I wrote a blog post many years ago called Rebuilding with the Tower which is still totally relevant and you may want to check that out that post too if you’re struggling to interpret the tower tarot card, but in this post I wanted to share a different and even more empowering take on the Tower card.
Last weekend I watched Short Circuit and Short Circuit 2. They are still such great movies, and apart from the casual racism and sexism of the mid 80s (which honestly wasn’t much worse than in today’s movies I gotta say), they have really stood the test of time.
On Monday morning I pulled the Tower card in my own reading. I’m no stranger to this card, and I think most of us who are on any kind of spiritual journey have seen the Tower pop up quite often!
As I looked at the Tower card from the Fifth Tarot I had a bolt of lightning realisation that the Tower moment is literally what happens to Johnny Five in Short Circuit! :o
Without giving away any spoilers, Short Circuit is about a robot who gets struck by lightning and gains consciousness. He becomes “alive”.
And that’s exactly what happens to us when the lightning hits the tower!
The Tower has often been associated with enlightenment. It’s only when the bricks of BS or worldly junk fall away that we’re able to really see the spiritual truth.
The Tower is one of those cards that often brings fear to the hearts of those getting a reading. Even more so sometimes than the Death card. The imagery of the Tower is intense. It’s people being thrown out of towers, getting impaled on sticks, everything burning to the ground. It’s no doubt people are a little alarmed when it comes up.
But if we reframed it as a card of enlightenment we could see it so differently.
Assuming we are actually on a journey towards enlightenment of course.
Sometimes the fear of this card is related to the resistance we have about our own spiritual journey and the changes we are being called to make in our lives to reach that enlightenment we seek.
Many of us want to live our spiritual truth, we want to gain insight and work on our own spiritual development and ascension journey. But we also don’t want to give up our 3D comforts or have to make any changes to do it. And that’s when the Tower gets scary. When it takes away the things we think we need and want in order to show us a better way.
Think of it like this - you’re sitting on the couch with a big fluffy blanket eating chips and zoning out with bad TV. You haven’t moved in months. You know you kind of do want more for your life, but you’re also really comfortable and chips are tasty and blanket is fluffy. And you don’t really know what’s outside anymore, so you just stay where you are, even though on some level you know it’s not really in alignment with your best and highest good.
The Tower is like your kitchen catching on fire and you having no choice but to haul your ass off the couch and fix your kitchen and then your whole life.
You might resent it at first, but it may just be the best thing that happened to you.
In Short Circuit , not only does our friend Johnny 5 get hit by lightning which gives him conscious awareness, he then goes on a spiritual journey which is often where we go from this light bulb moment. It’s not the easiest journey when you’re awake and aware, but it’s so much better than living life as a robot or a couch potato.
The entire movie feels like a metaphor for the spiritual journey, and if you watch part 2 it just continues!
The Tower is the moment of realisation. The moment you realise - woah, what’s with all these walls I’ve built? Why am I in this tower of my own making? It’s the moment you realise you can get out of there. You can rip down those walls and be free.
The Tower is about liberation, enlightenment, a deeper realisation that something needs to change in your life so that you can be free.
Of course then we have the whole journey to go on from there. What do we do when our tower comes crumbling down and the rest of the world is still living in theirs? How do we navigate the world without living in a tower of our own making when that’s the societal norm?
Although the traditional Tower card represents people falling to their deaths, if you are on the spiritual journey and willing to do the work, the Tower is nothing to be afraid of.
In fact, for many of us on the spiritual path, The Tower card is the moment we’ve been waiting for. The insight and illumination we’ve been seeking to help get us to the next point on our journey.
If you identify as a lightworker, good witch, yogi or you’re on the ascension path, this card is a big hello from your spiritual guides and angels that you’re on your highest path and that you will break through, align and find your way to deeper truth, love and enlightenment.
So next time you see this card in a reading remember it’s a symbol of enlightenment, a chance to step forward on the path of ascension and become more awake and conscious and purposeful in your life.
The Tower from the Modern Witch Tarot and from the Fifth Tarot.
If you’ve pulled the the tower card in your tarot reading and are looking for some empowering meanings, try one of these:
Enlightenment
Illumination
Realisation
Spiritual downloads
Epiphany
Clarity
Light bulb or lightning bolt moment
Consciousness
Higher consciousness
Crown chakra activations
Light codes coming in and activating
Loud and clear divine guidance
Guidance or knowing you can no longer ignore
A spiritual calling
Waking up - the spiritual alarm clock going off
Moment of truth
Insight
Awakening
Kundalini Awakening
Destiny calling
Spiritual journey
Path of Ascension
Destruction of all that is no longer in alignment for you
Rebuilding
Always take what resonates and leave the rest. Maybe the Tower card has a totally different meaning for you, and it’s all good.
We all see the world and the tarot differently and that’s what makes it such an incredible tool. We all get what we need from it.
Looking for more tarot stuff? Check out my free e-book Tarot Spreads You Can’t Live Without and if you share your spread on socials please tag me - I’m @newagehipster333 on IG and @newagehipster333 on FB and I’d love to connect! :D
With love, light and enlightenment,
Vix
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