sabrinamari | Tarot Cross Post: The Tower and the Knight of Wands

One of my friends recently pulled The Tower. After looking it up, she asked how it could be avoided and pulled the Knight of Wands.

This was my interpretation:

1. The Tower is a major arcana card. Thus, for me, it represents a major karmic lesson. In my understanding, it is not really possible to avoid karmic lessons. In the big picture, you don't really want to, either. Karmic lessons are there so that you can extract important wisdom and understanding that you NEED in order to move forward. So the best you can do with a major arcana card, both in reality and in desirability, is to change the tilt (in the case of rectangular cards, this means reversing them).

While the upright Tower refers to the explosion, collapse or dramatic exit of something that you value in a way that you haven't really adequately prepared for and/or foreseen, that thing that collapses, explodes or exits is something that has to go---at least in its current form---both because it is ultimately unsustainable/unhealthy as it is, and because it is holding you back from an important spurt of growth somewhere else in your life.

Reversing The Tower means that you can kind of see it coming and prepare for it, so that instead of kicking you in the head and breaking you into little bits (temporarily), you can surf the tidal wave of change and manage the whole thing somewhat better.

In either case, the thing, person, situation or job that goes must go in order for you to grow into the next level of your healthiest being.

It doesn't mean that thing, person, situation or job is gone forever, either. It means that in that particular form, it was unsustainable in a healthy way. Once you've grown and acquired the wisdom you need, you will have the ability to rebuild a better tower on a much more solid foundation in a healthy, sustainable way, with everyone operating in truth.

So...from my perspective, and as crazy as it sounds, you don't actually want to avoid The Tower. You want to reverse The Tower.

2. The second question doesn't make sense from this perspective, but I would reinterpret the answer to be more of an answer to "How can I make this better? How can I best meet this challenge?"

Court cards often represent aspects of the person drawing them. That's usually my first suspected interpretation. Sometimes, less often, they represent others.

The Knight of Wands has good aspects and challenging ones. He or she tends to rush into situations quickly and leave them just as fast (I do not like this much either way). But s/he has a lot of energy and can address important situations with lots of fiery focus and attention. In a positive interpretation, the Knight of Wands can rush in and apply first aid to an emergent situation, like a very competent first responder. Sometimes this is great! Sometimes it is patronizing and annoying. It depends on the situation.

I still don't much like it when people rush in because it's almost always a guarantee that A.) they will rush out again when it actually gets challenging (I *really* hate that), and B.) they are rushing in to fix things because of their own compulsions/dysfunctions, and not because they can actually help. Usually, a calm, considered approach is more helpful in the aftermath of a real emergency. However, that's just my take. We are ignoring my prejudices.

Sometimes, you REALLY, REALLY need a good first responder. At a car accident, you don't want to be someone who stops to carefully consider which verse of the Tao te Ching would best apply to the situation at hand. That's for later, when everyone has been safely extracted from the car and taken to the hospital. In the immediate situation, you want to be someone who will call 911 immediately and jump on keeping the people in the car alive till the ambulance arrives.

EDIT: I take it back. The Knight of Wands is very, very good for when you realize that you have two floors to pick up, a kitchen to clean and two bathrooms to scrub and approximately one hour in which to do it.

So, my take on this answer:

1. Radical change is coming. In the long run, it will help teach you some things you really, really need to know. The structure that collapses was built on false premises, and it isn't sustainable anyway. See if you can figure out where this change might enter from and consider how best to prepare yourself for it right now.

2. In this case, "first responder mind" will really help. Prepare to think quickly, act quickly, and take the initiative in addressing the change when it happens.

3. Remember, once you have grown from this experience, you can rebuild your tower from a much safer, saner, stronger place, and create it in a way that is both sustainable and healthy for yourself and others. This experience may be scary and challenging, but ultimately, after The Tower comes The Star, and the chance to rebuild with greater wisdom and understanding.