16 - The Tower
Note: This guide is based on the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot deck. Other tarot decks may have unique meanings, or some of these meanings may not apply.
| Upright Keywords: | Destruction, sudden change, upheaval, shaking foundations, distress |
| Reversed Keywords: | Fear of destruction, avoiding disaster, reducing fallout |
The Tower is a tall building of gray stone standing alone on top of a mountain. Lightning strikes the top of the Tower, sending a golden crown flying off. Fire pours from the windows, smoke billows, and sparks fly. The sky behind the tower is black.
Two figures have leapt from the Tower in desperation. One is wearing blue clothes and a red cloak, while the other is in blue robes and a golden crown. They are both falling head-first toward whatever lies below the Tower out of sight.
In Readings: Upright
The Tower's crown has been knocked off by a lightning blast (an "act of god" sort of disaster, if you will), indicating the unseating of a great power. Upheaval and sudden change are the hallmarks of this card. The ruin of the Tower is a disaster, spelling destruction for especially those forced to flee by leaping from its windows.
When upright, this card is a dire omen of coming events. It indicates that a disaster is approaching, one that can't be avoided. Preparation may mitigate the worst of the fallout, but it can't prevent the foundations from crumbling and the walls from falling.
Card Combinations:
Suggestions for possible meanings of this card when combined with others.
Nine of Cups: That "certain success" isn't as certain as you think it is.
King of Wands: Your hubris will be your downfall.
Wheel of Fortune, reversed: There's nothing to be done about it but to hold on and hope for the best. Brace for impact.
Six of Cups, reversed: False but rosy perceptions are crumbling away. Hopefully, they weren't load-bearing.
In Readings: Reversed
When in reverse, the Pictorial Key to the Tarot suggests that it means the same thing, just less severe. It may also indicate that disaster has been averted entirely or delayed long enough to prevent the worst from coming to pass.
The reversed Tower may also suggest that there is no disaster coming at all; there is only the fear of disaster. The subject may have anxieties over the future, fearing the worst and waiting for the axe to fall. In that case, this card may be a call to confront those fears and discover where they stem from, or to let them go with the knowledge that there is nothing to worry about for now.
Card Combinations
Suggestions for possible meanings of this card when combined with others.
Page of Pentacles: If you plan well enough in advance, you might be able to fix the leaky pipe before it explodes.
Ace of Pentacles: You won't gain anything if you're too terrified to cross that rickety rope bridge.
King of Swords, reversed: That asshole is making you think it's going to be worse than it really will be if you defy them.
The Chariot, reversed: Thinking you're out of control and actually being out of control are two different things. You'll make it worse if you panic.
Other Perspectives
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