This past Sunday, for the Major Arcana Music Show on whivfm.org, I drew the Tower card. Perhaps no other card in my opinion, is more anxiety provoking in readings than the Tower with the exception of the Death card and the Devil. This is due in part to the imagery, which isn't as pleasant or seemingly constructive as the rest of the deck. As Tarot readers and enthusiasts know, the fears surrounding these cards are not always founded. The archetypes of the Major Arcana, just like all of life and humanity, contain shades of both light and dark, creation and destruction as well as a whole sea of shades and experiences in between these polarities. When we're faced with the dark or confusing elements of our human experience, a natural response is often to recoil.
The Tower is number 16 and ruled by the fiery energy of Mars. This card’s imagery is full of disruption and destruction. A lightening strike has blown the roof off of a tall Tower and two people are depicted in a free fall. When the Tower pops up in our readings it can be a sign that reality has become to big for the constructs we have designed to contain and explain it. The universe is pushing us out of our comfy nest. We can either build a better, stronger structure or go back inside, pretend there's still a roof and get rained on until we drown. Sometimes we'd rather do this than change, but the lessons of the Tower can only be learned if we are willing to understand and embrace the ideas and anxieties surrounding impermanence in our mind. This energy exists to shake us out of our complacency and help us expand our sensibilities to accommodate a greater and more accurate paradigm.
On this week's show I predicted a bumpy ride, with more political upheavals and lightening strikes which shock our senses, both literal and metaphorical. True to form, the week started out Monday with the summit between our "President" and Russia, which I will not get into here, but has sent shockwaves of outrage across the collective. Later Monday evening, as if on cue, I witnessed an eerie lightening storm.
The Tower asks us what can be learned from continually trying to build or maintain a structure, which doesn't hold up when tested by the elements. Sometimes all we can do is let the tower fall and erect something even better with the ruins and the wisdom of our mistakes.
Playlist
Spacegrass-Clutch
Breaking Glass-David Bowie
I'm the Slime-Frank Zappa
Revolta Silenziosa-Humanwine
Consumerism-Lauren Hill
Recipe-New Thousand
Player's Ball-Outkast
People of the Sun-Rage Against the Machine
Shango-Olatunji
Voted Off the Island-Jello Biafra w/ The Melvins
Jefferson Jericho Blues-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
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