Perhaps you have heard the expression that someone is having a tower moment.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard this expression mention until I started to take an interest in tarot cards. There is a Major Arcana card called the Tower, and it’s an interesting one and perhaps the reason for the expression.

Let’s dig deeper into the tower moment idea, and see what comes up.

Disclaimer: I am learning the tarot cards and expressing my views and opinions here on my blog. I am not a tarot reader and do not do readings.

The Tower

It’s a dire image, isn’t it. Everything is crumbling around you, and you along with it.

Key words associated with the tower are chaos, upheaval, sudden and drastic changes, awakenings and revelations.

Note how the tower is a solid, well-built structure but the foundation it was built on is cracked. If it only takes one lightning bolt to make the whole tower fall, one could interpret this as the foundation being unsuitable to hold up such a structure. Was the tower, or what the tower represents, built under false premises?

During the lightning strike and resulting fire, you and yours fall out of the tower to escape harm, but you are not killed. Even though the tower falling may symbolize a catastrophic event in your life, but you are a survivor.

When the fire dies down, you will survey the damage, pick yourself up and make a decision: rebuild and start anew, or walk away and begin a new life elsewhere.

When you have a tower moment

I think tower moments are cyclical and can vary in severity. Not every tower moment has to be catastrophic in nature, and some of them may point to internal turmoil leading to major revelations.

I watched some tarot card readers on YouTube; they tell a story based on other cards dealt in their spread and placed around the tower card. They look at the symbolic messages in all the cards and connect them to a key message.

It took me a while to clue in how they do this. It’s quite brilliant because they tell a specific story which the listener can then apply to his or her own circumstances. Did someone die? Lose their job? Came out as gay or transgender? These are examples of tower moments, events or circumstances which shake you to your core.

But the tower falling didn’t kill anyone. Yes, the structure has crumbled, but you can rebuild it, either here, or elsewhere. Tower moments are not final in terms of death; they are cyclical and give you a chance to begin anew.

My own tower moment

I took the step across the threshold and freed myself in order to pursue wishful thinking into reality. It was painful to take action. Years of contemplation, wavering, and allowing fear of the unknown to cripple me into paralysis, I finally came to a point of no return.

Can you think of a major life change or event that you could link to such a tower moment? Let us know in the comments.

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