The Tower - Always "bad"?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 15 Apr 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

sunflowr	15 Apr 2005
I recently got the The Tower in a reading, for position "what's coming up within the next 3 months". Yikes! But, the rest of the reading was quite positive, nothing negative about it at all, no other "bad" cards. What I asked about, if it comes to pass, would certainly shake up my world and take me out of my comfort zone big time. But it would be a GOOD thing, and I would be HAPPY. So, can the Tower mean "being taken out of your comfort zone" and being shaken up in a good way, or does it always mean something negative is going to happen?

Gwynne	15 Apr 2005
Of course it can be good! Being shaken up can be a really good thing. I remember looking at one deck, can't remember which one, and thinking "They're going diving! Cool!"

Imagemaker	15 Apr 2005
I usually take the Tower as meaning seeing things in a totally different way, often after a sudden change/surprise/idea strikes--a new perspective can be happy and exciting, for sure!

Fudugazi	15 Apr 2005
Love at first sight - the Coup de Foudre - can be signalled by a Tower. Why don't you pull another card to ask the type of "stroke of lighting" coming your way? In the Marseille, the Maison-Dieu is generally a good card - though likewise it shakes things up! The worst thing is resisting the Tower: that's where you get the situation where you don't allow liberation to occur, when things that should be shaken up are imprisoned and stifled. If you read reversed, it is shown by a reversed Tower.

Milfoil	15 Apr 2005
Absolutely, the tower, in my experience, has signified a destruction of pre-concieved ideas or the tearing down of attitudes/beliefs. When surrounded by a positive reading I think its difficult to read it any other way. However, I do think it can be read quite literally depending on the surrounding cards and the situation.

tarotbear	16 Apr 2005
The Tower can be seen as a very positive card. What you built your tower upon is an unsure base, and it cannot support the Tower ~ so down it comes. Perhaps you 'think' it is bad, but in fact the Tower you built was the worst possible thing for you, so it's destruction clears the way for the 'correct' tower to be built. Sometimes things have to be destroyed for you to see how 'wrong' they were to begin with.

Fulgour	16 Apr 2005
If you count from One then card XVI is letter Sixteen, and you have "Ayin" which signifies the sign Capricorn. Why would the designers of the ancient Tarots choose to show a "Tower" with tumbling figures and a strange plume swirling down out from the sky (not "lightning")? Ayin means "Eye" but also, amazingly, "Fountain" too, and so I think The Tower is supposed to symbolise a moment of acute awareness, a kind of liberaton that comes like lightning, but more of an inner awakening. Even if you see Mars as the attribution for this card, Mars is said to be "exalted" in Capricorn, very strong. Still, I like the sign, and with Capricorn the new year has begun ~ out with the old and in with the new! :)

Fudugazi	16 Apr 2005
Fulgour wrote: Ayin means "Eye" but also, amazingly, "Fountain" too, and so I think The Tower is supposed to symbolise a moment of acute awareness, a kind of liberaton that comes like lightning, but more of an inner awakening. Quite so - and I have often thought, looking at the Maison-Dieu in the Marseille deck, that we are not sure if the flame is coming down from the sky, or emerging from the tower. The latter view really emphasises the inner awakening element - even if the cause is outer. I have had such a Tower moment this morning - about an event that happened years ago. I was reading something and suddenly - boom! I knew what it was that had happened - I knew its inner meaning. Quote: Even if you see Mars as the attribution for this card, Mars is said to be "exalted" in Capricorn, very strong. Still, I like the sign, and with Capricorn the new year has begun ~ out with the old and in with the new! Mars, I believe, is associated with the sign of Aries. In the old days the New Year was in late Mach - during the sign of Aries. And Aries is traditionally the first sign of the Zodiac. Sot there too we have a link.

f. silvestris	16 Apr 2005
I take the Tower / House of God as Enlightenment, in the European sense - the Enlightenment which also led to the Terror - both are implicit in the card, but it's certainly not a 'bad' force.

SunChariot	16 Apr 2005
sunflowr wrote: I recently got the The Tower in a reading, for position "what's coming up within the next 3 months". Yikes! But, the rest of the reading was quite positive, nothing negative about it at all, no other "bad" cards. What I asked about, if it comes to pass, would certainly shake up my world and take me out of my comfort zone big time. But it would be a GOOD thing, and I would be HAPPY. So, can the Tower mean "being taken out of your comfort zone" and being shaken up in a good way, or does it always mean something negative is going to happen? Nothing is always bad in Tarot. The cards are tools to help you improve your life. In fact leaving your comfort zone seems to be a prerequisite for personal growth, which is always a good thing. And will lead more to your ultimate happiness. When I started Tarot I was like that, certain cards intimidated me. My very first reading the Death card came up. I remember I was so terrified all I could do was write down the cards that came up and put them away. I did not have the courage to try and analyse them. It literally took me a full week, till I had the nerve to pull out the cards again and analyse whant they meant. LOL I am eternally grateful that I did have the nerve and did not give up Tarot on the spot. Just the thought of what I would have missed!!! It was a question about someone I love very much, and unfortunately, it was right. I did lose him at that time, although the cards in all my decks are telling me now that it is not permanent and he will come back in my life one day (apparently in the next 1-2 years...) In time I learnt that there are no "good" or "bad" Tarot cards. They all there to help us. And even if you get an outcome you don't care for, nothing is written in stone. If I ever get one, I just go on to ask what I can do to change it and get on with the work of improving things and my life. In the end even if something WERE about to happen in your life that you do not care for, and unfortunately we all have some of that in life, it is better to know so you can see what you can do to correct and change it, than to not know and have it just hit you when you likely could have prevented it. In Tarot the next card after the Tower is the Star. The Tower is there to clear away anything that is preventing the Star from manifesting in your life, so that it can fully manifest itself... That's my view anyway.:-) Bar

shandar	20 Apr 2005
Everyone here is absolutely correct, of course. The only thing I have to add (cause I am the Chariot/Tower in Tarot for yourself) is this. Often we erect walls around us... these walls or towers, may be false personas foisted upon us by parents, teachers, or others. These walls can also be our personal defenses; the extremely angry person uses this wall to keep people away; the person who is extra nice, but not reliable, uses this to avoid people. When the tower comes tumbling down, so do these archytypes, false fronts. However, the person in the tower has to be aware of the situation in order to get the jolt from the lightening bolt. And like someone here said, dive, dive, dive..... off the tower to a new awakening. Love, Shandar

Tabby	20 Apr 2005
I got the Tower card tonight in a reading. I did an Guardian Angel Spread and it came in in my physical world. At first, I can say I was a little freaked out. Then I did my homework on the card and realized it doesn't necessary have to be a bad thing. It's just giving you a wake up call so to speak.

sunflowr	21 Apr 2005
Just wanted to thank you all for your input. :) I'm still a bit freaked out by the Tower card. I've had enough (bad) upheaval in my life this past year and I just really want some peace and calm. If anymore upheaval is to be had in my life, I would like it to be of the positive variety!!! ;) Anyway, it had shown up in a reading I had about meeting someone. So, I guess it isnt anything to worry about in my general life but rather about my future dealings with the person I asked about meeting. Maybe this person will shake up my world. ;)

temperlyne	21 Apr 2005
maybe this person will not only shake your world, but liberate you and set your spirit free. the tower can also represent liberation from old rigid structures.

The The Tower - Always "bad"? thread was originally posted on 15 Apr 2005 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.