Rebuilding from Ruins: My Take on The Tower vs. the Traditional Rider-Waite
Sep 23, 2025
If you're even a little familiar with tarot, you probably flinch when The Tower card shows up in a reading. The image from the traditional Rider-Waite deck is hard to miss...lightning striking a tower, people falling, flames bursting out of windows. It's chaos. It’s destruction. It’s that moment when everything falls apart.
But here’s the thing: I see it differently.
To me, The Tower isn’t just about collapse. It’s about clarity. Revelation. Necessary breakdowns that make room for real growth.
Let’s walk through it—my interpretation side-by-side with the classic one.
The Tower: Structure on Shaky Ground
Rider-Waite:
The traditional card shows a stone tower perched high on a mountain, struck by lightning and crumbling under the blow. Two figures fall headfirst into the unknown. It's a blunt image of disaster, what happens when we build our lives on unstable ground and call it secure.
My Take:
The tower, to me, represents the status quo, the structures, beliefs, or identities we’ve built around ourselves. It doesn’t matter how tall or impressive it looks. If the foundation is weak, it won’t hold. Sooner or later, something’s going to shake it loose. That’s not a punishment. It’s a wake-up call.
The Lightning: Flash of Truth
Rider-Waite:
That bolt of lightning? It’s divine intervention. A force from beyond coming in fast, no warning, no mercy. It tears right through illusion and false security.
My Take:
I see lightning as clarity. Truth. Sudden insight that cuts through the noise. It doesn’t come to destroy just for fun, and sometimes it comes to expose what’s been hidden. Sometimes it’s uncomfortable, even painful. But that flash of understanding is what sets change in motion.
The Foundation: Cracks Beneath the Surface
Rider-Waite:
The card doesn’t linger much on the base of the tower, but its collapse suggests the foundation was never stable to begin with.
My Take:
My deck emphasises this part. The foundation in my card is visibly fractured...a visual cue that something’s off even before disaster strikes. If you’re ignoring cracks in your relationships, your career, your sense of self, The Tower says it’s time to face them. Because real growth only happens when you’re standing on solid ground.
The Toppled Crown: Ego and Illusions Fall First
Rider-Waite:
At the top of the original tower is a crown, flying off mid-explosion. It’s a symbol of pride, power, and control… all of it gone in an instant.
My Take:
In my deck, it is the same crown, but a different lens. I see it as a symbol of what we’ve outgrown. Maybe it’s status. Maybe it’s an outdated identity or role we’ve clung to for too long. When the crown falls, it’s not just loss...it’s release. You don’t need to keep wearing something that doesn’t fit anymore.
So what does all this mean when The Tower shows up in a spread?
Rider-Waite Energy:
Sudden upheaval
Destruction
Crisis and loss
Ego collapse
Forced awakening
My Interpretation:
Wake-up calls and breakthroughs
Hidden truths coming to light
An invitation to reevaluate what you've built
Shedding outdated roles or beliefs
Space being cleared for something more substantial, more authentic
Bottom Line: Not the End, but the Beginning
Yes, The Tower can be a rough card. But it's not out to ruin your life. It's trying to help you rebuild it, this time, with a stronger foundation and a clearer sense of who you really are.
Don’t fear the fall. Fear staying in a structure that was never meant to last.
Rebuild with the Wisdom of the Eternal Tarot
In Lieselle’s Eternal Tarot, The Tower isn’t just destruction — it’s revelation. Each hand-illustrated card carries this depth, offering guidance through upheaval, clarity in the chaos, and strength to rebuild on truer ground.
