The Tower reversed

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 18 Oct 2001, and now archived in the Forum Library.

numbrel	18 Oct 2001
I know I am supposed to find my own meaning in the cards, but I want to make sure that I am not just seeing things the way I want to. My card for today is the Tower reversed. I am using the Hanson-Roberts deck. http://www.tarot.com/products/browse_deck.php?newdeck=24 I have read that the tower is bad news whether upright or reversed, but when I looked at it this morning, it looked positive to me. It looks like the people are being blown up toward something. The lighter blue now at the top reminded me of sky. The tower shape is going up and expanding. Even the dead tree looks like a strong, deep root supporting the greenery that is now above it. Could the tower have a positive meaning? Thanks. numbrel

MeeWah	18 Oct 2001
Numbrel: Basically, The Tower refers to a sudden, drastic change; or is a presage of a future event. The change can be of life-changing proportions & usually indicates it is time for something no longer needed or useful to be swept away for something else more in keeping with one's direction to take its place. It can concern a condition or situation that may have been built on an unstable or impermanent foundation; or some other development. There is no control over it & one may feel (uncomfortably) helpless in its wake. There is no where to go but forward or up. The nature of this energy is usually seen as destructive or devastating; however, as uncomfortable or traumatic change can be (depending on the nature of the event), it can indeed be a thoroughly positive change, something that leads to the betterment of one's life or something new. The card reversed can mean a lack of progress, an unwillingness to change or for change to take place, stagnancy, holding on, etc. Due to the way the card struck you it seems likely that its appearance refers to a new awareness or attitude; an awakening, a revelation; newfound knowledge. See what succeeding cards appear as they would likely define further what is developing.

faunabay	18 Oct 2001
I still consider myself a newbie (I've only been reading a little less than a year). But I've been told that although each card has the basic accepted meanings, when something else jumps out at you, go with that. Your intuition is trying to tell you something. Yes, the tower usually means the tearing down of old ideas, thoughts, etc. - crisis. But obviously it's sending you a different meaning right now. Go with your intuition.

bec	19 Oct 2001
In second on that with faunabay - thetower reverse shows the ruins, you´re going to clear out - it also says to take it easy and accept caos while your creating space for new things. If tower tells you that it is beutyfull and strong - maybe your work on thetower has been going on for much longer than you realize - and this is a way the card to give a pad on the shoulder saying " good work - you´re on the track!" Listen within.

Pollux	20 Oct 2001
When "allowing" reversed cards, I believe one must bear in mind the general meaning of a card, and, when reversed, take it as a sort of frustration, a strain or a delay (depending on the card) to the action expressed. I remember a similar discussion a while ago on the former server, about +/- attitudes and, as I believe MeeWah used to say, "spectrums" and ranges. I mean, when I "let" reversed cards come, it's as if I'm considering all the cards upright as "positive", and the reversed as the correspondent "negative". In my opinion, for instance, XIII is not at all a bad card: it stands for loss of idle elements, getting to the bone of it, starting afresh with a brand new attitude and conscience (remember Ulisses, Aenea and Dante hd to visit the underworld before sorting out their "troubles").

Pollux	20 Oct 2001
It maybe sounds simplistic... I mean, as someone used to say to justify the non-use of rev.Cs "there's plenty of bad cards in the deck". A 5 Cups looks so ominous and spooky I would never dream to say that -upright- it suggests good things. But, to sum up, rev. it suggests a sort of unconscious disappointment, or a sulky, hollow situation being carried out in the dark, just about to stab us. Hope I'm to the point.

MeeWah	20 Oct 2001
Welcome back, Pollux! Thanks for the "credit" :) Basically, all cards are neutral. Where in the spectrum or range of possibilities a card may fall is usually dictated by the moment or how it hits the reader. A card does not need to be reversed to convey a meaning of "less than" or a deteriorating condition, etc, just as a reversed card is not necessarily negative. The card may be modified by surrounding cards; however, it may stand on its own. Knowledge of the basic meanings helps to extrapolate the possibilities as well as the different levels of meanings--physical/material, mental or spiritual influences. One's intuition or the gut reaction is the barometer. The Tower has a traditional "bad" reputation but that is due largely to a superficial view or lack of understanding of its energy. It is a cleansing one; acts as a wake-up call in that it literally upsets the status quo to force another look. For instance, if one tends to avoid things or sweep them under the rug, its appearance pulls the rug out to expose things for closer scrutiny. All cards have this quality to some degree.

The The Tower reversed thread was originally posted on 18 Oct 2001 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.