Oct 28, 2022
The Real Meaning of The Tower Card
This card is deep and very complex with all its hidden mysteries concealed within its rich symbolism. And due to this, it can get interpreted many different ways. Allow me to shed some light and explain some of the esoteric meaning of the somewhat perplexing Tower card.
The Tower card shows Adam and Eve being knocked off the tower by the strike of a large lightning bolt. They elevated their soul’s vibration, their life-force energy, up the tower which is symbolic of the kundalini (one’s Jacob’s ladder), in order to obtain a union with the higher-power. Their souls ascend upwards through their chakras from the base chakra all the way up to the crown chakra. And once their crown chakra aka the sefirah Keter, meaning crown, is opened they will be able to perceive a higher reality using their third eye, enabling them to see into the spirit of all things. At this state of conscious awareness, one is able to communicate with God the Creator, the source of the Divine Light, where they receive Divine inspiration, revealing insightful messages and epiphanies. This connection with God is symbolized by the large lightning bolt striking the tower. This bolt of energy blesses Adam and Eve with a glimpse of the ‘big picture’ and a new way of seeing the world. After the tower is struck, they both fall to the ground where they spiritually and emotionally disconnect and dissociate from who they used to be, and detach from narrow minded or limiting beliefs they once thought were true. The fall symbolizes the disconnection from their mental slavery. Their eyes are now open, and their mindsets have expanded.
They are transformed for the better after having experienced this spiritual awakening and shift in consciousness — proceeding an ego death.
Notice that the Adam and Eve characters depicted in the Tower card have been knocked off their balance? They are pictured falling down onto opposite sides of the tower from where they initially began in the three-card allegory portrayed within the Lovers, the Devil, and the Tower cards. You will recall, in both the Lovers and the Devil cards, Eve is positioned on the left side while Adam is located on the right side. And now, in the Tower card, they are both seen falling down on opposite sides from their original starting positions in the two previous cards. The tower can be seen symbolically as the Kabbalistic Tree of Life that Adam and Eve ascended. After having reached the highest sefirah, Keter, they were knocked off and had to start over — though portrayed in a positive sense. Whereas, they were struck with spiritual enlightenment, having had an eye-opening experience accompanied by a moment of clarity. Once again, they will have to build up their kundalini’s (aka their spiritual towers), but this time with a new conscious awareness; armed with a stronger spirit, an enriched willpower and new sense of purpose.
Furthermore, we see Adam and Eve falling to the ground and dropping all of their accumulated knowledge, which was gifted to them by archangel Raziel. Adam and Eve drop exactly 45 pieces of wisdom or ways to connect to God by way of gnosis (knowing), thereby raising their kundalini they ascend up the ‘Jacob’s ladder.’ The tower symbolizes the kundalini, the Kabbalah Tree of Life, as well as the Jacob’s ladder, which all essentially relate to the same thing — raising soul vibration, building up confidence and self- esteem. Depicted in the Tower card, we see that Adam and Eve have dropped all their ‘tools’ to understanding this particular tarot card. These ‘tools’ are their 45 pieces of wisdom, and this concept of tool can be applied to reading any one of the 78 tarot cards in the deck. These such tools in the Tower card include the Yod’s, the crown, the lightning bolt, and the Roman numeral at the top of the card. These tools, and tools similar to these, are used to connect to and understand the Tarot on a deeper level. These such symbols are the tools and the language in which the Tarot communicates.
Let us break down the 45 tools, symbols or pieces of wisdom found in this particular card. First, you have the 22 Yod’s, then the crown, which represents Keter, the 1st sefirah on the Kabbalah Tree of Life and counts as 1, then there is the large lightning bolt, which is a big letter W, which can be either Hebrew letter Waw or Vav, and written either with a V or a W depending on the word leaning towards a more Arabic or Ashkenazi pronunciation, and has a Hebrew numerical value of 6, and then there is the tarot card’s Roman numeral XVI (16), which all comes to a total sum of 45. (22+1+6+16 = 45)
The number 45 is seen in all three of these cards (Lovers, Devil, and Tower) in some shape or form, connecting them on a deeper mystical level. The connection of these 45’s can be found when studying the clues on the surface, but if we look even deeper, we will find that there is yet another number that connects these three cards together, which is the number 15. Both the numbers 15 and 45 are known to be very magical numbers in mysticism. They are both magic numbers of Saturn (the major planetary influence of the tarot) found in Saturn’s planetary magic square. The number 15, relating to when the moon is at its fullest, on the 15th of each Lunar month, is the most magical time of the moon’s monthly cycle. There happen to be a handful of Jewish holidays that occur on the 15th of the month. Worth mentioning here, is that the Devil in the Devil card is making the sacred hand gesture of the Birkat Kohanim, which is given only on Jewish holidays. Notice that the Devil card is number XV (15)? You begin to understand that this card being assigned to number 15 is by no mistake. The hand gesture of the Priestly Blessing along with the Roman numeral VX are clueing us in that the Devil card is associated with a Jewish holiday. And when we study deeper into it, we realize all three of these cards are associated with and share a connection with Jewish holidays all occurring on the 15th of the Lunar month — some of which so happen to be exactly 45 days apart from each other.
The Tower card illustrates the celebration of the 1st of Nisan, considered the beginning of the year for calculating festivals and the reigns of the Kings of Israel. This is why there is a crown on top of the tower, and also why Adam and Eve are wearing festival costumes. The 1st of Nisan is March 21, the Spring Equinox.
To learn more in-depth details about these holidays that correspond to these three cards that depict Adam & Eve in them, you must read Chapter 9: The Adam and Eve Allegory in the book “The Tarot Decoded: Raziel’s Interpretation” by Grant Isaac.
Worth mentioning is that the Tower card is assigned to the Hebrew letter Peh — meaning Mouth, pertaining to the things we say (to others as well as ourselves) having a certain degree of power. Our words, as well as our thoughts, have power. So be mindful of your thoughts and your words. Speaking positively will build up your spiritual tower, whereas speaking negatively will destroy it. Peh advises us to keep our plans to ourselves. No one cares about your self-esteem, but you. The idea is to refrain from sharing your plans and come off as boasting in order to attract attention. Rather, use your self-esteem as fuel to help drive yourself towards achieving your goals.
When you seek attention you lose your creativity, and it can diminish your self-esteem. Likewise, avoid the habit of seeking approval from others, because it becomes exhausting as well as drains your spiritual tower.
This card is associated with the first Passover, when the Jewish people formulated a plan of escape from their bondage in Egypt. Their plan proved to be successful because no one shared it with anyone else outside of their private homes. The letter Peh is unique because it has a letter Bet hidden inside of it. Bet, meaning house, and Peh, meaning mouth, suggests that things spoken of privately in the home tend to be shared in public. This concept can also refer to one keeping their thoughts private as well. Our private thoughts have a way of being made public. Peh encompasses the old adage “loose lips sink ships”. People tend to spill the beans, so to speak. Bearing this in mind, it is advised to keep one’s thoughts and words positive. It can take several years to build up a strong relationship, and only an instant, with the wrong words spoken, that bond can be ruined forever.
The Tower card is set on the 27th branch on the Kabbalah Tree of Life that connects Netzah with Hod — Netzah referring to victory and Hod corresponding to communication alludes to the practical advice that our goals can be achieved with good interpersonal skills, social skills, and also people skills.
This placement on the Tree alludes to building up one’s self-esteem by keeping things private. It seems that as soon as we tell others of our plans of how we will manifest our ideas, when we boast, is the moment when we let out our steam. Actions speak louder than words. People respect your accomplishments when they see your results, not when you talk about your plans to obtain them. No one cares about your self-esteem, but you. Yes, it is important to have desires and strive to achieve success, but also just as important to keep those things which are private, such as your plans, to yourself. Otherwise, you will lose the mental/spiritual energy you very much need in order to reach your goals. When you seek attention, you lose your creativity. In addition to this, it is equally important to refrain from sharing private information with others who do not need to know. This may include secrets or things that are considered to be sacred. Furthermore, we must remain mindful of our thoughts, because our thoughts become our words. And those words have the power to either build up or destroy the things we hold sacred. As I mentioned earlier, it may take a year or two to build up a strong trusting friendship, but in only an instant, with the wrong words being said, the friendship can be completely ruined. In spite of this, know that you can always start over. And looking on the bright side of things, this time you will not be having to start from scratch, but from experience.
Thanks for reading!
Excerpts compiled from the book “The Tarot Decoded: Raziel’s Interpretation”, by Grant Isaac, © 12.22.21
Book on sale for a limited time on Amazon. 30% off. Was $37.99 for paperback, but now only $26.41. Ebook available for only $4.99. Both formats available worldwide from multiple different booksellers.
