The Tower Tarot Card Meaning
When the Tower shows itself in your reading, consider it as a blessing in disguise. Change, albeit forceful change is being thrust upon you now and though it may feel like it is happening against your will you need to remember that this is for your own good. Often this card comes up when change has been in the works for some time and you have resisted or ignored it. There have been small problems that are increasing and situations are getting out of control. The Tower card represents the Universe telling you that you require this change to happen for your own spiritual growth.
The Tower card is actually a gift, even if it doesn’t feel like it at first. You see, up until this point, you have built your tower on a spotty foundation. The beams are rickety and termite ridden, the stone is old and falling down the mountain. You don’t want to keep living in a condemned building do you? Wouldn’t you rather move into the new mansion that is being built just for you? The metaphor that is the Tower card is clear: You are the rickety tower and it is time for you to rebuild. The Universe lobs fireballs at you and your original tower is destroyed so that you can begin to build again. The routines that you have created, the solace or stability that you think that you possess right now does not exist and it is time to create something more stable for you based on what you know now.
In our lives, we build towers constantly: The Tower of Love, the Tower of Friendship, the Towers of Right and Wrong. We build each tower with the information that we have at our disposal at the time, which is perfectly acceptable. But, as we grow up and we gather more information by bouncing ourselves around this planet, we find that sometimes old information is no longer applicable and new information must be applied. Sometimes the new can comingle with the old, but often times the old needs to be put to rest so that it may be recycled back into the Earth.
The image of the Tower in most decks is frightening. There is lightening knocking the crown off a building, bodies flinging themselves out to fall down into oblivion. It is not an easy image to feel relaxed about. But the image on this card expresses less the final result of the Tower and more the way that we feel when we are confronted with abrupt change. If you lose your home, if you lose your job, if your relationship ends suddenly or your partner dies; these kinds of circumstances can cause you to feel like your entire existence has been shaken like a snow globe. Your world is upside down and though you grasp, there is nothing at your disposal to save you. This is the way that we process change. It is cataclysmic and terrifying. But that is the process that we must go through in order to see the end result benefits of starting anew.
Sometimes, you are forced to start again, and recreate who you are now with the loss that you have experienced. If you can step up to the challenge, even if it is heart wrenching, the reward that is offered to you is eternal. For you will have developed personal strength of character, the knowledge of how to move forward even in the worst of situations and you will become more resilient than ever because you know that you can get through anything. This knowledge of personal strength that is bestowed upon you by the Tower will push you through many different scary situations in your life. You will fear less, and you will find joy more. With the Tower, your entire structure is rebuilt and you get to become brand new again. Trust what this card has to tell you. Consider what Towers you have built that are broken, and then ask yourself what causes you to hesitate about accepting that something is wrong and then begin to clear the slate. When you have identified why you do what you do, perhaps you will be able to allow yourself to heal from the broken and move onto the new.
The Tower in Love
When the Tower card appears in a love or relationship reading, then you must understand that the shape of relationship is no longer going to be able to keep the same shape as it always has. This means that one or both of you are going to go through something that is going to cause you to change every aspect of the relationship. This could be very positive in the sense that you may have been just dating and you are now moving onto a more monogamous feel in your relationship so everything will feel different. Or it could be that the time that you have spent together is no longer serving one or both of you. The Tower is not saying to break up, but it does instruct us to be aware of which part of the relationship is fantasy and which parts are based in reality. Make doubly sure at this time that you do not have a fantasy connection with your partner or potential partner, because fantasy blocks only build fantasy buildings and sometimes we are more attached to our fantasy buildings then we are real ones, but fantasies always bring the tower down when reality comes to light. Be honest with yourself; be honest with your partner. If you are not with someone and are looking, then you must consider the timing to be perfect to reconstruct who you think you are presenting yourself as while searching for your mate. Are you being honest with yourself on the type of person you desire to attract?
The Tower in Health
When the Tower presents itself in a reading dedicated to Health then you will find that bones that are broken are going to be on the mend. This is going to apply to any and all parts of the body that need assistance in reconstruction. Therefore if you are recovering from surgery or are wondering if the recovery for surgery is going to go well, the Tower card tells you that it is. Because the Tower clears out all of the possibilities for you to heal wrong, leaving only the possibility that the final outcome is that you will be well. Perhaps there is a possibility that you might have to confront the reality of your health situation first, but once you have done that reconstruction is always possible.
The Tower in Work and Wealth
Many of us live our whole lives striving to work in one place that will give us security into our old age. The economy is different in these modern times and does not always provide us the same security that we would like that emulates businesses of the past. Now we must be multi-taskers in order to function at the base level in business. The Tower tells you that you must make your entire life about your work, because if you build the Tower of ONE JOB FOR LIFE then you will have to go through the breaking down process should that job ever end. The Tower is telling you that it is time to focus on avenues of life that are not "money making" in nature.
Tower In Future or Outcome
The tower in the future position means what you have built will come crashing down, this could be a job or love. It is not necessarily bad, it is what you thought you were building has come crashing down and now you have a clear view and picture of some aspect of your career or love life. This is a “wake up call” and a false view was getting in the way. It's like a singer, who wants to be famous and quitting their job at the mall then wondering why things don't work out and they don't get that break. The tower can indicate that they are failing at auditions because they were under an illusion. Relationship wise, the tower in the future position could indicate that despite everything the relationship is not working and it is made or break time.
Tower As Action - Upright And Reversed
In the upright position, the tower can indicate that deep change is on its way and you need to go with the flow. There is something that needs to be determined internally and you may be going through a break-up or problems in a relationship. The tower upright can also suggest that out of a negative situation will be a positive outcome.
We all need “shaking up” at some point in life, and that is exactly what the tower gives you in the future position. This card in the future, can also mean that you will "want to feel" free going forward rather than stuck in rut and communicate something with someone that is worrying you that is constantly on your mind. The other element is that there is sexual tension when the tower appears.
The tower reversed as action can mean that you should not give in and just start again. There is a temptation to just end something and begin something else. The reversal is a reflection of one's struggle internally and its best not to act with impulse. The tower as an action card can show the light (due to the lightening hitting the tower card). The other element of this card is understanding how you can avoid loss.
If the situation has suddenly stopped or not been good the best advice is to not be quick to make any decisions. Wait! The advice of the reversal of the tower is to be patient. The tower reversed is also a card of over-reacting in a situation and you need to just keep with reality. It is also saying that you need to create the change. The reversal is in the results and that you can influence what happens from now on!
![Reversed Tower]()
Reversed Tower in a reading
When the Tower is reversed, the process has already begun. Likely you are receiving a reading or looking for guidance because you can already feel that there is an aspect of your life, if not the concept of your entire life falling apart all around you. If you receive the reversal of this card, the most that you can do is cover your head and lay low until the building has come all the way down. The more that you fight it; the more hurt you are going to get. Therefore take this time as an opportunity to rest, and to ponder what you are going to create now that this tower has fallen.
Remember: The Tower fell so that you could start over with a new structure, do not attempt to rebuild the same tower. If you continue to move forth from this experience making the same choices and the same mistakes you will only end up back in this situation again and again until you learn your lesson. Take this opportunity to build something you have never built before. Seek out new experiences or push boundaries. What you are comfortable within your life may no longer fit. In love readings, the tower can mean that you have avoided a nasty relationship with someone who could show violence or unkindness.
