The Tower tarot card might be the most feared and misunderstood card in the deck, especially if, in the present moment, your life is feeling all rosy and contented. So, what does the Tower tarot card mean? In a single sentence: Something meaningful that you built up from the foundation is about to end.
Lots of readers twist themselves into knots trying to help their clients understand the positive aspects of this card./ What positive aspects? Primarily that change is inevitable, and whatever was supposed to end needed to end in order for you establish a fresh new start.
But when I work with clients that are surviving day after agonizing day in an emotional abuse cycle with their spouse or intimate partner, I am never happier than when I see this card in their reading. This is because so often, their friends and loved ones think (and have advised them) that the solution to their “problem” is simply to just pick up and leave the abusive relationship. But no one knows better than the survivor that it is never that simple. And often survivors do leave, many try several times, knowing how much anger, threatening behavior and manipulation they’ll face when they do. So, can the Tower tarot card be positive? Yes!
If you are living in an abusive relationship, and the Tower appears for you in a reading or in your own Tarot journaling, please take heart. It means the end is imminent. So take a breath. Instead of torturing yourself, wondering when and if you’ll ever be strong enough to walk out, or if your partner will ever follow through on their threats to leave you, take a pause and prepare to lay down that particular anxiety and concern. It will end. And while it may feel agonizing and prolonged at times, the actual break will happen when you least expect it! Resist timing your actions around well meaning friends and relatives entreaties and unsolicited advice. This has been your journey, your battle. And like all conflicts, whether by surrender or retreat, at some point it will finally cease.
There are tons of domestic violence hotlines and emotional abuse support groups out there. I’ve worked for some of the finest abuse prevention programs in the country. But I believe the truest, deepest healing comes from introspection. And there is no better tool to facilitate soulful, self exploration than the Tarot.
I know that the abuse is not your fault. You can relearn how to have a healthy relationship. I know that you are strong, much more so than you think or feel. When you tell me your story, know that I am more than just your "reader." I am your advocate, counselor, ally and friend. I am on your side and I will always hold space for you. So here’s to the Tower tarot card--the ending that jump starts your new beginning.
Yours in Tarot, Power & Soul,
Apsara A.
*image: True Heart Intuitive Tarot by Rachel True