The Tower Card
There are lots of “good” cards in the tarot; cards that show joy, love, triumph, and harmony. And there is no denying that there are some “bad” cards too. The Death card is probably the most famously “bad” card used in movies and pop culture references to the tarot but if you’ve spent any time learning or reading tarot, you will know that the Tower card is a close second, perhaps only rivalled by the 10 of Swords. That’s a whole other story!
The Tower is a scary card. It is the disaster. The act of God. The moment of complete destruction. There is no real way of preparing for those events in life that seem to come out of the blue and change everything in the blink of an eye. For this reason, a lot of tarot people embraced 2020 as a Tower card year.
The Tower card, also known in some decks as Maison de Dieu or House of God, depicts a tall tower built on a rocky promontory. In some illustrations it looks like it is hewn from the stone of the mountain itself. In the Smith-Waite deck, the sky around the tower is black and cloudy. From the top right corner of the card, a bolt of lightning is striking the tower. Flames erupt from the top of the tower and from its three windows. From atop the tower, a golden crown appears to be thrown from its place of prominence by the force of the lightning strike. Yods or yellow sparks fill the air around the tower like crackling electricity. Perhaps most disturbing, two figures are seen falling head first from either side of the tower, their grisly fate seemingly sealed.
To lessen the emotional reaction to such a frightening scene, I like to describe the Tower card broken down into its visual components. A structure (the tower) being majorly and suddenly impacted by an uncontrollable act coming from outside influences (the lightning) which change the hierarchy or status (the crown) and bodily affecting all of those involved (the two figures). In contrast, I would describe the Death card as being a transformation of a more internal nature.
In her book, Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom, Rachel Pollack says of the Tower, “if some problems, illness or death of people close to us, economic problems in society, even natural disasters, such as storms - or lightning bolts - appear at the same time as personal problems, such coincidence shows again that life does indeed contain more than we can see in front of us.”
The Tower card is followed by the Star, a card of hope and connection to the deep threads that weave our universe. If the Tower destroys us, the Star heals us and provides us with hope for the days to come. Folks who have been through truly harrowing circumstances are often the most optimistic in the face of annihilation. However, this is not to say that horrible things happening to us are always meaningful or useful. Sometimes, it is the dark side of human nature that reaches for this meaning making. The Tower follows the Devil after all.
The Tower pendant
The pendant design closely mimics the card’s illustration. Lightning strikes a tower, setting it aflame and causing the crown to fall to the side.
The reverse of the Tower pendant with sigil
The reverse of the pendant is comprised of a Martian glyph striking downwards through the top square stacked on another square. The two squares signify generations, or build up of structures & systems. The Tower card corresponds to the planet Mars and so the glyph of Mars is the active force, or the lightning. Atop the tower is the crown of three upright triangles, signifying elemental fire and the heat & friction of transmutation.
A final note: Why would anyone want to wear the Tower as an energy around their neck, so to speak? Well, becoming the force of change in your own life & embodying Martial energy for action and transformation can be a way of overcoming feelings of helplessness. Perhaps the Tower will remind you of your ability to hold fast but also to crumble and begin again with grace when it is necessary.
Bibliography
Pollack, R. (2007). Seventy eight degrees of wisdom. San Francisco, CA: Red Wheel/Weiser.
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