The Tower Comes to Life

This card became a living reality for Americans and for the world on 11 September 2001. The towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the highest buildings in the city and the center of the finance community, were attacked and destroyed by terrorrists.

The lesson of the Tower is that nothing is certain, just when everything appears strong , secure and safe from problems, opposition and disruption can come to tear all asunder.

Expect the unexpected, opposition can come from anywhere – even within. It could be a warning that ones inner negative thoughts are jeopardizing an endeavor. Or it could be a warning that others will create difficulties. Other cards in the spread could clarify this perhaps.

This card is a reminder that conflict is something which occurs despite our best efforts to create peace and harmony.

Practical Meanings in Readings

The above was just my initial thoughts, when looking at this card in the aftermath of the tragedy. I’ve had a look around some websites and jotted a few thoughts coming from that day. Fright, Destruction, Unexpected, little warning, no time to escape, higher you are; further to fall. (makes me shudder under the circumstances…) but still, from those snippets.. I developed my understanding of the card: Unexpected change, Denotes physical change ( as opposed to spiritual)

I also find that a forest fire is an excellent illustration of this Fact of Life, especially since it involves Lightning, and since this card was originally named “The Lightning-struck Tower”. Here we see Nature actually destroying a part of herself when lightning ignites a fire which spreads and utterly destroys an entire forest of living plants and insects and even some animals. Yet the fire also destroys the taller plants and trees which were crowding out the shorter ones and blocking the Sun from reaching them (just as illusions block us from “seeing the Light” of the Truth). It is said that a forest fire is actually “a good thing” for the forest as a whole — IT MAKES ROOM FOR NEW GROWTH by removing the old growth which was stifling new growth, and also quickly breaks down the useless, decaying, dead-wood into components which the new plants can absorb and USE for their growth. Farmers burn off their own dead crops on a regular basis to recycle the nutrients into the soil so they can nourish new crops.

In this material world, nothing is created unless something else is also “destroyed” — whether it be: an old building being demolished to make room for a newer, better one to be built; your own worn-out red blood cells being destroyed by your liver, and the chemical components used to create new and useful ones. Your own old thoughts and beliefs are destroyed, to make room for newer ones which don’t hold you back or block your happiness, but help you grow and be happier. A “dying” relationship is destroyed by divorce, to allow the two partners to continue growing instead of remaining stuck and stifled in a stagnant situation which may now be turning somewhat self-destructive for both.

Conclusion

Things which were once good and growth-promoting and useful, eventually become old and worn-out and useless, and may actually be growth-preventing. When anything reaches that point, it must be transformed — re-constructed, re-cycled — into something new and useful.

That is the lesson of The Tower.