The Tower

The Tower card is very striking, pun quite intended.  One day it is shining the next it is pouring rain.  The sudden change in circumstances is symbolized in this card.  The Tower is the curve ball that no one expects to happen.  This card is erratic and we cannot prepare for what The Tower will bring.  We can only make the best of the aftermath that is The Tower.  Aquarians are represented by this card because in the face of a sudden and drastic change, they are asking, “What if?” and “Why?”  Any natural disaster, like Hurricane Katrina, can also be associated with The Tower because these, too, give us pause and ask us to find a way to rebuild, to rebuild it better, again.

Upright:  Clearly the most prominent aspect of The Tower is a sudden jolt that changes things up.  Global events that have shocked the world like the Haiti earthquake, which devastated Port au Prince, are signified by this card because they were so unexpected to the world that we had no way of knowing about them beforehand.  The Tower signifies the old way of things making way for the new.  This is the rude awakening we need to re-evaluate our current path.  This card can also indicate chance meetings or drastic life changes, such as a new child.  The Tower could be the ill-informed decision that put us on the current path without which we might not have had valuable experiences.  This card symbolizes the life-changing events and the revelations which follow that we all encounter in our lives.  We may not have been able to plan for the meteor that came crashing out of the blue sky, but we can work together to fix the mess it left.

Reversed:  The Tower reversed indicates that a fair hand is not being dealt to us.  It might feel as though we are flying without wings and will never be able to tread water or float along peacefully.  Circumstances may seem as though they are not favorable.  The Tower tells each of us that we cannot hide away in the sand.  Nothing can be ignored forever and The Tower reversed advises us to face that which we have thus far avoided.  The disruption that knocked us off balance is ending.  The Tower, when it is reversed, symbolizes that what is unpleasant is only so for as long as we let it be unpleasant.  It is now time to take the medicine, as it were, so that the dessert can come after.  There is still much to be done; and The Tower reversed reminds us that we must be getting on with life and putting the chaos behind us as best we are able.