16. The Tower
i. The Nutshell
Upright
The Tower is your soul path's demolition crew, arriving because you forgot the contract allowing your life to change right now. It's the moment when the structures you've built, be that beliefs, relationships or identities, are struck by a lightning bolt of truth. This card challenges your sense of control, confronting you as it breaks down the illusions you've relied on. The Tower represents sudden changes, confusion, and new understanding, forcing you to acknowledge that what you once depended on is no longer stable.
A new opportunity for freedom is emerging from the ruins. The Tower clears away what no longer fits your life path, or soul contract. This painful but essential transformation encourages you to rebuild on a foundation of honesty and integrity. The destruction serves as a wake-up call, pushing you to live more authentically and align with your vision for yourself.
The universe is like a wise gardener, carefully choosing the seeds it plants in the fertile ground of your life. Each challenge is tailored to the strength of your roots, ensuring that you are not faced with a storm greater than the resilience you possess. Your arcana training has given you the knowledge and skills to thrive at Tower-time. Like a strong tree that bends but doesn't break, you can find your way by using your experiences to stay balanced.
Keywords: Sudden change, upheaval, revelation, awakening, liberation.
Translation: Sometimes, things fall apart so better things can fall together.
Reversed
When The Tower appears reversed, it's like trying to hold on to a crooked ladder that’s teetering dangerously at the edge of a steep cliff. You're fighting against the wind of necessary change, grasping onto unstable situations because they feel familiar, even if they're just as precarious as a jester's balance atop a unicycle. Ignoring the coming disruption will only make things worse, just like ignoring a leaky roof will result in flooding during a storm.
Alternatively, the reversed Tower can signify that the storm has passed, and you find yourself in the aftermath, sorting through the debris like a clown cleaning up after a drunken juggling act. It's a time to rebuild and learn from past challenges. Take this chance to rebuild your life with more awareness and strength, creating a better foundation as you turn the page into your new chapter.
Keywords: Resistance to change, avoidance, fear of upheaval, rebuilding, recovery.
Translation: Change is coming, face it willingly, or it will force its way in.
ii. Illus-traits
A quick glance at The Tower’s symbolic traits in the Rider-Waite-Smith deck. Being the necessary destruction that clears the path for authentic growth, surrendering to the fall is the first step toward rebuilding:
Lightning Bolt – Divine Intervention or a Reality Check; a blinding strike from above shatters the tower's crown, symbolising an unexpected revelation.
Falling Figures – The Unplanned Exit Strategy. Two individuals fall from the tower, symbolising sudden loss of control and forced release from illusion.
Flames – Destruction for Renewal. Fire consumes the old, paving the way for the new, clearing outdated beliefs and false securities.
Crumbling Crown – The Fall of False Authority. The toppled crown symbolises ego's collapse and the loss of misguided power. It reminds us that no facade is too grand to fall.
Dark Sky – The Storm Before Clarity. Dark clouds signal the tower's collapse, reflecting the warning before change and tension before the breakthrough.
22 Flames – The Universal Wake-Up Call. The 22 flames symbolise a comprehensive upheaval across all existence, linked to the 22 Major Arcana cards. As the Master Builder, Master number 22 represents turning dreams into reality through practical means, highlighting power and achievement with strong purpose and determination.
iii. Influences
Planetary:
The Tower is influenced by Mars, the planet associated with change and intensity. When The Tower shows up, Mars wants change. This energy pushes you to take quick action and reevaluate your situation. Where in your life have you been too comfortable, and what aspects need a major change?
Natal House(s):
The Tower relates to the First House of self-identity and the Eighth House of transformation. The First House focuses on the self, where Mars encourages you to face your ego and the masks you've created. The Eighth House, linked to death and rebirth, connects with The Tower’s idea of destruction leading to new beginnings. Which aspects of your identity are uncertain, and what should you alter to ignite a new path?
Astrological Sign(s):
The Tower is often linked to Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, ruled by Mars. Aries embodies initiation, courage and a headstrong approach to challenges. When The Tower's energy combines with Aries, it signifies a forceful push toward new beginnings, often through the abrupt end of outdated structures. Where does Aries' courage need to face what's coming and accept change?
Numerologically:
The Tower is card 16, which reduces to 7. While 16 signifies sudden upheaval and the collapse of existing structures, 7 represents introspection, spiritual awakening, and the quest for deeper understanding. This numerical combination suggests that through The Tower’s destruction, there's an opportunity for profound personal growth and enlightenment. It's the storm that clears the path for realisation. What inner truths are waiting to be uncovered once the dust settles?
Element: The Tower is associated with the element of Fire, representing transformation, purification and the burning away of the old to make way for the new. Fire consumes, illuminates and catalyses change. In The Tower, fire destroys falsehoods and illusions, revealing what is real. Where can you harness this energy to eliminate the inauthentic and ignite your true purpose?
iv. A Day in the Life of The Tower
Well That Escalated Quickly
Your life was a carefully curated Jenga tower of ‘shoulds,’ bad coping mechanisms, and flimsy emotional architecture. Then - achoo! - one holy sneeze and the whole thing hits the floor in a spectacular, slow-motion collapse of breakups, job implosions and existential crisis. You feel disrupted from your routine because you ignored earlier signs, but this is more than you expected! You keep reading that apparently you ‘chose’ this before you were born, but you can’t remember and sure you wouldn’t have signed up to this!
Adjusting the Knobs
You're not trapped yet, but you can sense the pressure around you. Your career has a flaw, your beliefs feel shaky, and your relationships seem more like facades than real connections. There’s a crack in the ceiling, the floor is lava, and the dread is creeping in before the ‘quake. Discomfort is stretching its legs and you're beginning to ask dangerous questions you know have a point. You’re prepping for a controlled burn instead of waiting for lightning.
Unsubscribed from Self-Sabotage
You're using a sledgehammer to break old habits and remove obstacles, much like a dedicated renovator. It’s tough and emotional, but you are moving forward. You're going through a transformation, clearing the way for a new chapter filled with openness and honesty about your feelings that align with who you are now. You’re no longer clinging to the past and getting ready to reconnect with your soul’s path.
Writing the TED Talk
You're barefoot in the remains, swirling a glass of red wine, covered in soot and laughing like someone who’s seen the abyss and started redecorating. You let The Tower remodel your ego and now you’re making your thank-yous out to the Academy of Total Collapse. The old you, bless their nine-year-old heart, thought safety came from holding it all together. The new you knows freedom comes from patting down the soil on the survival patterns with some serious self-compassion, whilst rebuilding with clear limits and strong values.
v. Working with these Energies
Living The Tower Wearing A Hard Hat
The Tower kicks the door in and thinks knocking is pointless. This archetype challenges the comfortable by revealing truths often unnoticed until your external world crumbles. Your true safety lies within; these worksheets aim to strengthen your intuition, enabling you to handle anything with self-knowledge, trust, and confidence.
Scorch the facade
– What truths have been politely knocking that you’ve refused to let in?
– What habits seem normal but are in fact damaging you?
– What belief finally snapped under pressure and what freedom is suddenly possible because of it?Audit the remains
– Which pieces of your identity were merely clever props for someone else’s approval?
– What have you mistaken for stability that was really stagnation?
– If nothing is guaranteed, what’s still worth rebuilding?Enjoy the skydive
– Where are you gripping tighter when letting go would actually hurt less?
– What happens when you stop bouncing back and question what you're returning to?
– If your defenses are gone, what’s been waiting behind them?Build like a Master Number 22
– What do you want to build from your truth rather than past pain?
– What relationships, routines, or roles need to be left in the flames?
– What would it look like to construct a life that doesn’t require constant maintenance to stay upright?Practice post-apocalyptic clarity
– What do you understand clearly now that the distractions have gone?
– How can you honour what collapsed without romanticising the ruins?
– What’s the first small step you can take to start afresh and make it your time?
vi. Building Skills
1. Still Standing: A Grounding Guide
When life falls apart, we often want to fix things, ignore the pain, or act like everything is okay. But The Tower encourages you to take a moment to observe, to not rush the rebuild - to understand what really happened and what was important.
Step 1: Mute the Commentary Track. Your inner narrator will try to name, blame, and analyse. Politely ask them to take a seat.
Instead of thinking ‘This is good / bad / right / wrong,’ try: ‘This is happening.’
Step 2: Conduct a Somatic Sweep. The Tower shakes more than your worldview - it hits the nervous system.
Where in your body do you feel unsettled, tight, or strangely awake?
If that tension could speak, what would it say? What does it want - soothing, stillness, movement?
Step 3: Observe Without the Old Script. Approach your routines and relationships like you’ve never seen them before.
What feels out of place, like it belongs to a past version of you?
What suddenly feels alive, raw, or undeniably true?
Step 4: Name What Survived the Blast. Not everything was lost. Some things withstood the quake.
What inside you didn’t collapse?
Who showed up for you, include yourself on the register, when it mattered most?
What value, desire or awareness emerged from the wreckage?
Step 5: Make One Micro-Adjustment. You don’t need to rebuild the whole Tower today. Just remove one brick that doesn’t belong.
What’s one small choice you can make to honour what you know now?
What would it look like to act from truth instead of fear even if it’s only for the next ten minutes?
2. Somatic Reset: Touch + Weight + Movement
Re-establish a sense of physical safety, grounding, and presence when your inner world feels chaotic or blown apart.
Anchor with Pressure (2–3 minutes)
Sit or stand. Press your hands firmly against a solid surface like a wall, the edge of a table, or your own thighs. Feel the resistance. Let your hands push just enough to engage your muscles.Say silently or out loud: ‘I am here. I can feel this.’
Weighted Wrap (2–5 minutes)
Grab a heavy blanket, coat, or even a backpack with books. Drape it across your shoulders or lay it in your lap. Let your body register the weight.This mimics deep pressure stimulation and is a safety cue for your nervous system.
Low and Slow Movement (5 minutes)
Lie down or stay seated. Begin rocking gently side-to-side, or shift your weight in small, slow circles.This kind of rhythmic motion soothes the body and can reset a stress response.
Reset Connection (1–2 minutes)
With one hand, place light pressure over your heart, and with the other, over your stomach (solar plexus). Hold still and breathe slowly in steady breaths.This helps connect your headspace back to your body’s core.
vii. Embodiment
Alchemy Is a Demolition Job With a Soul
What breaks isn't meant to carry you forward, yet you’re still here. The Tower invites you to feel and rebuild from who and where you are now: this moment's texture, your breath's weight, the steadiness amid confusion. Connecting with all your senses grounds and anchors you in your body; offering a direct path to presence, control, and conscious choice after disorientation.
Smell: What does truth smell like? Scorched wood, torn paper, wet earth? The aftermath of something real.
Body: Where did the lightning land in you? Is your chest buzzing, stomach tight, shoulders up around your ears? The body always knows when the story has changed even if your mind hasn’t caught up. Find the wreckage site in your system. Stretch. Run. Dance. Shake. Cry. Sigh. Shout. Scream. Let it move - out.
Soundtrack: Choose a song that holds you. Play it so it vibrates through your bones.
Action: What’s one small way you can respond differently now that the old pattern has been broken? Call someone instead of disappearing? Rest instead of rebuilding? Rip up the to-do list? Forget the plan, you just need a moment that reminds you you’re not trapped in the old story.
Nature cue: Go find something that has been ruined and kept going anyway. A broken fence with wildflowers pushing through. A cliff battered by wind, still standing. A tree hollowed by lightning, now home to birds. Nature knows what we forget: fracture isn’t failure. It’s transformation in process.
Notice what’s still standing: The Tower burns what’s false. But it also reveals what’s real. What did the fire leave intact? What beliefs or instincts are still here with you? That’s your foundation.
viii. Your Impressions
The Tower is an alarm bell with bad bedside manners. A juggernaut to the ego and a controlled demolition you didn’t schedule. This card is arrives to shatter the illusion and act like a rescue mission.
Start by looking at the card. Where does your eye land first? The toppling crown? The flying bodies? The flames? Maybe it’s that one poor soul doing a full somersault out the window like they just realised their lease is up and it’s time to move to a better town.
Notice what hits you hardest. Is it panic? Relief? A weird little thrill? Is there a part of you feeling relief that something is happening? The Tower has that effect - it clears out what you refused to outgrow.
Now check your body. Are you holding your breath? Bracing like something might fall on you next? Adrenaline or an ache behind your ribs indicates your body recognises a truth. Avoid overriding it; instead, exercise to release excess adrenaline.
ix. Intuitive Meaning
This card can define a moment you don’t walk away from the same. Think now to what you’re telling yourself. Who you are, who they are, what life is and what it isn’t and reflect on these:
When in the past did life unexpectedly change, leaving you simultaneously furious, curious and grateful?
Where are you still trying to rebuild the old instead of letting something new emerge?
What truth are you finally willing to live with, even if it temporarily costs you comfort?
Applied insight with a three-card reading using The Tower as your anchor:
What structure in my life is ready to collapse?
What truth is breaking through?
What can I start to create now while putting awareness before fear?
Pull or shuffle-fling your cards and note your feelings. Take your time and let the answers unfold. Write three ‘you’ words that relate to your current experience:
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x. Closing Reflection: Track Your Evolving Lens
Your relationship with each card will grow over time because it’s meant to shaped by your life. Consider the prompts below to revisit and reflect.
What I thought this card meant when I first pulled it: —————————————————
A recent experience that changed how I see it: —————————————————
How I feel about it now, in my body or life: —————————————————
What surprised me as this card kept showing up: —————————————————
One way this card is living in my life right now: —————————————————
If this card visited me today as a guide, what would it want me to remember? —————————————————
Revisit these after a week, a moon phase, or a meaningful moment. Let the card evolve as you do.
If you feel a quiet sense of recognition, curiosity and want to explore it, browse the sessions page for what feels right.