The Tower — Arcana XVI

The Tower — Major Arcana of the Tikkoun Tarot de Marseille

The Tower embodies all the attributes of the Terror it can inspire.

Legend has it that after finishing their luxurious tower, the architects shut themselves in. There, in the futility of self-complacency, they dedicated themselves to a life of debauchery and idleness until... the thunder of God ruthlessly extracted them.

This iconic image evokes Zeus hurling his lightning bolts at those who defy him. Similarly, the firebolt recalls the Native American depictions of Quetzalcoatl. In the original myth, the Feathered Serpent supposedly self-immolated after breaking his vow of chastity. One might see the shadow of our ancestral superstitions: “You will live in fear of your Creator!”

In a new paradigm, The Tower is quite the opposite... It is orgasmic and jubilant! It is the Universe’s hearty laugh at the childish excesses of our ego. It pushes us to move beyond narcissistic tendencies and to harness altruism and generosity to share our talents.

Based on "The Fall of Phaeton," Sebastiano Ricci (1659 - 1734)

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Interpretation

The Tower urges us to abandon our prejudices and any form of singular thinking or spiritual pride.

After transcending the temptations of the little devil, it's time to get the ego out of the way. The Tower calls us to immediately deconstruct the patterns that confine us in the illusion of our dogmatic beliefs. It shakes the wobbly balance of our fundamentalism—those fear-ridden beliefs where we are simultaneously the unconscious jailers and the willing victims.

This card also serves as a call to abandon our tendencies toward seclusion and isolation. By extension, it is a direct encouragement to emerge from depression, a metaphor for psychic confinement... and incidentally, self-sustained madness.

Its slogan: "Step through the heart’s door; outside, everything yearns for celebration!"

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