16. The Tower
The Tower (XVI) (most common modern name) is the sixteenth trump or Major Arcana card in most traditional Tarot decks.
Iconography
A tower has just been hit by lightning and is aflame. The top of the tower is crumbling and falling to the ground beneath. In some decks, two figures fall from the top of the tower; in others, the people themselves are on the ground in flames or are themselves hit by the lightning. Sometimes they are simply onlookers to the fire. Notice the Tower has a black background, signifying darkness. This time, the darkness and destruction is of a more physical nature, as opposed to spiritual. Notice the lightning bolt is oriented left to right (from the perspective of the card), from heaven to earth. From Spirit to Material and the 22 flames, representing (among other things) the 22 Major Arcana. The crown is materialistic thought falling from the heights. The Tower itself is our ambitions built upon false premises. Notice the people falling are both royal and common. The gray clouds are the clouds of misfortune that rain on everyone indiscriminately.
History
Early printed decks that preserve all their cards do feature The Tower. In these decks the card bears a number of different names and designs. In the Minchiate deck, the image usually shown is of two nude or scantily clad people fleeing the open door of what appears to be a burning building. In some Belgian tarots and the seventeenth century tarot of Jacques Vieville, the card is called La Foudre or La Fouldre, (“The Lightning”) and depicts a tree being struck by lightning. In the Tarot of Paris (17th century), the image shown is of the Devil, beating his drums, before what appears to be the mouth of Hell; the card still is called La Fouldre. The Tarot of Marseilles merges these two concepts, and depicts a burning tower being struck by lightning or fire from the sky, its top section dislodged and crumbling. Two men are depicted in mid-fall, against a field of multicolored balls. The Belgian Tarot depicts a tree struck by lightning.
Symbols
A variety of explanations for the images depicted on the card have been attempted. For example, it may be a reference to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, where God destroys a tower built by mankind to reach Heaven. Alternatively, the Harrowing of Hell was a frequent subject in late medieval liturgical drama, when Jesus forces open the fiery tower gate of Hell to free the virtuous dead from Limbo. The Minchiate version of the deck may represent Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. This card is symbolic of the jolt of actual understanding. Lightning, feared by the primitive is the opposite to an enlightened one, using its power for his own uses. So with this, we can look at the card and understand that the man and woman, conscious and subconscious are knocked from the top of the tower by the light of true knowledge or understanding. The crown is symbolic of the mind or the place of power and thought.
Interpretation
The tower is the only man made structure in the major Arcana, thus it represents, inner and outer structures that we ourselves build. The tower is an image of old forms collapsing and represents a sudden, dramatic upheaval or reversal in fortune. With Mars as its ruling planet, the Tower is a card about war, a war between the structures of lies and the lightning flash of truth. The Tower, as Wang points out, stands for “false concepts and institutions that we take for real.” On an inner level, the destruction of Tower is akin to the breaking-down of the fortress called the ego. When you build a wall to hide your secrets or to conceal your true self, you must know that sooner or later the wall will come tumbling down. Fantasies are particularly prone to being shattered by the power of this card; the Tower dissipates them like sunlight burning away fog.
Reading
This card which follows the card of the Devil is considered an unsettling card an even an ill omen by some. However, it represents the breaking of the Devil’s bonds. The I Ching says in this regard: “The storm with its thunder and lightning overcomes the disturbing tension in nature.” A good situation may be replaced with one that is bad. On the other hand, a bad situation may come to an end. This usually signifies changes in the querent’s employment, home, family, marriage or physical body, such as a nervous breakdown or sudden illness. Sometimes the Tower appears more simply in the guise of a remark, an article, or a Tarot reading, it can be anything that shakes us to the core of our being and upsets our comfortable lives. What’s most important to remember is that the tearing down of this structure, however painful, makes room for something new to be built. When the Tower of deception, ego, and illusion is destroyed, we are freed to face Truth and Reality without the trappings of false attachments.
Reversed, it indicates that the querent may be holding on to false ideas or pretenses; a new approach to thinking about the problem is needed; the sudden change will be to a greater extent and the shake-up may be difficult to survive.
The Tower in the Tarot of Marseilles
Opposing cards
Chariot – victory, control
Temperance – middle ground, staying together, contained
Star – serenity, calm
Six of Wands – acclaim, pride
Ten of Cups – peace, serenity
Reinforcing cards
Death – sweeping impact, powerful forces
Sun – enlightenment, revelation
Five of Pentacles – hard times
Alternate Decks
In Anne Rice Tarot deck the Tower card depicts Armand
In X/1999, the Tower is Tokiko Magami & Tooru Shirou (This makes Tower & Strength (features Yuzuriha Nekoi & Inuki) are the only cards in the X tarot set that has more than one character, since the other cards has only one character for one card; the examples are that Kamui Shirou represents the Magician, Kotori Monou represents the Lovers, Subaru Sumeragi represents the Hanged Man, Seishirou Sakurazuka represents Death, Karen Kasumi represents Justice, Princess Hinoto represents the High Priestess, Kanoe represents the Empress, Arashi Kishuu represents Temperance, Satsuki Yatooji represents the Hermit).
In the Mythic Tarot deck, the Tower is depicted by Poseidon.
Quote
I saw a lofty tower extending from earth to heaven; its golden crowned summit reached beyond the clouds. All round it black night reigned and thunder rumbled.
Suddenly the heavens opened, a thunder-clap shook the whole earth, and lightning struck the summit of the tower and felled the golden crown. A tongue of fire shot from heaven and the whole tower became filled with fire and smoke. Then I beheld the builders of the tower fall headlong to the ground.
And the voice said:–
“The building of the tower was begun by the disciples of the great Master in order to have a constant reminder of the Master’s teaching that the true tower must be built in one’s own soul, that in the tower built by hands there can be no mysteries, that no one can ascend to Heaven by treading stone steps.
“The tower should warn the people not to believe in it. It should serve as a reminder of the inner Temple and as a protection against the outer; it should be as a lighthouse, in a dangerous place where men have often been wrecked and where ships should not go.
p. 49
“But by and by the disciples forgot the true covenant of the Master and what the tower symbolized, and began to believe in the tower of stone, they had built, and to teach others to so believe. They began to say that in this tower there is power, mystery and the spirit of the Master, that the tower itself is holy and that it is built for the coming Master according to His covenant and His will. And so they waited in the tower for the Master. Others did not believe this, or interpreted it differently. Then began disputes about the rights of the summit. Quarrels started, ‘Our Master, your Master,’ was said; ‘our tower, your tower.’ And the disciples ceased to understand each other. Their tongues had become confused.
“You understand the meaning here? They had begun to think that this is the tower of the Master, that He builds it through them, and that it must and, indeed, can be built right up to Heaven.
“And you see how Heaven responded?”
– The Symbolism of the Tarot by P D. Ouspensky (1913)