March 20, 2021
Many people, when asked which Tarot trump they dread the most, will say the Tower. Of course there is a “Death” card among the 22 major arcana cards, but it has lately come to be seen more and more as a card of “transformation”, at least by those who are intent on always giving a “positive” reading. This is a real turnoff for me because, even if this card rarely foretells a death, it certainly points to an ending. Meanwhile the Tower is still seen as pointing to some kind of upheaval in one’s life, and that isn’t usually pleasant to hear, even if we sugar coat it by saying that the change will bring about… Say what? Another positive transformation.
No matter what you call it, you will still have to go through some kind of shake up first, and that isn’t usually pleasant. (See my August 30, 2017 post “When Everything Comes Crashing down around You”.) Of course nothing is permanent, but what will follow will depend on both your attitude and external circumstances. When you see the Tower in a reading and you’re worried, you can always do a second reading that answers “what will follow”, or “what can I do about this to make things better”.
Anyway I never do a reading with just one card, but normally with three cards, and this reading always answers a question. So there’s always a situation already in place, and that’s what the cards refer to. The purpose of having more than one card is to allow an interplay among the cards that can create a story, or at least a sentence that refers back to your question.
The only time I use two cards instead of three and then let them just “speak” is in my morning daily draw, but even then the underlying question is, “what to look out for today?” Look out as in be aware of. There isn’t always Something to say (at least that I can see), and many times the cards actually joke with me (as in my Christmas Day reading for 2018), but every now and then, the cards tell you a lot.
The morning daily draw is also the only time when I swish the cards around on the table that I allow any reversed cards to stay reversed. In these readings, reversals do not spell disasters, but emphasize mundane matters more. For example, a Chariot can be any vehicle. And it’s during these readings that I’ve found that most of the time, the Tower card will indicate I will be receiving something (good) I’ve been expecting to arrive. For example, I’ve found that if the card comes up upside down, it’s a parcel. See below. Here the Tower card was added to see who or what was turning the Wheel handle.
On the other hand, when the Tower card comes up right side up during this type of reading, it usually points to money coming in, even a little (even if it’s an unexpected discount or a rebate)! In the photo below, the Tower was right side up, and my tax refund was deposited to my account that day.
Sometimes during these morning readings, the Tower card appears as neutral, and has nothing to do with money or parcels. The latest such reading I had was three days ago just before I left to have a colonoscopy done, and it was really hilarious to see how the cards showed in simple picture language exactly what was scheduled for the day.
In this picture, like the Fool, who has almost no belongings, I have emptied my colon of anything that was there (the Tower), and I’m heading towards the clinic where it will be examined by a doctor (the Hermit with his lamp.) Even the oracle cards are funny in their language: one has a crystal ball, mirroring the Hermit’s lamp, and the other speaks of a “ritual”, which I guess is what you could call a procedure that is repeated when necessary in simple card language. By the way, the colonoscopy results were normal. Everything was “crystal clear.” 🙂
I wish you all a happy Spring, and if you liked this post, please remember to click on the like button and share on your favourite social medium below. Thank you!