DESCRIPTION

In Pamela Colman Smith’s Tower card, a storm fills the darkened sky. Unlike earlier versions of the Tarot de Marseille, where a celestial plume symbolized God’s grace touching the Tower, the illustration shows the plume transforms into a lightning flash, representing both destruction and illumination. The lightning flash, which is in the shape of the flaming sword that traverses down the tree of life as the energy moves from the source down into the physical, signifies creation. The lightning flash is a masculine symbol, terminating in the same arrow as is seen in the glyph for Mars. This light or force breaks down existing forms in order to release their trapped energy and make room for new ones. We see the flash of lightning has struck the Tower from above, and where it strikes, a crown flies off the rooftop. The crown knocked off from the top of the Tower represents the dethroning of materialistic and egoic ideas where matter is crowned as the ruling principle of existence and the will of the individual trumps that of the universe.

There is a sudden influx of spiritual consciousness. The yods hang in the air to indicate that these archetypal forces don’t rest upon a physical foundation, but instead a non-physical one. The twenty-two flaming yellow letter yods emphasize the hidden creative force within this calamity. They symbolize the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the twenty-two major arcana cards. The mountain that serves as the base is crumbling, signifying the Tower is built on pride. The Tower’s three windows correspond to the three supernal sephiroth: Kether, Chokmah, and Binah. The two figures plummeting from the Tower are interpreted as the Kings of Edom, who were rulers over a powerful kingdom that was conquered by the Jewish champion Judas Maccabeus. The Edomites represent a fallen order cleared away for a new beginning. Their red and blue clothing also shows a mixture of self-conscious and subconscious activities. While the Devil was about becoming aware of self-imposed chains that bind us, the Tower brings us a rapid release from those chains. When the lightning strikes it does so suddenly and powerfully that it swiftly destroys what no longer serves so that we can rebuild. The Tower is the birth canal from the Devil, or hell, that we’ve created for ourselves into the Star, or the bright future.

This key represents a rebirth, when we’re emerging from the ordinary, everyday level of consciousness into a type of consciousness that’s free from societal and cultural programming. Those that embody the Tower archetype are good at tearing down old structures that have outworn their usefulness and thrive at rebuilding or restoring things to their original glory and potential. A very literal example of this might be contractors in the industry of building, restoration, demolition, and reconstruction. A career as a consultant in company restructuring also matches this archetype. They’re skilled at sensing what needs to get transformed to bring things into greater functionality. Another way that the Tower archetype manifests is as a disruptor of the status quo in society. These inventors bring radical changes through technology. When the status quo has become stale and corrupt there’s always going to be a rising up of anger or Mars energy by those who feel disregarded. Tower people come with a warrior’s mission like David to take down Goliath. They do so with the aim of renovating or restoring things to their greater potential.