The Tower
Song Pairing
“Cities in Dust” – Siouxsie and the Banshees. Classic apocalyptic darkwave tune about a city reduced to ash, inspired by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Its pounding rhythm and Siouxsie’s urgent vocals echo The Tower’s sudden collapse and the truth that nothing is immune to destruction. It’s both a warning and a strange, dark celebration of what rises from the ruins.
Astrology
Mars rules The Tower, bringing sudden action, raw power, and the drive to break through limits. In astrology, Mars is the ruler of Aries, the sign of bold initiative and fearless confrontation. In its shadow, Mars can manifest as aggression or destruction, but in its higher form, it fuels courage to face necessary change.
Historic Interest
In early tarot decks like the 15th-century Visconti-Sforza, The Tower sometimes appeared as “La Maison Dieu” (the House of God) struck by lightning or fire. Some historians link it to the biblical Tower of Babel, a symbol of human pride and the chaos that follows its collapse. Others see echoes of real disasters, such as the destruction of fortresses or church steeples by lightning, which medieval Europeans often interpreted as divine judgment. Over time, its imagery has evolved from overtly religious warnings to a broader symbol of sudden, transformative upheaval.
The Tower tarot card represents sudden upheaval, collapse, and the destruction of false foundations. It signals shocking change, revelations, and endings that clear the way for truth and rebuilding. In readings, The Tower urges you to face what’s falling apart, release what can’t be saved, and embrace the freedom that follows. Whether in relationships, career, or personal beliefs, this card marks the moment everything shifts, and nothing can go back to the way it was.
Vibe
Destruction before renewal
Affirmation
"I release what I already know is collapsing so I can build on truth."
Card Pairing
The Tower + The Star. The classic sequence. The Tower strips everything away, and The Star brings hope, healing, and clarity in the aftermath.
Kindred Spirit
The Devil. When forming a connection to someone, this kindred spirit is not a person who lives to destroy. They are someone whose presence shakes the ground you stand on. They might be the one who makes you see the cracks you have been avoiding, who speaks the truth you have been afraid to hear, or whose love jolts you out of a life that has grown stagnant. It is not always comfortable and it is rarely easy, but their role in your story is catalytic. They become the spark that starts a fire you did not expect, pulling you toward a life that is more honest and more awake.
Esoteric Connection
Dragon’s Blood Resin. Used in ritual to banish negativity and amplify energy, Dragon’s Blood carries the scent of finality and the spark of beginning again. Its deep red color mirrors the intensity of The Tower, calling in the fire needed to clear away what can no longer stand and charge the ground for something new.
Element
No surprise here: Fire. The Tower’s fire is pure combustion: the lightning strike, the blaze, the heat that consumes what can no longer stand. It is destruction as a catalyst, burning away the false to make space for something real.
Misconception
It's common to assume The Tower only predicts disaster or catastrophe. (It's often my first reaction!) But its message is not to terrify you: it’s to free you. The destruction it brings is rarely random. It clears away illusions, false security, and outdated structures so something more authentic can take their place. While it can feel sudden and harsh, its ultimate role is liberation, not punishment.
Full Interpretation
"We mourn the structure even if it was a cage. We grieve the loss of the illusion as much as the reality."
The Shock of Collapse
Well yeah. Here we are. We can’t avoid The Tower. It may be the darkest and most disturbing card in the entire tarot, followed closely by the Ten of Swords. Keep in mind though, tarot doesn’t have any “bad” or “good” cards. They are tools for self-reflection and your personal experience and interpretation plays a big role. Context is important in how the cards relate to your particular situation and season of life.
That said, The Tower can feel like Jason Voorhees bashing the door in with a machete. There is nothing gentle here, no easing into change. This is destruction, upheaval, and the shattering of illusions in their most basic form. The Tower doesn’t ask for your consent. When it happens, nothing is ever quite the same again.
In the Rider–Waite–Smith deck, the card shows a medieval stone tower struck by lightning, with flames erupting and people tumbling from its top. It depicts a snapshot of chaos. But I wanted to pull that symbolism into something more unmistakable and relatable. My Tower is a cold and impersonal corporate skyscraper. It’s the ultimate monument to control, and to the systems we build and then believe will protect us forever. And it’s violently burning, from the top down. I can’t help but see this as a symbol of modern capitalism.
I wanted this burning to extend beyond the image itself into the surrounding structure. When the Tower falls, there are no boundaries between “what’s happening in the card” and “what’s happening in your life.” It scorches everything.
The building has exploded and two business people are in freefall, but I wanted them facing the building, reaching back toward the institution that just destroyed them. They’re not just falling, they’re desperately trying to cling to the very structure that’s cast them out.
We all do this. We cling to what’s crumbling. The toxic job we hate but can’t imagine leaving. The relationship we know is over but keep trying to fix. The belief system that no longer fits but still feels safer than the unknown. We hold tight even as the fire burns our hands, convinced that if we can just grab hold again, everything will go back to the way it was.
But The Tower is here to make sure it won’t.
The Fool’s Journey, and Why This Hurts So Much
In the major arcana, The Tower comes right after The Devil. The Devil shows you the chains, those illusions, attachments, and dependencies you’ve built your life around. But that doesn't always lead to action. Sometimes we stay bound because it feels safer than the unknown. That is when The Tower steps in. It forces the break you would not make on your own.
This is the moment when the structure holding something in your life together collapses. You may have believed you could fix it from within or that the cracks were not serious. The Tower is the wake-up call that some jobs cannot be saved, some relationships cannot be repaired, and some beliefs cannot be reconciled. They have to fall, no matter how much you wish they wouldn’t.
As the 16th card, in The Fool’s journey, The Tower represents the climax or turning point of the story. It doesn’t get any worse. I love that it’s followed immediately by The Star, a beautiful card of renewal, clarity, and calm. Tarot never sees destruction as an end. It is the clearing that makes space for something more honest to take root.
The Brutal Gift
It’s tempting to see this card only as bad news. But there’s a reason it shows up in readings beyond just delivering doom. The Tower reveals what’s hidden and forces it into the open. If you’re falling from a burning building, there’s no ignoring the truth of the matter.
Sometimes this is external: a sudden layoff, a breakup, an accident, a natural disaster. Sometimes it’s internal: a revelation that rewires how you see yourself and your life. It could be a moment of clarity where you rethink your place in life. However it appears, The Tower can bring clarity to what you couldn’t access while you were inside the tower walls. It might possibly lead to a profound life awakening.
Getting back to my illustration, the figures facing the building speak to the hardest part of Tower moments: the pull of the familiar. The appeal of staying in our comfort zones. We mourn the structure even if it was a cage. We grieve the loss of the illusion as much as the reality. The Tower asks us to stop reaching for what’s crumbling, and instead, look to the sky and see what else is possible.
A Moment You Might Recognize
A woman I once knew spent twenty years at the same tech company. It wasn’t her dream job, but it paid well and she felt comfortable. She ignored the rumors of layoffs, believing her seniority would protect her. Then one Monday, the email came. There was no meeting or chance to say goodbye. Her tower collapse was harsh and uncaring.
She told me later the hardest part wasn’t losing the job that she really never cared much for. It was realizing she had built her entire identity around being part of that company. Without it, she didn’t know who she was. That’s The Tower. It takes the structure and the story you’ve been living in and pulls them out from under you. It forces you to rebuild, this time examining what you really want. Today she spends her days as an artist!
What I’ve Learned From This Card
Personal Takeaways:
I always freak out a little when this card appears lol
The Tower makes my stomach sink. Not because I believe disaster is inevitable, but because I know how much this card can change the way I see things. It asks me to face big perspective shifts, especially the ones I’ve been avoiding. And even the good shifts can be uncomfortable.
The Tower doesn’t have to cause anxiety
This card is not always about catastrophe. Sometimes it’s a mental breakthrough, a sudden truth that frees you from years of subtle weight. I’ve learned to see it as an invitation to stop patching the cracks and start imagining what could stand in their place.
Archetypal Truths:
The Tower isn’t just destruction, it’s an eviction notice
Sometimes the spiritual, emotional, or even physical space you’ve been living in was never really yours. It feels like you’ve just been renting space in someone else’s dream. The Tower throws you out because you don’t belong there anymore.
The Tower can be your own making
It’s easy to see this card as an external force, like fate striking you with lightning. But sometimes we are the architects of our own Towers. We overbuild, we over-identify with a single role or achievement, and we ignore warning signs until collapse is inevitable.
The Tower exposes loyalty to harmful systems
The figures in my card aren’t falling because they want to. They’re falling because the system spit them out. Yet they’re still looking back. This is the uncomfortable truth about human loyalty: we often become attached (even dependent) on what hurts us.
The Tower levels hierarchies
When it falls, it takes everyone. The CEO and the receptionist both pack their boxes on the same day. The long-term couple and the newlyweds both watch their relationships unravel. Collapse does not discriminate. It is the great equalizer.
Some Ways The Tower Can Show Up in a Reading
Love and Relationships:
This can be the card of breakups, shocking truths, or betrayals. But it can also signal an awakening where you see a relationship for what it truly is, and can’t unsee it. If you’re holding onto codependency, or a dynamic that is breaking you, The Tower will pry your fingers loose.
Sex and Passion:
Sometimes, this is the destruction of sexual illusions, realizing that a connection you thought was purely about desire was actually about control. It can also be a moment where your understanding of your own sexuality or identity changes.
Work and Career:
Layoffs. Restructuring. Industry collapse. The sudden realization that the ladder you’ve been climbing is leaning against the wrong building. The Tower in career readings says: stop assuming your job will always be there to hold you. What would you do if it wasn’t?
Money and Finances:
Financial upheaval, unpaid taxes, market crashes, unexpected expenses. The Tower forces you to confront where your sense of security really comes from, and what happens when that safety net is gone.
Family and Friendship:
Long-held family myths or dynamics can crumble. Secrets come to light. Friendships may implode under the weight of truths that can’t be ignored. The Tower clears away relationships that were never as stable as you thought.
Personal Growth and Spirituality:
The Tower can be a spiritual crisis: a moment when the beliefs you’ve lived by no longer fit. It can also be a radical awakening where you realize you’ve been living inside a construct, and the real world is bigger, messier, and more beautiful than you imagined.
___________________________
The Tower is not the card you want, but it’s often the card you need. It reminds you that not all destruction is meaningless, and not all endings are tragic. When the walls come down, the sky opens up, you get to choose: will you keep facing the ruins, or will you finally turn around and see what’s beyond them?
"Some jobs cannot be saved, some relationships cannot be repaired, and some beliefs cannot be reconciled."
Reversed Interpretation
If there was ever a time when I wished a reversed tarot card carried the opposite meaning, it’s The Tower! But, as you know, this isn’t how reversals work. The Tower reversed is like hairline cracks spreading slowly through the concrete foundation. On the surface, things still look strong. You can go to work, keep up conversations, and play your part, but deep down, you know the structure is shifting. It’s a slow-burn version of upheaval. Change that’s happening off your radar, either because you’re somehow containing it or you just refuse to look closely.
In my illustration, flipping this card doesn’t save the falling figures. If anything, it makes them look like they’re diving headfirst into the flames below. (At least in the upright version they are falling away from the flames.) Here, it’s like they’re descending into hell, but it fits the energy of this reversal: knowingly returning to the source of harm, or refusing to pull yourself away from it. This can be the relationship you know is toxic but call back anyway, the job that’s burning you out but you keep saying yes to, the family conflict you walk back into even though you know it won’t end differently. We’ve all seen it when someone swore they were done with a relationship, only to be back at their ex’s doorstep a week later, convincing themselves this time would be different.
Sometimes, The Tower reversed shows up when the worst has already happened, and you’re in the quiet work of recovery. Maybe the relationship ended months ago, but you’re only now unpacking what it meant. Maybe the job loss or financial hit is behind you, and you’re cautiously putting the pieces back together. This position can carry a sense of resilience, a reminder that healing doesn’t always have to be public or explosive. It can take a long time to clear the debris created from a building collapse.
But it can also be a card of resistance. You see the red flags, but you keep ignoring the truth. A romance that’s run its course, a family dynamic that no longer feels safe, or a career path that’s eroded your soul. Any of these can live in the reversed Tower’s shadow. The longer you keep propping up what’s crumbling, the more energy it drains from you.
The reversal can also soften the impact of change. Sometimes the shift is gentle enough that you can adapt as it happens. A belief system starts to fade, not because it’s been shattered, but because you’ve quietly outgrown it. A career path pivots gradually rather than imploding overnight. The transformation is still real, but without the jarring rupture of the upright card. It could be that the reversed Tower is a reassuring note here.
The Tower reversed asks for honesty: are you in the aftermath of a collapse, rebuilding from the ground up in your own time? Or are you diving headfirst back into the fire, hoping it will burn differently this time? Either way, the foundation has changed. Pretending it hasn’t will only keep you inside a building that’s already ejecting you.
Pause and Reflect
What am I clinging to that’s already falling apart? Is it a job, a relationship, a belief, or even an identity that no longer fits but still feels safer than the unknown? What truth have I been avoiding that I can no longer ignore? If I stopped patching the cracks and finally let it fall, what would that make space for? How much of my energy is going toward holding something upright just because I’m afraid of the empty space it might leave? Could that space be the place where something better begins?
Take Action
Find one object that connects you to something that has already ended: a keepsake from a past relationship that brings more ache than joy, a coffee mug with the logo of the job that burned you out, a book or piece of clothing from a time in your life you no longer want to live in. Hold it for a moment and acknowledge the story it carries. Then, break it. Smash it, tear it, or dismantle it piece by piece.
The act isn’t just about getting rid of emotional clutter. It’s about enacting the truth of The Tower: some structures can’t be patched, they have to be dismantled. When you break the object, you’re practicing the courage to let something end on purpose. You’re teaching yourself that destruction can make room for something more honest to take its place, and that you are the one who decides when to set the match.