This card with it’s unsettling image always freaks people out when they see it. This is a card of sudden change. Whether it’s a change in perspective, a change in a situation, a sudden move, a break-up, etc. This card appears in a reading when the current situation is not working, but the person feels “stuck”. It is time to shake things up.
This drastic change was something that needed to happen for one’s personal and/or spiritual growth. Seen as a catastrophe while it is happening, it is actually a blessing in disguise. This card can indicate many types of changes depending on the surrounding cards. But in all instances this is a card of freedom.
The tower is collapsing because it was built on a faulty foundation and/or has outlived it’s usefulness. The collapse of the tower shakes up our world so we can start anew. It is the lightning bolt of consciousness that allows us to see the truth of a situation. Once the tower collapses, there is nothing left. This symbolizes the fact that once one knows the truth, and/or sees the reality of a situation, one has no choice but to move on. The fact that this is a major arcana card is significant, this is a NECESSARY change.
How many times do we stay in situations whether it’s romantic relationships, career, friends, living in an area where there are limited opportunities, etc., that are not healthy for us physically, spiritually, and mentally. Yet we stay because it is familiar to us. Even when the situation is terrible, it is predictable and therefore to us, is perceived as safer than leaving. We allow our fear of the unknown and self-imposed limitations to keep us imprisoned in the tower.
This card can also indicate that someone’s ego has gotten the better of them. The universe is sending circumstances into a person’s life to “take them down a notch”. In this deck, one sees the character as a naked person falling from the tower. This is the ego being stripped down so that it can start fresh with a renewed perspective. The Tower brings with it, some harsh lessons indeed, but it is for the highest good of the person for whom this card’s message is for.
The card that follows The Tower is The Star. This card’s message is of renewed hope, new beginnings, balance, and a higher spiritual awareness/perspective. This symbolizes one’s recovery of freedom, and therefore of one’s true self, after the collapse of the illusion of limitations that kept one a prisoner within the tower walls.
How many times have we gone through sudden changes in our life only to look back and say, I am so glad I (insert what’s appropriate here: found out the truth, made that career change, made the decision to leave a bad situation, moved to a better neighborhood, etc.). In retrospect, the collapse of The Tower was the best thing that could have happened to you.
This sums up the message of the The Tower.