All you need to know about The Tower tarot card. Meanings, messages and how to use it to create your dream life.
What’s the tower card?
The Tower card belongs to the Major Arcana and bears the number 16. In most representations of this card there is a tower with a solid base and finished in a crown.
The crown has been split by lightning, supposedly divine, and from that destruction one or more people fall into space, depending on the representation.
In any case we have a solid construction that is destroyed by more powerful causes, at least in its upper part. It will have to be rebuilt, right? And why that ray?
The Tower represents our own life and the breakdown of certain vital schemes.
Also the need to realize that we are subject to forces over which we have no control.
The tower: Image and Representation
The description of the Tower card is fascinating. The arcane depicts a stone structure that is struck by lightning, destroying the top.
The building symbolizes man, the bricks represent his own flesh.
The windows or openings are the access doors to consciousness: the two central ones are the doors of the spirit, the upper one is the door of the intellect.
The lightning that strikes the battlements of the tower represents the action of the divine, the light of conscience, which intervenes to destroy what man has built.
Two figures fall from the tower: the first is a King, who represents human presumption; the other figure is identified as the one who built the tower.
The lightning, destroying the tower and making its upper part collapse, moves the two characters from the place where they “thought they should be”, catapulting them to the ground.
The King was overthrown and the tower partially collapsed: this means that the way to govern the kingdom was wrong.
The flames also symbolize one’s own inner energies which, by breaking the building, and thus symbolically the collapse of a situation, are released and prepared to recreate something new … a new kingdom.
Arcana No. 16 of the Tarot is associated with the myth of the Tower of Babel narrated in the Bible.
According to the tale, the King of Babel decided to build a tower that reached the sky.
In response to man’s thirst to equal himself to the Creator, God struck him and made sure that the construction was not finished, sowing discord and misunderstanding among the inhabitants of the building.
Divinatory meaning of the Tower Card: The Fool keywords
Upright card keywords:
- loss,
- rigidity,
- blow,
- catastrophe,
- isolation,
- pride,
- fall,
- ruin,
- fatality,
- liberation,
- enlightenment,
- destruction
Reversed card keywords:
- caution,
- restlessness,
- accident,
- adversity,
- limitation,
- caution,
- breakdown of schemes and losses in general,
- punishment due to a previous warning,
- broken marriages,
- unsatisfactory jobs,
- fanaticism,
- family mandates (psychological or social prisons) shock,
- conflicts
The most positive qualities about the tower card
The destruction of the top of the tower indicates a drastic change in your life.
Something is going to break, something stronger than you is going to destroy a good part of your life, but that is not necessarily negative.
As your base, like the base of the Tower, is solid, you only have to rebuild the top part, which represents the thoughts and ideology.
From time to time it is very good to review the vital patterns and transform them so as not to suffer from vital immobility.
One of the most positive aspects of the Torre card is that they reflect a strong and powerful person inside, a person with ambitions or dreams, depending on how you look at it, who is willing to work very hard to achieve it.
And not to give up despite obstacles. Lightning has destroyed part of what you have built, for better or for worse.
Now you have to rebuild it, so don’t lose your enthusiasm and continue as many times as necessary until you reach your goals.
The best lesson to be learned from this tarot card is that of humility and acceptance. We must accept the unforeseen, what is not in our power to control.
You have to renew yourself when your approaches do not serve you to be happy. You have to accept that you will find obstacles, but that will not stop you.
The most negative qualities about the tower card
If the card appears inverted, all that strength of the solid base that we talked about above disappears completely.
In these cases, it reflects a convulsive period of emotional disorders that you must overcome as soon as possible if you do not want to see your life destroyed.
The tower card also has bad omens in love. Most interpretations take a breakup for sure when this card appears, although you don’t have to be so drastic either.
Perhaps it is simply a relationship crisis that needs to be addressed.
In work matters, your ambition can take you to the top or it can lead you to a precipitous fall.
Failure, which we fear so much, is obviously a negative thing, but remember that you can always learn from any experience.
You don’t have to fear failure so much because that’s where the best ideas come from.
Broadly speaking, the Torre card in a negative sense indicates disasters in all areas of life.
Breakups, dismissal, existential crisis, problems with the family, health incidents … and also in the typical situation in which everything comes together.
But don’t sink, because these complicated situations are what make you come out stronger than ever.
The positive meaning of the tower card when upright
The positive meaning is mostly linked to a warning towards the person, rather than to a breakdown; indicates that fate is not on our side, and to avoid what could happen it is necessary to move and change mentality, way of acting.
The event that is about to happen can be of different types: it can concern the physical plane, therefore something negative (an accident, a serious problem coming up), but also on the psychological level: in the situation you are experiencing, relational or working a breaking point has been reached, the time has come to change, it is no longer possible to proceed; either you change, or the consequences will be negative.
What needs to be done is to destroy the balance that has been created, and it is necessary to face the change.
Depending on the situation, our choices will have to be more or less drastic, but this change can also be fundamental in our life.
In general, however, it is important to understand that something is about to happen and that we have to change our way of acting; proceeding in the same direction we are going will not be good, and it is therefore important to think, as soon as possible, about how to change that direction.
In summary, the meaning can be understood:
Love: generally, indicates a change, not necessarily negative, but which if not caught will have undesirable consequences.
It can be love at first sight, a marriage proposal, a relationship that has been going on for some time and has come to an end.
Whether the opportunity is positive or negative, it must be seized, otherwise the consequences will still be negative.
Work and money: This is not very different from what has been said for relationships, and again it can indicate a positive or negative change. From promotion, scholarship, work in a distant city, to the interruption of a work relationship that has now become oppressive. It could also indicate unexpected financial aid.
Health: in the context of health, it generally indicates a necessary change which, if not carried out, will have dire consequences. It can concern the lifestyle, the way of eating, the therapies in place for sick people; change is needed quickly, because the consequences could be much worse than the current situation.
People: indicates a rebellious person, who will enter our life and determine changes. There is no age or gender preference, so it can be a partner, child, friend, or parent; the constant is that, in some way, it will change the way we live.
The negative meaning of the tower card when reversed
The Tower on the contrary indicates that what we have started is destined to fail, without the possibility of recovery: from this point of view it is one of the heaviest cards, if not by far the heaviest, for the information it provides, among all the Tarot.
It generally indicates the end of something. It can be a love relationship, a work relationship, or a physical accident, the possibility of doing something we like, or even an emotional breakdown; it can be correlated with our superiority, it can indicate being ended up inside a dead end or in a situation from which there is hardly a way out.
Unfortunately, the indications provided by the Tower in the negative leave little escape for solutions, and in general we must do everything in our power to avoid disaster, to avoid, as indicated by the card, to “fall from the Tower”.
Unlike positive meanings, in which the negative effect depended solely on our lack of ability to change, here the negative exists, it is undeniable, and we can only proceed by trying to soften the blow.
Love: Indicates that the situation we are experiencing is destined to degenerate, if not completely to end. A couple relationship, even a long-lived one, is exhausted and will end with separation; it could also represent the loss of a loved one, in a material (death) or psychological sense, the breakup of a relationship in the worst way.
Work and money: unfortunately also with regard to work we have come to the end of what we could do. It can indicate a dismissal, on our part or the company, it can indicate the breaking of a contract, an economic problem, and from the student’s point of view a rejection, a defeat, an inability to continue. It is necessary to evaluate whether that undertaken is the right path for our needs.
Health: also, in this case, it indicates an unexpected event, the worsening of a rosy situation that we are experiencing. For the sick it can be an acute disease, for the healthy a health problem. The advantage is that “sudden” does not automatically mean “serious”, so it could only mean an illness, perhaps acute, which could still resolve itself.
People: the card indicates a ruthless person, someone who tries in every way to harm, destroy or ruin other people, someone who should stay away from.
Combination with other major arcanas cards and what can the tower card mean
The Tower + The Fool: Delusions. It also indicates talking to spirits. Success is achieved, however, which goes to the head.
Tower upside down with the Fool: Good mental elasticity leads to excellent opportunities. Mental confusion.
The Tower + The Magician: A person who does best in times of crisis or pressure. Tendency to take risks to chase away boredom. A business starts with difficulty.
The Tower + The High Priestess: Someone who derives a lot of fun from inner experiences. A fixed idea can lead to the frustration of external work while the spiritual goals are not compromised.
The Tower + The Empress: A very close bond between people. Friendship at first sight. Being with a person who acts as if they read your mind.
The Tower + The Emperor: The ability to put aside the hassles and forget them. It seems to work. Upside down tower: It is reborn and matures.
The Tower + The Hierophant: A shock experienced in the mind, usually the discovery of a new idea or way of thinking. Tower overturned with the Pope: quarrel with a religious person. The
The Tower + The Lovers: Physical compatibility. Discovery of an idea that works, in contrast to a funny thought.
The Tower + The Chariot: Crisis that depends on external issues to be overcome. A trip is postponed. The
The Tower + Strength: Intensity of living that can focus on almost any purpose or ideal, but once concentrated it becomes fixed.
Person who subordinates all things to a single end. An idealistic person as opposed to one who does not train his beliefs.
The Tower + The Hermit: Person who teaches or argues well, but may need some input from someone else to get started. Hospitalization.
The Tower + The Wheel of fortune: This combination may indicate that the rest of the reading will have to deal with events concerning a crisis situation. Context of crisis.
The Tower + Justice: Learning from experience. This combination gives a more favorable response with the presence of the last seven / eight major arcana, rather than with the first.
The Tower + The Hanged Man: Someone seems angry about something. Need to balance calm with occasional emotional outbursts or physical activity. You need to exercise. Overturned tower: serious accident.
The Tower + Death: A distortion of the conscious mind, probably due to a minor illness. Sometimes it indicates a rare state in which the mind can read omens. Overturned tower: serious accident.
The Tower + Temperance: Something has been accomplished. Good combination to take a break or start planning new activities.
The Tower + Devil: Time to be still or silent. The work pays off. Overturned tower: serious accident.
The Tower + The Star: Recovery from a difficult period. Projects undertaken during this time will start well but may quickly fail due to a loss of interest.
Look for a distraction and make use of new ideas later. Be careful not to get too enthusiastic or make prolonged commitments. A separation or breakup with liberating effects.
The Tower + The Moon: Sometimes a feeling of being in a difficult situation. The job can seem very difficult indeed.
This combination usually indicates a period of hard work with subsequent excitement which ultimately leads to happy results. Problems with depression and exhaustion. Mistakes and inability to pursue goals.
The Tower + The Sun: Success followed by hard but satisfying work. This combination predicts “good results”. Separation and then rapprochement. Upside down tower: It is reborn and matures.
The Tower + Judgment: Failure due to excessive excitement and a lack of judgment. A good time to consider insurance.
The Tower + The World: A well-made action or simple object. Great combination to find a good deal. Sudden enrichment possible. Megalomania.
How to use The tower to create your dream life?
The main message of the Tower in love is: destroy the old to build something new that has greater solidity.
It is clearly an invitation to break with the past and open up to the new.
The rupture suggested by the Tower card is a must, and you will feel pain as long as you try to resist that change.
In case of suffering, the card invites us to ask ourselves: what took away from me this event?
What am I struggling to let go of? By becoming aware of the situation from which we are emerging, suffering will decrease and we will be able to enter the new with a spirit of enthusiasm.