The Tower signifies the emergence of something that was imprisoned. This can be a residential move, a separation, a moment of great expression, the desire to leave for the country or for another country, or a secret revealed. Or even a lightning strike that causes a "catastrophe." It refers, as we have seen, to a dance of joyous separation; the figures are actually acrobats flying about in a theater. This can be giving birth to something that has long been gestating and takes dual shape here—the twinship of the animus and the anima, collaborating on a long-thought-out work. Sometimes, if a person is seeing only one aspect of his question when interrogating the Tarot, The Tower reveals the existence of a second aspect, a second less-obvious possibility represented by the figure that has half emerged from the tower. The phallic connotation of the tower also makes it a symbol of the male sex organ and all the questions connected to ejaculation. When it takes on a more painful meaning of abrupt separation or expulsion, The Tower can refer to an expropriation, a rupture, a difficult birth, or, in the case of siblings, when one child was wanted (the figure that has emerged entirely) and the other was not (the figure that has only half emerged). We can also read a reference in this card to a large telluric movement, an earthquake or other natural catastrophe. The principal message of The Tower could be: stop looking for God in the sky; let's find him on Earth.
Text: Alejandro Jodorowsky