Meaning of the Tower Tarot card

The Tower of the Tarot probably refers to the Tower of Babel, which was built up majestically by men to reach the sky, in an attempt to rival God himself.

God punished them for this, striking the Tower with a lightning bolt that set it on fire, causing it to crumble.

It is the symbol of punished pride, arrogance, conceit and presumption.

In ancient times, Horace told us that the highest towers fall the heaviest, and the highest mountain peaks are the preferred target of lightning.

General interpretation of the card

The Tower card represents a collapse, a failure, a negative conclusion, often caused by ourselves or in some manner by our actions. It may simply represent the collapse of our convictions that are destined to change.

It represents a false altar on which we are placed, a wrong goal, or a correct goal achieved by the wrong means.

It may represent envy, to which we must pay close attention because it is insidious. Through our happiness and our lives, we have created a desire among people close to us to see us fail.

Having right on one’s side, being in the right, but losing sight of the way, becoming arrogant.

Lastly, the Tower card can indicate the necessity to destroy old structures in order to evolve.

Specific examples of possible meanings:

• A colleague is envious of our work, and is attempting to frustrate our efforts.
• A friend of ours is pretending to be happy for us, but in reality our happiness upsets them, because when they compare their situation to ours, they feel an incredible level of envy and dissatisfaction.
• We have pushed things too far, we better reverse our course before someone notices what we have done. We can choose to admit the truth proactively, which is better than suffering the consequences of being found out.
• Maybe we are aiming at the wrong things, we are doing things that we think are right, but maybe they are not right at all. Maybe the goal is right, but the way or the path we have chosen may be wrong.
• Remember that we could achieve much, but we will have to make a huge effort not to appear conceited and proud towards others.
• Maybe something has to finish for something else to flourish (the transition might not be painless though).
• Someone has “pushed things a bit too far” and may soon have to pay the consequences.