Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
The DruWitch Way: Tearing Down The Tower – Using Tarot to Change Your Viewpoint

The DruWitch Way: Tearing Down The Tower – Using Tarot to Change Your Viewpoint

Last updated on: August 22, 2019 at 5:47 pm by Tara Sanchez

The DruWitch Way: Tearing Down The Tower – Using Tarot to Change Your Viewpoint 2019-08-22T17:47:25+00:00 Tara Sanchez

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Sometimes it seems that certain cards just stalk your life. Ask a friend for an objective reading, oh look, there’s that card. Pick a card of the day, oops guess what, there it is. Large group ritual where people are randomly assigned cards. Surprise, surprise you get that ‘stalker’ card assigned to you again.

Sometimes it seems that certain cards just stalk your life. Photo by Rirriz via Pixabay.

I’ve been stalked by ‘The Tower’ for years. It’s almost become a bit of a joke. If just a little tedious because at its core The Tower isn’t what you would consider a great card when it comes to positive life experiences. Ruled by the planet Mars it is essentially destructive in nature. Although in fairness, it also means you normally get to work on something new and exciting as a result of this destruction and the challenge of creating something new can be enough to keep you going for quite some time. So it’s not all doom and gloom, honest!

Fear not! It’s not all doom and gloom, honest! Photo by Gerd Altmann via Pixabay.

For years my default response to the Tower was to reduce it down to the Chariot. When life decides that you need to tear things down, then moving on to something else with sheer will and intent is a valid way forward. It doesn’t just work for this one situation either, this simplistic reduction technique is something that can be adapted to most of the scenarios indicated by the Majors. For example:

Wheel of Fortune (10) reduces to Magician (1)

Fed up of feeling like you are at the whim of Fate? Then gather your tools and take command of your own destiny.

Justice (11) reduces to High Priestess (2)

Feeling like you’ve sold your soul to the corporate machine? Bogged down with paperwork and bureaucracy? Then spend some time meditating, go on a spiritual retreat, join a psychic development class and get your right brain back on track.

The Tower (16) reduces to The Chariot (7)

Does everything feel like it’s collapsing around your ears? Life taking no prisoners and leaving destruction in its wake? Then gather yourself up and leave that crap behind; it’s time to move on to pastures new.

It works surprisingly well if there is something bigger at stake and the card stalking you is a major. But what if it’s a minor card that is stalking you? Or what if that major just won’t go away and leave you alone even when you’ve done the work above?

Well, using the stalker card to create a unique spread which you can integrate into a daily ritual or shadow work may well be your answer because one day you’re going to find a situation where changing tack or moving on isn’t the right or mature thing to do. After all, we can’t spend our entire lives just saying what the heck and burning bridges in our wake; sometimes we need to rebuild, not destroy. By really working with the troublesome card we can focus our minds and really get to the root of the problem.

Let’s use the Tower as an example, although the system applies to all cards. Firstly look closely and identify what key images are contained in the card.

Assign a card to each of those aspects, so for the Tower it would be the crown, the lightning, the people and the rocks. Think carefully about what those images mean to you and by all means do some research if one particular symbol stands out, but leaves you stumped. When you are happy, assign those symbols/meanings to a card before shuffling the deck and asking yourself, what can I learn from this card?

Tower Spread, created by Tara Sanchez.

Card 1 – What Crowns Me?

The crown is a symbol of your sovereignty, it is your self respect and self worth. When balanced it is a treasure to hold onto. Something you shouldn’t give away. But it can become inflated, egotistical and overbearing. When looking at this card in the spread consider if a compromise to your situation would strip you of your sovereignty or just deflate your ego. If it’s the former consider your position carefully. Maybe jumping on the next Chariot isn’t such a bad idea after all.

Card 2 – What is the Root?

Mountains and rocks can be indicator of struggle and hardship, and let’s face it, things don’t look good for those poor folks falling down. Yes, the tower may have been struck by lightning but the rocks are what is going to do for them. This is the root of the problem, what is really causing the disharmony. Many problems can seem straightforward on the surface but they may be a symptom rather than the cause. If you have any hope of fixing your situation you need to be aware of hidden aspects.

Card 3 – What Strikes me?

When lightning strikes it’s going to hurt. There is no two ways about it. But knowing how this problem is going to affect you personally can go a long way to helping you deal with the aftermath. After all, when lightning strikes it also illuminates so we may as well take advantage of what it shows us. How you deal with your emotional and physical responses can play a big part in how a situation works out in the long run. And if you can prepare for them even better.

Card 4 – Who Free-Falls?

In any difficult situation there may well be other players, be these friends, family, co-workers, even pets! When a tower falls down somebody may end up toppling and that somebody may not be you. Is cutting your losses going to affect someone else in your life? Are they innocent victims of collateral damage or the willing participant with an appetite for destruction? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself, or them, for a greater good?

As witches we are hard-wired to take responsibility for ourselves and how we interact with the world around us and yet so often we shrug and scratch our heads over repeating cards rather than taking them and really working with them, integrating them into our lives and our magick until we cannot but see the solution. Deep personal magick with nothing but a deck of cards.

About Tara Sanchez

I am a Gardnerian Witch with heavy Druidic tendencies which I think my coven mates mostly tolerate, or at least they humour me when I come up with odd ball rituals based on snippets of folklore or myth. And as a member of the Anglesey Druid Order, I can often be found getting up to mayhem and magick on the wonderful Island of Anglesey, a place where Gin is a sacramental offering. My love of divination is unbridled and I currently own well over a hundred Tarot decks (but please no-one tell my husband! ) and I love to teach and give talks and workshops on Magick, Folklore, Oracular techniques and not surprisingly the Tarot. Previously published works include articles in both The Oracle and White Dragon Magazines in the UK, a contribution to the anthology Hekate: Her Sacred Fires and my first solo venture was The Temple of Hekate: Exploring the Goddess through ritual, meditation and divination. My current work in progress is a practical guide to working with Urban Fae which will be published by Llewellyn Worldwide. In what little free time I have left I work as a teacher in Adult Education specialising in learners with complex needs and I volunteer as a Pagan Chaplain. Sometimes if I am lucky I wave to my very indulgent family in passing. You can find a whole host of articles and hints to my current research in my blog at http://tarasanchez.com/. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

August 21, 2019

Walking the Path: Do We Share a Co-creative Existence with God?

Next Post

August 22, 2019 The Corner Crone: Rainforest Wildfires - A Pagan Response

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Saul Eli David Samuel