. It means the end of the black streak in life. At the last minute, you will be able to avoid the setback that’s coming. The overwhelming part of the circumstances will come at a time when things are going to be really bad. On the other hand, despite all efforts, life can continue to collapse.
There is an option for a situation when you make a mistake, but you will not react to it. In this case, a person who is blind with self-confidence convinces himself that everything is in order. In reality, the situation is out of control and inevitable.
The process of change has already begun. Go with the flow and don’t try to resist what happens as a result. If you are suppressing feelings of sadness, anger, or frustration, let those feelings spill out and your life will soon change for the better.

In a Personal Spread

In a personal scenario, it indicates a restless mind and inability to communicate with others, while blaming others for this inability. Quarrels and endless showdowns are your lifestyle. The card also testifies to the crisis that has come in your life. A radical breakdown of previous views is taking place. But Arcana advises not to worry too much about this. The old makes room for the new, fresh, more productive and creative views are already ripening in the place of the former.

In the Spreads for Different situation

In an Upright Position:
A sudden change, a blow you deserve according to karma.
The event marked by Arcana does not have to be terrible. All changes are an accepted part of life. It instills fear, since it is necessary to reject previously confirmed truths. The old ways no longer work, you will have different beliefs, values ​​and actions.

In a Reversed Position:
You cannot change what is happening, so change your attitude towards it. Restriction of freedom in a literal or figurative sense.
Seeing a reversed Tower card in the spread can make you feel overwhelmed by the injustice in your life. False charges, harassment and imprisonment. Failure to make the necessary changes. Precarious situation. Under certain circumstances, this may indicate that the researcher has a sudden change in attitude or a rebellious streak that has come as a shock to others.

In the Spreads for Relationship

In an Upright Position :
It is highly symbolic that the Tower in love reading can show a “tower of cards” that is about to fall, and disappointment is the most common manifestation. The purpose and type of connection must be questioned, and this card can show that partners enter into an alliance with each other (sometimes even get married) because they look good together, and do not love each other.
Conflicts, losses, destruction of old warm feelings, disappointment, divorce. The only thing that can be advised is to get rid of old connections in order to prepare a place for new, more correct and harmonious ones.
In the spreads of love and relationships, the Tower card speaks of the sudden destruction of familiar things, the collapse of illusions, insight, the exposure of things or events hidden from prying eyes. Arcana indicates a difficult situation or stage in a relationship when communication becomes too emotional due to sudden dramatic events or the disclosure of an important secret. Relationships or conditions of existence will never be the same, and it will hardly be possible to rebuild them on the rubble. This card advises you to forget the past, which has become cramped for you, and go towards the new.

In an Upright Position:
It looks like a big change in family circumstances is coming. You can move to a new home or even to a new country. Although you feel unsettled now, in the long run, all these changes are for the better.
In a Reversed Position:
At home, the state is tense. The same stressful situations are repeated over and over again. The situation will change for the better only if you approach it in a new way.

In the Spreads for Friendship

In an Upright Position:
Changes are imminent in your circle of friends. You suddenly realize who your real friends are.
In a Reversed Position:
Friends turn their backs on you. Don’t let this bother you. Find new like-minded people.

In the Spreads for Money

In an Upright Position:
You will avoid debt by successfully resolving a potentially dangerous situation.
Now is not the time for risky investments, gambling or lottery. It is better to solve any problems in a simple way.
In a Reversed Position:
If you need financial help, you must ask for it. It would be even better to make money on your own. Don’t let pride lead you into debt.
A reverse card can mean money problems. Pay attention to your financial transactions. You can be deceived. Try not to make big purchases. Your financial problems may not be as big as you fear. There is nothing better than avoiding trouble and dealing with it in the simplest way possible.

In the Spreads for Education

In an Upright Position:
The study sessions almost turned your life in an entirely new direction. You will achieve remarkable success.
In a Reversed Position:
Poor academic performance undermines your self-confidence. You do not know what exactly you are doing wrong, and you need the teacher’s advice.

In the Spreads for Career

In an Upright Position:
It symbolizes problems in the professional field. Loss of stability, loss of income or bankruptcy, downsizing, collapse of the organization. This is a small list of “surprises” that prepare you for the future. The Tarot Tower points to unfinished plans and reports, team disputes, office reforms, and other temporary actions.
By succumbing to temptation, a person loses what he so diligently sought. Dismissal, the collapse of the enterprise, a radical change in activity.
Losing power, losing the fight. Removal from office, dismissal.
The changes will be so unexpected that they threaten to shock you. The experiences associated with this can very noticeably shake your position as a whole, become a threat to security, significant monetary or property losses. However, the Tower card may also indicate that this is all a necessary transformation. Often, the destruction of the old system is necessary to gain greater independence and freedom of expression.

In a Reversed Position:
Likewise, the reverse position of the Arcana shows fewer problems than when it is in the upright position. For the next few days, you must be careful and pay attention to what you do, such as driving a car. Be calm and know that everything will be over soon.
The crisis is over, recovery and recuperation await.

In the Perspectives

Risk and chance, it is all up to you, whether they lead to the crash that you fear or the breakthrough that sets you free and propels you forward.

You will be caught off guard, you will lose hope, you will feel helpless, but your life will not end.

Self-Development Lesson

Essentially, this card is about overcoming futile and selfish ambitions. If we build a monument to ourselves, we will inevitably be disappointed and any success will be short-lived. However, if we build our life on a stable spiritual foundation and correlate our goal with the will of the cosmos, our fate will change in a positive direction.

Key Ideas

Break your shell and get out. Change what needs to be changed. This stage in life is needed for changes for the better.

Psychological (Personality) Meaning of the Arcana

Type of person in an upright position:
A person experiencing a spiritual emanation; a person capable of the Highest Initiation.
The card means an explosive, conflicted, albeit quickly appeased person. Sometimes he regrets that he offended someone or did something wrong. But more often it is a psychopathic personality who has lost fear. Egoist, boor, loves to scratch his fists, although he regularly runs into a tough rebuff. If this is a woman, she is not inferior to a man in impudence and unbridled behavior.

Better wait, survive the crisis, listen to your feelings, but do not be afraid of what you hear from them, and do not give in to them. Remember that you are not alone. There, from a height, Someone looks at you and will not leave you in trouble. When the acute pain subsides, without listening to anyone, get out your old tools and start building a new house, a new life. And soon you will feel a surge of new strength. The wiser you have become thanks to what you have experienced, the more difficult it will now be to break you. The changes that have taken place have made your spirit unbending.

Final Advice of Arcana

There is no reward in life without risk. A sudden change is the beginning of something new that needs to be respected. It is better to accept the situation and adapt to the new rules of life.

In an Upright Position:
Do not hold on to what is leaving your hands. In fact, you do not need it. Act without delay, it’s now or never!
Try to control yourself and believe that everything that is happening now in life is for the best.

In a Reversed Position:
Come to terms with circumstances that cannot be changed. Do not bury your head in the sand, do not try to escape from problems. You have to solve them in one way or another.
It is important to learn a lesson from what has happened so as not to fall back on the same trouble in the future.

Conclusion

The Tower suggests that for a long time we considered our position stable and secure, and suddenly everything collapsed. At the same time, it is precisely those structures and conventions that we have already surpassed that are crumbling, and they have become narrow for us. It can be about our beliefs or life principles, or about work, finances, friendships or other relationships that seemed to us stable and unchanging. In any case, the Tower symbolizes a certain concept that for a long time provided us with confidence in the future, and possibly a sense of security. This now has ceased to correspond to our increased level. As a rule, this comes as a surprise to us: when an old concept suddenly collapses, many perceive it as a thunderbolt. And it often looks like a disaster because the structures that formed the very basis of our confidence are crumbling. Only when the first shock wears off do we discover that, it turns out, we have got rid of the old ballast. Awareness of this comes on its own or in the form of some kind of hint from the outside.

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