What does the Tower Card mean?
In tarot, there are a handful of cards that, when they appear, fill you with anxiety or dread.
While no tarot cards are inherently "good" or "bad," there are some that illustrate a harsh reality that some may not be ready to face.
The tower card is one of these cards, known for predicting chaos, sudden change, and destruction of existing structures within one's life. It invokes the upheaval of the old to make way for the new.
In this article, we'll take a deep dive into the Tower Tarot card meaning.
Tower Card Associations:
Element
Fire
Zodiac
Scorpio & Aries
Planet
Mars
Keywords
Sudden Change, Averting Disaster, Unexpected Change, Avoiding Tragedy,
Imagery
The Rider Waite Smith deck's tower Tarot card is the standard image for this card. In the imagery, a tower is being struck by lightning, bursting into flames, and collapsing, causing two people to jump from the structure.
It's a scene of action, one of the most exciting scenes in the entire Tarot deck. As the burning building collapses, and the people plunge to depths below, you can almost feel a chill down your spine conceptualizing the terror of the collapse of the tall tower.
The Tower appears to be on a cliff, or the ground beneath may have also been destroyed throughout the catastrophic event. In the background, a dark black sky and green clouds sit in the distance.
How the Tower Tarot Card Meaning is derived from its imagery
The tower card depicts an instance of true destruction. The word "destruction" literally means the dismantling of a structure.
For practical purposes, it means a structure in your or your querent's life has, is, or will collapse.
Destruction isn't always bad. In fact, it's a necessary component of growth as well as spiritual or psychic development.
For instance, say you were in an unfulfilling career that was giving you a stressful work environment and not a lot of pay to compensate.
The tower card may appear when you are nearing or experiencing a time when your career was being taken away from you, leaving you no choice but to walk away from it.
Here, you can see that the destruction of that career truly had your highest good in mind.
As a major arcana card, the Tower is not speaking to some small-scale aspect of your life. The Major arcana deals with significant life events, and this is no exception.
Remember that the Tower comes after the Devil in the Fool's Journey of the Major Arcana as it is the great and sudden change that eliminates the unhealthy attachments and self-slavery.
The Tower Upright
The upright Tower is often accompanied by metaphorical lightning strikes within your life.
The interesting aspect of the Tower is that its meaning can be reflected in almost any level of your life, such as the physical aspect, spiritual aspect, and psyche.
There's a common belief that the Tower upright signifies a time that initiates a massive upheaval, completely sweeping you off of your feet and destroying the foundation you've built in your life.
The Tower shows you your weak points, the aspects of your reality that weren't as stable or beneficial for you as you once thought.
You may experience a job loss, health problems, or other stressful situations that seem to present themselves to you out of nowhere.
But, truthfully, if you are aware and are honest with yourself, these moments could be easily predicted because of the choices you had made or the experiences you found yourself in.
Life's meaning is in constant flux, and the experiences needed to continue to grow and expand are sometimes uncomfortable and may seem much more chaotic initially, but you are able to understand the purpose for them.
The Tower upright indicates that you must let go of old beliefs in order to have a fresh start and experience new growth in your life.
When the Tower is struck by a lightning bolt, this is a representation of the external experience that initiates the change in your life.
As you fall from the Tower, you fall to the depths and must begin to rebuild your life from scratch.
When the Tower emerges in a reading, your only option is to allow the natural process of your life to unfold without resistance and accept the outcome of your experience.
The Tower seems to dismantle any aspect of your life that is preventing you from living in true stability, growth, and expansion.
The Tower's effect can also only be within, restructuring your mind, emotions, and thoughts.
If some aspect of yourself is holding you back, you may be presented with a T`ower moment in order to face these challenges and finally find ways to overcome them.
If the Tower comes up upright in the Tarot reading, there's little chance of avoiding the impending circumstances. This is one of the most unforgiving Tarot cards, as the Tower represents a sudden and massive upheaval that is impossible to prepare for.
But don't be worried. Many Tarot readers have noted that the upright Tower shows itself in a Tarot reading at the outset of a significant personal transformation experience. Even if the card suggests a job loss, financial ruin or a breakdown in your love life, the Tower brings a purging of negative aspects and opens you up to a better future.
You've entered a tipping point, and the only way to go from here is downward. The burning Tower must fall, and all Tower Tarot card meaning interpretations acknowledges this.
Farmers burn old ground and soil to re-establish health within it, helping it grow stronger and better crops.
Your tower moment can work similarly, helping you grow into a better version of yourself.
Now, the Tower can also appear due to negative choices and impacts that you've had on your life, bringing you to a place that seems furthest away from where you want to be.
Use these times to rebuild yourself, change perspectives, and learn to let go of what once was.
Look towards the horizon and rebuild a new, solid foundation piece by piece every day.
The Tower in Reverse
The Tower in reverse may initially appear to have a beneficial meaning, but it really has to do with how you look at it.
When this tarot card appears in reverse, it says you may have completely avoided your tower moment or managed to stall it for the time being.
If you've been living your life out of alignment with your highest good and making choices that have led you down the road to destruction, the Tower may appear if you've managed to make powerful changes in your life just in time before completely damaging your future outcome.
In this case, the Tower in reverse should be considered a wake-up call, urging you to continue to steer away from your current path and realign yourself with a life that benefits you.
If the Tower card emerges in relation to negative choices, the effects can be felt throughout your entire life, and rebuilding yourself back into a place of empowerment can be challenging and very difficult.
Your tower experience may not be felt now, but if you revert back to the choices and actions of your previous self, you'll meet the tower head-on.
The Tower reversed can be negative if it's associated with your spiritual path, spiritual awakening, existential crisis, or avoidance of expansion in your life in any way.
The Tower may appear reverse if you've been avoiding changing your path, even though you know deep within yourself what you must do to progress forward.
For instance, if you're in a relationship that has become a huge energy drainer for you and no longer a relationship that is beneficial for your life, but you refuse to leave and transition away from it, you're invalidating your intuition and inner knowing of what's best for you.
The Tower in Reverse may appear in the reading to show that you are avoiding what' is necessary, preventing your tower moment from taking place.
There are a variety of Tower Tarot card meanings relating to drawing the Tower reversed, but all of them are some analogue of stifling the change that needs to take place.
While you can manage to avoid certain tower experiences, if you continue to do so for too long, you'll likely experience unfortunate intervention at some point.
Fear, worry, and the unknown are some of the key reasons you may avoid the Tower.
How you view these experiences is what can help you find your empowerment and make the necessary changes for your life's benefit.
The best interpretation will depend highly on context. For example, In a New Year Tarot Spread, it can show you what you need to remove resistance toward in the year ahead.
If the Tower emerges in reverse, and you recognize where you're resisting your life's purpose, try to find ways to let go of the resistance so you can welcome the Tower into your life with open arms, guiding you towards higher grounds.
Embrace Your Tower Moments
The Tower Tarot card should never be feared, as it only portrays back to you the current energy in your life and where you're headed.
If the Tower emerges upright, now is the time to embrace the sudden changes you may experience in your life.
If you have an old belief system that doesn't benefit you, learn to let go of it during this time.
There's very little you can do to resist the effects of this crumbling Tower, but resisting it will only increase its impact and effects on your life.
If the Tower us drawn in reverse, know that you are very close to experiencing a powerful change on some level in your life.
It's up to you to determine if this change is due to a positive influence in your life or a negative one.
If it's negative, find ways to improve your circumstances to completely remove the Tower from your life.
But, if it's positive, ask yourself why you've been resisting this change.
What would it mean if the Tower fell and shattered everything?
Who are you without this Tower that you've built?
