Tag: The Tower

The Fool’s Journey through the Major Arcana: SunFest 2016: The Tower

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

You have come far. With study, imagination, patience, and hard work you have built a life for yourself. (points to the tower) It seems perfect. Every stone is just where you want it to be. But beware. The Devil isn’t done with you yet. It’s really a beautiful trap. There is something in your life that needs to change, something that is holding you back. If you stay here, safely surrounded by the walls you have created to protect yourself, you will progress no further. And it is so hard to leave. But have no fear. The Multiverse always comes to the rescue. There is a loud crash and a huge lightening bolt knocks off the top of the tower. Your Tower moment could be as physical as an automobile accident, as emotional as a broken heart, or as achingly beautiful as a sunset. It might be a well-hidden land mine that explodes when you discover that an important part of your life is based… Read More »

Yup, It Really Is All Connected

Posted C. LaVielle3 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Synchronicity, Tarot

While I was researching and writing my posts on The Tower two catastrophic events happened in our household:  My husband developed water on his lungs from a previous fall–he’d landed on his left side. The symptoms mimicked a heart attack and we went through a harrowing emergency room ordeal. They drained 1.3 liters of fluid from between the plural linings around his lung that looked exactly like Killians Red ale. It even had a nice head of froth. I don’t think either one of us will be able to drink that beer again.  Leo, our cat, fell out of a tree trying to escape the 4th of July neighborhood fireworks. Who’d a thunk the heavy artillery would start at three in the afternoon? He suffered some severe internal damage and emotional shock. A friend of ours is a shaman that is very good with animals. She did some work with him and said his soul had shattered into many pieces and eight entities… Read More »

The Tower, Part II: The Major Arcana and The Hero’s Journey

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Major arcana, Tarot, The Hero's Journey

Continued from previous post…. Peh or pey, the Hebrew letter attributed to The Tower, means mouth and by extension speech or communication. Our ability (or inability) to communicate is what precipitates many of the Tower moments of our lives. We are experts at talking our way into all kinds of trouble. Tower moments are also the way the Universe communicates with us, telling us that what we are doing no longer feeds our souls and it’s time to do something different. The Tower’s planet is Mars, god of assertiveness and force. There is nothing subtle about this card. This card is what happens when we listen to The Devil (previous key). When we become obsessed with the physical world, or as the Taoists say, The 10,000 Things, we lose sight of what truly matters in our lives. Since we are creatures of solid, stable earth, we avoid change like the plague and will fight desperately to keep things as they are, even when they no… Read More »

The Tower, Part I: The Hero’s Journey and the Major Arcana

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Major arcana, Tarot

This is the card that none of us wants to see in our reading. Death and The Devil are disturbing, but this card is terrifying. Its meaning is obvious, since the symbolism is so blatant and in your face. Towers are symbols of ascent, of rising above the common level. We build them out of pride, ambition, or idealism. We also build them for protection. Because it stands tall and often has eye-like windows at its top and a crown-like roof, the tower is analogous to a human. So when we look at the card our heart sees all our cherished hopes, dreams, ideas, ideals, and safety nets getting blasted to smithereens. The tarot Tower is all the illusions of the material realm: * The more money and stuff you have the happier and safer you are * The more power you have the happier and safer you are * This reality is the only reality * When you’re dead you cease to exist It… Read More »