When everything is going well and we're building something beautiful for the future, we can be subject to feelings of dread. This dread stems from the fear that what we've built will be put to the test. The forces of nature can be cruel as well as kind and when fate intervenes in a way we don't want or weren't expecting, the stress can seem almost insurmountable. Getting what we want in life can make us controlling and unhappy in our desire to keep hold of it, knowing that most of the material wealth and structure we've amassed is like a leaf in the wind when faced with life's incredible power to change things. The Tower represents those times that, no matter how hard we try, cracks show in our armour and we lose what we've laboured for. It's one of those Major Arcana cards that makes querents shudder when they see it in a spread, but I think it gives me, as a reader, the opportunity to reassure as well as warn. After all, life can't be a bowl of cherries all the time and when the icing gets blown clean off the cake by a strong, unpredicted wind, we need a nugget of wisdom to remind us that it's all going to be ok.The Tower urges us to be careful with our wealth - save, invest wisely, don't spend excessively. It also tells us in no uncertain terms that we need to consistently work on stable foundations - that includes the relationships that we feel stand the strongest chance of being there for us when everything goes spectacularly to shit! Sometimes, when we're building high, we forget about what's beneath holding it all up and keeping it together. Being wary of what's likely to go wrong and what we've got to fall back on when our luck changes will give us the best fighting chance of dealing with disaster. Basically, accepting that Sod's Law has its part to play in our lives is healthier than denial. The most important thing to remember is that we can fall back on ourselves in times of trouble. We are the steel rod running through the length of the structure and we shouldn't sell ourselves short on that point. Even when the person we thought we could rely on the most fails to come through, we can be our own source of support. Nothing is ever as bad as it seems.
This card also has something to say about negative thought and behaviour patterns. What do you keep doing time after time that's having a negative effect? What bad habit needs to be stopped before it becomes a lifelong excuse not to realise your potential? Make a start on improving yourself so that you can take greater credit for what goes right as well as responsibility for what goes wrong.
