The Tower is struck by lightning and its crown blown asunder, the sudden, shattering revelation that destroys false structures in holy fire. Misery, distress, ruin, indigence, adversity, calamity, disgrace, deception -- the edifice built on lies cannot stand when truth descends. Reversed: According to one account, the same in a lesser degree, also oppression, imprisonment, tyranny. Towers do nothing but fall, one day, just like Empires and just like Men.

UPRIGHT: Misery, Ruin, Adversity, Calamity

REVERSED: Oppression, Imprisonment, Tyranny, Same in lesser degree

The Tower is when everything falls down. The sky, the spirits of people, the monuments to the sacred {or profane} that we previously venerated and now must watch crumble and collapse before our eyes. This is perhaps the most inauspicious card in the deck, which informs devastation, necessarily bringing about personal growth but not before shattering one’s illusions and maybe breaking their will for a time too. The Tower is seemingly being struck down by God via the divine bolt; it may be just Mother Nature’s wild will, or perhaps because the people within the structure decided to turn themselves away from Him and these are their just deserts.

On the journey, the hero encounters serious calamity, or is imprisoned for his offenses against the powers that be…

Bottom Line: When The Tower falls, run for dear cover.

Tree of Life Path: Netzach ⟷ Hod. Victory exchanging with Splendor. Faith and Logic meld in extremis to link the lightning towards its final destination, with every tension-filled contradiction sizzling into place along the way; the pathway is cutting through temperance and hovering above Yesod, the Foundation, just as Yesod hovers over Malkuth, the Earth.

A.E. Waite quote: “I agree rather with Grand Orient that it is the ruin of the House of We, when evil has prevailed therein, and above all that it is the rending of a House of Doctrine…The Tower has been spoken of as the chastisement of pride and the intellect overwhelmed in the attempt to penetrate the Mystery of God; but in neither case do these explanations account for the two persons who are the living sufferers. The one is the literal word made void and the other its false interpretation. In yet a deeper sense, it may signify also the end of a dispensation.”

Previous: Devil | Next: Star