Every time I thought about writing another Tarot & Coffee post, the card that immediately came to mind was, “The Tower”. And my response to this mental idea was/is, “Come on… not the doom doom doom destruction card!” Yet, when I took a moment to go beyond those initial thoughts, when I decided to meditate on the card, it occurred to me how I’ve made peace with that card. I’ve written before that there are no bad cards in the tarot, and I truly believe that there are none. YET, there are some cards that are definitely more fun to meditate or write about. The “Two of Cups” for example…. I can meditate on that card all the days long. YUM. But a life fully lived has ups/downs, valleys, twists/turns, light and dark….A life fully lived isn’t in monotone. At least, not the life I want to live.
Ok, fine. I’ll write about THE TOWER.
I’ve lived my fair share of tower moments. Tower days. Tower months. Tower decades. Been there, done that. During Covid, I’m sure that I’m not the only one who hit a tremendous low point in life. That was a world wide tower moment. And anyone who has experienced any sort of loss that took your breath away… for a brief time period or an ongoing lifetime, that too is a tower experience. The Tower shakes foundations. On most tarot cards that represents The Tower, the imagery is so destructive, so it’s not hard to understand why a person might not want to meditate on this particular card. There are tower moments that I would not want anyone to experience, and yet they exist.
HOWever…. right now, when I think of The Tower, I’m thinking of the time I participated in a home remodel. A standalone garage was going to be turned into an in-law unit. The first step of the remodel was to take it down to its studs… Its structure… its framework. When you’re taking a structure down to its framework, well… There is destruction involved. In this case, I got to use a crowbar and smash things. Not just smash things but demolish things. I smashed windows, drywall, and things went flying. There was shattered glass, splinters, and dust everywhere. From that pile of rubble, a new start emerged. Step by step, a new structure was built upon what was once the old structure. And eventually, the previous structure no longer existed, because the new one eclipsed it.
The Tower knocks things to its studs…. But that doesn’t have to mean that the story ends there. It doesn’t even have to mean that the demolition is a tragedy. Sometimes, what comes in the wake of what is demolished is more spectacular than what existed before. OR, sometimes when something is rebuilt due to tragedy, it is rebuilt stronger… in honor or remembrance of the tragedy.
Sometimes it takes getting to the other side of The Tower, to see where it has benefited you. And that’s how I now approach it when I pull that card and meditate on it. If I am going through a particularly hard time in my life and The Tower shows up, I will meditate on what is being cleared… and what is it being cleared for? Is something going to be rebuilt? If yes, what? And how?
Tower moments are a shake up, for certain. But it doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily devastating. They are the shock that pushes for change. So many things that are good, came from a shock that pushed for change. A billion years ago I read something about looking back upon your life in reverse. Where you are now is a result of so many equations…. Many things that might have felt like a disaster, lead to what might be your biggest blessing. Let’s say you’re in your 70’s, and looking back on your life. Your single digit kids years…YAY, so fun! Teen years, very dramatic, yet also fun. Twenties… oh GAWD, the ups and downs. Your 30’s, you finally are finding some sort of rhythm. Or, so you think. You hit your 40’s and you know you’re going to nail it. F*ck… your 50’s are here… then, your 60’s…. How many tower moments have you survived? How many times did you think that your “life had ended”, yet you kept living?
Tower moments are a part of life. And when a person can accept this, they no longer fear the tower moments. Instead, they wonder what it is making room for. OR, what good can be made in honor of the tragedy.
So the next time you pull the Tower, it’s an opportunity to mediate on the big shake ups in life. What happened? What resulted? Does it make you want to change anything? OR, did you change something because of it already? If so, what? And how has that worked out for you?
At the end of the day, this life is your story. And in your story, you’re the hero/heroine. A hero/heroine ALWAYS encounters obstacles, because that is what stories are made from. So, when you remember that you’re the hero/heroine of your story… also, remember: You’ve got this! Tower moment and all, you’ve got this!! ❤
About the deck I pulled from:
The Wandering Star Tarot Deck by Cat Pierce. This is a great deck for so many reasons! One of my favorite things about this deck is that within each of the cards you'll find words defining the cards meaning. However, unlike other decks I've seen that does this, these words blend into the picture and feel like they belong there. For this reason, I think it's a great starter deck for learning the cards, but I also think because it's such a lovely deck, it would appeal to any tarot lover.
Sandy's Short Story Long- This is where I write. 
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