Card 16

The Tower

Brief Description

The Tower signifies sudden upheaval, destruction, and chaotic forces that can unexpectedly alter your reality and affect all areas of life. It points to external circumstances beyond your control and complete upheaval of established structures. Reversed, the card can indicate denial, delaying the inevitable, or a warning of imminent destruction, and it may also suggest narrowly avoiding disaster or a blessing in disguise. Overall, the card warns of unavoidable change and the revelations that accompany transformation.

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The Tower

Poem

Your foundations are of salt, your understanding is of sand as your tower falls down, where is it you'll land? The serpent that rises from the depths of your will, the lightning that strikes with precision and skill; These things will come, despite what you do whether you sink or you swim is all up to you.

Meaning

The Tower is about upheaval, destruction, chaos, and external circumstances beyond your control. This card represents the moments in life when something suddenly and unexpectedly alters your reality. This card shows destruction within all the elements, implying a complete upheaval affecting all areas in life.

Reversed

Reversed, this card indicates that you are in denial, putting off the inevitable even though it may ultimately be for the best. It could also be a warning of imminent destruction.

Upright keywords

sudden upheaval, unexpected loss, destruction, unexpected change, tragedy, revelations, complete devastation, unavoidable circumstances, loss of control

Reversed keywords

narrowly avoiding disaster, blessing in disguise, moderate change, denial, avoidable tragedy, a purposeful destruction of one's self, an intervention

Visual Description

A tall, gothic tower stands on the left, its upper spire caught in flames beneath a radiant circular sun or star. To the right a long, serpentine sea-dragon rises from turbulent red waves, head reared and mouth open as if roaring at the tower. Jagged lines and streaks of light cross the crimson sky, and fire and splintered masonry are visible around the tower's base. The scene is framed in an oval with a dark border and the title "The Tower" appears at the bottom while the Roman numeral XVI sits at the top.

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Children of Litha tarot

✍️ Deck author(s): Alexandria Huntington

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