The Tower

The Tower tarot card is the sixteenth card of the Major Arcana and is ruled by the astrological sign, Mars and by the element, Fire. Mars is the Roman God of war and is thus associated with aggression, animosity, destruction and action. The Tower symbolises the need to get into action to make the necessary changes in your life.
Receiving this card may not give you a ‘feel-good’ factor but in reality this is a card with the most capacity to heal.

Represents

The Tower Tarot represents upheaval, sudden changes, drama, destruction, something unexpected, bad news, shock.

Description

In the Rider Waite deck, The Tower Tarot shows a sturdy tower that has been struck by lightening at night time. The roof of the tower has come off and there is smoke all around. Flames(22 in number, representing the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet) can be seen coming out of the three windows of the tower. A man and a woman are seen, falling headlong out of the tower. They have a shocked and terrified look on their faces and were clearly not expecting this event. There are ominous looking clouds around the tower.
While the tower represents our ego, the roof represents our thoughts. The lightening is a wake-up call for us which will result in changing us forever. The people represent us and the experiences we are going through.The clouds are our ‘clouded’ view of the world.

Meaning

When The Tower comes up in a general reading, it suggests that its time for a dramatic shock or a sudden change in your life. This change may not be a pleasant one, but it is long overdue. You may have been getting warnings of this, but you chose to ignore. But whatever sudden change takes place, do not fret as it will make way for new and better things. Since you cannot control this change, learn how to flow with it while adopting a positive attitude. Embrace the changes and freedom that will come your way.

The Tower Tarot card meaning changes when the card comes reversed. You are then resisting any change that comes in your life as you are afraid. This will only trap you further in the tower and not allow you to move forward.
Sometimes the reversed Tower also means that the crisis has been averted or was not as bad as expected.
It can also mean that you could face false accusations and imprisonment.

In a business reading

When The Tower comes up in a business reading, you may be in for a shock. There could be an unexpected change in your business dealings and those in a salaried job, may suddenly face a challenging profile. This could shake your foundations and make you feel very vulnerable. You may face loss of money and possessions, crumbling that false sense of security you bask in.

If you are planning to invest in some business, and The Tower comes up, it will not be a wise decision.

In relationships

When The Tower comes up in a relationship reading, it indicates that the foundations on which you base your friendship is still weak and some serious rebuilding is needed. You could be heading for a breakup as the illusions you had of yourself or your partner is about to be shattered. You may be pained by this sudden change, but after seeing things clearly, you will welcome the freedom that you gained from this breakup.

And when The Tower comes up for singles, it suggests that a friendship may not turn out as you hoped for.

In Health

In a health reading when The Tower comes up, it cautions you to be careful of an impending accident, most probably in or around buildings. You need to specially be careful around fire. You may suffer sudden health issues like inflammations, high fever or even strokes.