16. The Tower




     The Tower is the sixteenth card of the Major Arcana and the sixteenth step on the journey of life. Pictured on this card is a tower catastrophically struck by lightning,and people falling from it on fire. This card has several associations with it. I associate this card with the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel. In the story mankind set forth with one strong desire and that was to prove his superiority and to reach the heavens. The Creator seeing man's willfulness destroyed the tower and scattered the crowd giving each group a different language so they couldn't communicate their folly with each other. This is a card of divine intervention in the same sense A bolt of lightning (understanding) comes from out of the sky unexpectedly (the subconscious), striking the Tower (the body) toppling the crown(the head or consciousness) from it violently. This is a card of immediate and sudden changes. When this card comes into your spread it says to you, "Careful what you wish for you might just get it, and in the way you least expect it."
     Human beings have a tendency to set high ideals and standards on ourselves and on our world. We tend to be overly perfectionistic and demanding, thinking ourselves far superior than any of our fellow creations, and sometimes even the creator itself. When this card comes into our spreads it's there to humble us and to make us realize our place in the universe. This card comes in to remove forcefully from us some of our erroneous ideas or beleifs and normally in a sudden and unforseen fashion. It can represent severe catastrophes, life changing events, accidents, and even minor sudden changes in awareness. So sudden that were are snapped into reality quickly by them regardless of what we thought or percieved our realities to be. This card by no means is a gentle one. The truth itself is never gentle and this card is a big demonstrator of that. This card in your spread also reminds you to be cautious or perhaps reconsider whether and idea or belief you have may have a very dire consequence. The Tower is a card of consequence.

Keywords for Interpretation
Upright
Misery, distress, indigence, adversity,  calamity, disgrace, deception, ruin, forced change, growth and realization
Inverted
Same as above mentioned in a lesser degree,  oppression,  imprisonment, tyranny, termination, setbacks, bankruptcy, disruption

     There is a myriad of symbolisms on this and many of the other cards in both the major and minor arcana. In order to present a comprehensive and easy to use as a reference source set of pages for this and other cards, I will refrain from going into great detail regarding the individual symbols on the cards. On a future date I will go over the more explicit aspects of them. If you have a question regarding a particular symbol you can email me at Tamerin. I would also like to hear from you on some of your interpretations of this particular card or any other that you would like to discuss. Please use above email link.
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