art by LazloEde
Whether you are new to tarot cards or have been reading for a while, everyone knows that feeling that comes up when one of the (so-called) scary cards shows up in answer to a question. This is especially true when the questions are big ones like….
Will I meet the love of my life at this party?
Answer
Response
OR
How will this new job work out for me?
Answer
Response
Gulp!
In fact, it’s fair to say that many people are put off the tarot altogether because of these cards, so scary do they seem.
Are you put off by these cards when they turn up in a reading? Do they bring up unwelcome thoughts and emotion? Do you perhaps gloss over or even ignore them, pulling more cards until you get one you want? If this is you and you want to become more at ease with all of the tarot deck, then read on as this post is for you!
In this article, we are going to do a deep dive on one of the scariest tarot cards - The Tower.
Let’s face it, the Tower card by any stretch of the imagination, does not look inviting! A lightning bolt zigzags its way across a black sky and hits the top of a burning building. The building is a tower, tall and straight. Its roof seems to have been destroyed and there are flames coming from three empty windows. What seem like golden embers from the flames float down either side of the tower alongside two people both falling head first to the rocky ground below. Clearly, this is no picnic scene, so what is going on here?
Much has already been written about the meanings associated with this card, see here for a brilliant overview of what the Tower represents. What we’re going to focus on in this post however is your response to the Tower card, what that might mean as well as how to bring it into your readings for a whole new level of understanding.
The keyword we can associate with the Tower card is CHANGE. Change comes in many forms and in many ways. Sometimes we have an active role in it. Getting to choose for example between taking a new job or staying with the current one, we might weigh up the pros and cons, spend time in the new environment to see whether we like it and/or make it a goal that we commit towards. This kind of change, though it may be challenging, can feel manageable because we are (or feel to be) in control.
The Tower is NOT typically associated with this kind of change! It represents instead those moments and situations in life when, to quote John Lennon, “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.*
It’s the changes we don’t expect and haven’t planned, that leave us feeling that life is happening to us, outside of our control. What comes to mind when you read this? Breakages, accidents, loss, illness, even death? Or do lucky breaks, happy accidents, sudden wins and miracle healing spring to mind?
If you’re anything like me and most other human beings, chances are that your mind went to the breakages, spillages and accidents first. (Whilst writing this article I stopped for a coffee break and dropped my pot, spilling coffee grounds all over the floor - classic Tower moment!)
Why do we notice the bad stuff first? It’s because our brains are hardwired to! We are much more sensitive to bad news, and react more strongly to negative stimuli because of an inbuilt ‘negativity bias’. It’s one way humans have survived and evolved over millennia! When our negativity bias is stimulated, so is fear.
What does this all have to do with the Tower card and the way you read tarot? Well, when the Tower card shows up in a reading, typically what happens is that it evokes a fear response in us precisely because of the hardwired negativity bias in our brain. We automatically assume it is negative and we make a bunch of unconscious assumptions often fearing the worst. This is how the Tower card is associated with being “scary”. Yet it may only be scary in so much as it reflects back to us how we feel about change that we cannot control.
If you are in any doubt as to this process, I encourage you to write out your own description of what is happening in the card. Now read out your description to yourself and look again at the card. Can you notice where what you’ve written no longer simply describes what is there but gives your interpretation of it?
So that’s the first thing to notice when you draw the Tower card; how does it make you feel? What feelings come up? Can you name any fears that are arising? Naming the fear, giving it substance, is a first step to dealing with or overcoming it.
"The Tower may only be scary in so much as it reflects back to us how we feel about change that we cannot control."
Once you’ve acknowledged to yourself what you are feeling and any fears have been named, now ask yourself how it would feel to meet this fear and notice your response?
art by LazloEde
Is the thought of facing this fear overwhelming or even unthinkable right now?
OK then, the Tower card is showing you where your current limit or threshold is, where you feel safe and where you don’t. It’s locating you right where you are which could mean many things in practical terms but one example is that it might be a good time to ask for help or get some support.
At the same time, the Tower card may also be letting you know that something within you yearns to cross over that fear threshold. For whilst fear is not a bad thing; it keeps us safe and protects us from harm, it can also be paralysing, preventing us from taking up opportunities, from being spontaneous and living a full life.
The Tower card is ultimately an invitation into all these things. When it comes up in a reading, try not to shy away from it. Instead, trust your own feelings and the validity of your own response. Be curious and ask the questions that will help you explore and name what is coming up.
"The tarot is a tool to help you better trust your feelings and the validity of your own response."
Ultimately, although change can indeed be scary, the Tower is here to help. It is less about scaring us and more of a reminder to check in with ourselves, to examine and acknowledge our fears and feelings yet not to let them necessarily stop us in their tracks.
We can feel the fear AND do the thing anyway.
*lyric from Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) 1980
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