78 Weeks: Tower

To find out what these threads refer to, please seeThe link above provides suggested dates and links to all threads for this study.

Some amongst us may be working through the deck in a different order, and using different decks.

For more general comments or questions about the 78 weeks, please post in the thread linked above.

Enjoy!

My third card for the study and now into 2004, finding it much easier, getting into the flow of things.
For any newbies (and others as well), I have found when studying the Tarot, helpful to write down what is going on in my life and then when I look back over my notes: days, weeks and even years later, it has given me great insight. When I was going through my Saturn return, the Tower and I were good friends. Well perhaps not friends, as such, but companions travelling the same road together.

I found myself at the end of December with Temperance, and trying to obtain a 'magic' balance or flow. Come New Year, the Devil saw me confronting old habits, things I had outgrown and not needed in 2004. And now, The Tower, just in case I have not been able to achieve The Devil on my own, The Tower comes in to help me

RWS: I first notice the two figures from the Devil (Lovers) falling to the ground, no longer chained or naked. Could this be thy self, I do wonder? Has their 'separation' caused this? Are they no longer linked. The crown intrigues me, royalty or higher consciousness? Both maybe, or none.

HERBAL TAROT: GARLIC - My immediate thought is of garlic being an antibiotic (interesting fact, if you take 3 cloves of garlic, 3 times per day it will work better than penicillin), it breaks down a build up of toxins, it's a purifier. Brings clarity to states of dis-ease. The Tower breaks down the build up of unhealthy ways of the Devil. The image of the garlic bulb, is stronger than the image of The Tower. A beautiful red sky - fire, action and passion. Three mountains blue (the maiden, mother and crone or 3 states of consciousness) Higher consciousness, communication, the throat and immunity.

RUSSIAN TAROT of ST. PETERSBURG - I am not really resonating with this deck, but shall persist.
Strikes me, at first being very RWS, v. dark (as the whole deck is). The figures are falling from a higher place, but they seem to flow, not so seemingly scared. The top of the tower lifted from the flame, reminds me of a pie lid, when hot it seems as though it may explode, but then it cools down. Is the chaos of this card easily cooled?

XTAX

The House of God, as a card from the Tarot of Marseilles, is one of the most talked about cards in the deck. Lightning is not present, rather we see what could be rays of light and smoke either travelling from the sun to the tower depicted or from the tower to the sun. We also see one figure in the act of falling and one who appears to have already hit the ground. The crown atop the tower appears lifted by the light and smoke.

I've come to associate two basic meanings with this trump. On one hand we have the idea of light. A person is subject to the 'light of truth', thereby exposing false beliefs and forcing a change. On the other hand we have the idea of raising the kundalini from the root chakra to the crown.

In my quest to create a Marseille Tarot depicting the characters in modern clothing, it wasn't difficult at all to make the simple changes needed for this trump. Once again I've substituted the baseball cap for the crown.

Edited to add:

This card has undergone some dramatic changes which you can see on my website at Major Tom's Tarot of Marseilles.

You are invited to make any comments you have about this card or the deck that is growing from my 78 Weeks of study in this thread.

HERON MARSEILLES

It is twilight, l'heure bleu, and the feathery lightning breath of God has just struck the tower and we are falling. Easily we float through the air, it feels so free and relaxed. Not at all like I thought it would feel. A lot of new ideas and possibilities were released when the house was struck and they float through the air like little colored particles.

I feel a slight sense of loss at the shattering of old illusions, old ideas that used to be accepted with out question (indicated by crown zapped off the top) perhaps as divine decrees (maison dieu). More, I feel a sense of freedom.

This seems to have something to do with the preceeding cards. Perhaps the recognition of true nature? Recognition of one's true self in Temperance, and then the Energy in the Devil card, now the falling towers of old ways of thinking?

CRYSTAL TAROT

The sky is darkly colorful, lots of powerful swirling possibilities generate the electricity that destroys the tower. The windows on the tower show no light indicating that no new ideas could get in, the tower has outlived its usefulness.

The general shape of the card is a triangle, indicating growth, though the process may be painful the result will be exapansion and creativity. The relationship with the number 7 ties in with divine inspiration, creative inspiration, independant ideas.

T Truth
O Optimistic
W Warning
E Enlightenment/Explosion
R Release/Revelation

This week all three of my cards depict something a little bit different from the others.

HADAR

These guys are smiling and look to me like they are picking up money (a windfall). Pennies from heaven. The top is literally blown off the top of the Tower, a release of pent up energy. This represents liberation. Sometimes we put too much on ourselves, we put ourselves under too much stress and I wonder if this card can symbolise the point at which we blow, we realise where our priorities are and what is important to us. On the Hadar (although not the Fournier) the bolt of lightning appears to be question mark shaped and comes out of the tower implying an explosion from within. It is almost question mark shaped and begs the question 'So what are your beliefs founded on?' Also its only the top of the tower which is blown off, the rest of it appears untouched, which definately shows an inner explosion to me. I have read that this card can represent a re-organisation of the personality and see it now, as very much an inner experience.

CRYSTAL

In this card, the tower is being hit by a bolt of lightening. I see this more as an external force. A sudden, unexpected, explosive experience. This card symbolises destruction as well an enlightenment, its almost like you are being knocked off your pedestal, your foundations are shaken and you are forced to reassess your life.

HAINDL

What can I say about this card? I can't look at it without seeing Sept 11. The building even has flags coming from it. A modern day tower, explosive,smoking and crashing ... destruction. In the accompanying book by Rachel Pollack, the point is made that man attempts to dominate nature, our buildings get taller and taller. How high we build them is questionable. I have to say that this deck has a theme about mans domination of nature so it is in context with the deck.

I had a 'Tower' experience myself this week but it was quite different. I visited Glastonbury Tor, which has its own little 'tower' on the top of it. Just outside at the spot where two ley lines cross, I felt the Earth pull. Amazing.

J

I hope you don't mind me joining in I'm still a tarot beginner, but I'll give it my best shot

Robin Wood

The card shows a tower standing in the middle of a stormy sea, its foundations crumbling to rubble and its top cracking and bursting into flames. The sky is dark and cloudy, the tower is being struck by lightning, and two figures are plummeting down along its sides.

stormy sea -> turmoil, possibly in relationships as indicated by the element of water
crumbling foundations -> something important has been built on something false or weak
cracking top -> certainty/ego/loftiness being destroyed
dark sky -> there is no light of wisdom in this way of life
lightning -> the light of wisdom and truth is destroying the false pretenses of the tower
figures plummeting -> being brought back down to reality, finally thrown out of false security and made to face tumultuous reality of the stormy sea

hedgecub said:

I hope you don't mind me joining in I'm still a tarot beginner, but I'll give it my best shot

Click to expand...

Welcome Hedgecub - glad you could join us, the more the merrier! Doesn't matter if you are a beginner or experienced - we are all studying and learning here

CreativeFire

The Tower

Universal Waite

A tall, rectangular, stone tower with three small windows with flames coming out of the windows and the top of the tower. The strike of lightning making a direct hit to the top of the tower and dislodging the crown. It looks like a queen and another man are falling down to the craggy rocks below.

The first thing that strikes me with the tower is that there is no door. How did they get in or is it supposed to symbolise the material world they have built up around themselves and therefore being trapped with no escape. Therefore making me think the only way they could ever get out is for something drastic to happen to destroy the tower. Will they survive the fall to the rocks below and even if they do, they will be shocked, scared, hurt and at first lost without their familiar surroundings. Ultimately they will be glad to be free of the restrictions but that will only come with time and re-assessing their life priorities.

Thoth

This card has very dramatic imagery - all black, reds, oranges and yellows. The big eye at the top of the card makes me think of "all is seen from above" - you can't hide anything even if you are in a tower. The stylised lightning zig zag looks like it is not just hitting the tower but destroying everything else as well. The tower is crumbling, falling and triangular shaped "things" (not a very good description but trying to figure out what they are as I don't have a book yet to reference on this card). They almost look like people falling but maybe burnt from the flames?

This tower has a door, but the doors and windows have bars on them - to keep people out or keep people in? The large mouth and teeth of a creature at the bottom right of the card has flames coming out. This card makes me think of total destruction by forces from above and below - no escape.

The Tower card in general makes me think of destroying or breaking down material ideals that are not healthy for a life of freedom. A time to reasses ideals, goals, directions in life - breaking free of the old to make way for a new direction.

As an aside, have also had this card come up in readings where it has actually meant damage to houses a couple of times from storms (lightning) and fire. But I associate it more with freeing the spirit within from social restrictions and expectations. A lesson to not be so materialistic and therefore limit out enjoyment and understanding of nature and what is around us. Who can see what is really going on in the world through those tiny little windows!

Also had a thought about the theory that lightning never strikes in the same place twice. Could this mean that the tower stage is something we only need to go through once in life to learn what is more important on our life journey.

CreativeFire

Blue Rose deck

I don't know if it's me or the deck, but I'm once again struck by birthing associations.
The great Physician has noted that my incubation in this structure is at an end. He creates an opening and I involuntarily "crown", screaming. Electricity arcs around my head as I enter this new reality and the sea of the subconcious rests in wait, perhaps ready to absorb the memory of the pain of this primal experience. Or perhaps I will remember the exact moment of this birth- perhaps it will be seared into my concious and the subconcious will absorb my previous state of mind. In any case, there is no going back from whence I came- it is time to deal with adjusting to my new circumstances, to realize my core identity, now seperate from that to which I thought it was fused.

I wish I could link to this card, but the one shown on Tarot Passages is entirely different than the one that Paula ended up using for the deck. A cityscape at night shows a high rise tower. A huge hand lifts the top off the Tower very neatly; no crumbling or cracks- like lifting the lid off a cracker tin. Lifting the top reveals an adult, male face. He is screaming and lightning-like bolts glow over his head. A quiet sea fills about 2/3 of the backdrop- all but the lightning charged sky.

Hadar Marseilles

This is a 'reality' card to me, I don't just see it as a catastophe but as more of an 'awakening'. It is significant that the Tower looses it's crown - it's intelligence - because sometimes all reasoning counts for nothing when you are hit by a sudden change or reality check.

The faces of these two people as they fall from the Tower hold no fear - it's as though they accept their fate, one is even smiling. They fall on sand - a soft landing, and there is growth all around them in the form of green plants - so it's not necessarily all bad.

The Tower is flesh coloured - the colour of man which is significant in this card. This is a structure built by man and being destroyed by nature. The 'atoms' falling from the sky don't reach the ground, but float in mid air. This is where the destruction ends, because the ground shows growth and therefore, promise, a change for the better and new possibilities