Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings. Today’s post is about the Tower card in Tarot. The Tower card is the sixteenth card of the Major Arcana. The traditional image of the Tower card is much what you would expect from the name of the card, a Tower struck by lightning with figures falling from the Tower.
The Tower is one of the most dramatic cards of the Tarot, signifying shocking change and cleansing destruction. This makes the Tower one of the most dreaded cards to appear in a reading by many people, as this card brings with it tidings of transformation which is often very painful. However, with all that being said, the Tower is always a period of destruction and change that is very necessary. In truth, the time that the Tower card is foretelling is one of deep confrontation of the Shadow that will hopefully allow us to learn and integrate moving forward. That is why after the events of the Tower times in our lives, we are usually much better off than where we began!
Now, that by no means is to say that I believe the Tower to be a positive card of the Tarot, it is one that comes with it many negative circumstances. When we are in the middle of the trying times the Tower card’s appearance often heralds, we may not be able to see that there is a glimmer of hope in the distance. However, when we persevere through the trials and tribulations, we can come out the other side with clarity over what the Tower’s shocking changes actually have meant for our personal development!
I want to finish up by discussing two of my favorite iterations of the Tower card. Two of my favorite nature-based decks change the Tower from a card with a literal tower to one centered in woodland nature. Tarot of the Hidden Realm renames the card Blasted Beech. The Wildwood Tarot renames the card Blasted Oak. The idea of a lightning-struck tree as opposed to a lightning-struck tower is kept the same in both of these decks, exemplifying the strong alignment between the stability of trees in the forest and the stability of human-built strongholds, as both are a means to protect. The energy of the card is still the classic one of dramatic change, shock, and cleansing destruction, but with a distinctly woodsy spin!
I hope you have enjoyed this short look at the Tower card in Tarot. What is your most powerful memory associated with the Tower card? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the Blasted Beech version of the Tower from The Tarot of the Hidden Realm. I found the image on https://archangeloracle.com/2016/07/17/the-blasted-beech/.
Tarot Note: I have a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services! I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon! Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/
Further Reading
- The Only Tarot Book You’ll Ever Need by Skye Alexander
- Tarot of the Hidden Realm by Julia Jeffries & Barbara Moore
- The Wildwood Tarot by Mark Ryan & John Matthews