Something I experienced lately has brought me some insight into the Tower card. A firework rocket broke it's mountings, shot about 40 yards across a field, hit my leg, went up inside my shirt, and was extinguished between my body and the wet grass when my husband threw himself and me to the ground. Afterwards, it occurred to me that it had been a "Tower experience."

The more I thought about, the more I started to see connections between the card and this experience, as well as with other things affected by the experience. For instance, I have a big ugly wound on my stomach during one of the rare times that it's warm enough to wear my practically new bikini. What does this mean in regard to my ego, and my outlook on the physical / material???? "Babylon the Great has fallen." ; )

It's funny, because when the first comparison to Tower came into my head after the experience, I thought it wasn't a good comparison. I had to remind myself that I didn't get hit by lightning (but I did see many similarities). I was really enjoying myself, whoo-hoo-ing at the fireworks, then -- BLAM! -- I had my face in the dirt and I was on fire.

The next day, when I was getting my burned clothes (my red Marlboro shirt) ready for the "quilting scraps" pile, I flashed on the Tower and it stuck in my head like a half-remembered dream. My memory of the incident had that same quality, since it happened so fast, and I really had to piece what happened together the next day.

I have a tower lifestyle now, living up on a hill, sequestered in my office with my books and Tarot and computer, looking out over the lake and thinking of the Lady of Shalott. : ) I was born and raised in the same county in Florida, and was 30 before I ventured north of Atlanta. I come from a big family (six brothers) where 17 to 20 people was normal for holiday dinners. I know my great-great grandfather's name, where he came from, and where he rests in peace. I had many friends, some of whom I've known as long as I can remember.

By contrast, Switzerland is a foreign country with a foreign language, foreign ideas, foreign culture, &c. And the Swiss people are not very outgoing or demonstrative. The first three people I thought I could be friends with really did me wrong, without so much as an apology to give me an excuse to forgive them. Because of these barriers, I spend more than average time alone, engaged in personal activities such as reading books and writing long posts : P I've become isolated in my "ivory tower."

When think of getting hit by a firework as like a life-sized, single-card spread, or a 'general' one-card reading, I understand more about my life and situation *and* more about the card.

Lessons learned:

Disaster can strike at any time.

My man is capable under fire.

Quit racking up those Marlboro miles.

Come down out of the tower. It can only make life better.

No more belly kisses.

 

TOWER brings insight that strikes you where it hurts: your ego, your pride, your surety, your attachments.

• The Wall
• Tower SR111 quotes
• Biblical Towers

The Voice	IMHO	The Vision
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This page is excerpted from my original contributions to an online Tarot course discussion of this card graciously sponsored by Pandora's Bookstore.
http://www.moonchild.ch/Tarot/major/Tower/16exp.html