The Tower represents a force of nature. The heavier the building material used to build a tower and the higher it is built, the more potential energy is stored. The kinetic energy of the decent, avalantze "descent" in Romansch(Swiss) [from which we get the word avalanche by way of French], will be greater the more grave the material involved and its gravity. Towers are justifiably built for protection. They are focal points of walls or castles, towering over the other structures. They can provide defense against invasion and offer a long view of possible encroaching threats. However, they can only be built so high and so strong. Towers themselves are not immune to destruction. Towers are always at risk of being struck down or toppling over. When this occurs, that which was intended for protection, itself becomes its own very instrument of calamity.
When a tower collapses, anything on or in the tower must also come down. There is no escape from the falling (hence being "towed" to the earth from the sky by the force of gravity). The tower is a force of nature like the water that flows is said to tow a thing by its flowing,
In Hebrew migdal or migdalah is "tower," from gadal "grow up, become great, increase"
The Hebrew verb "gadal" primarily conveys the idea of growth or increase in size, importance or significance. It is used in various contexts to describe physical growth, such as a child growing up, as well as metaphorical growth, such as the increase in power or influence of a person or nation. It can also mean to magnify or glorify, often in the context of exalting God or His works. Strongs Lexicon, Bible Hub
For this reason the tower can represent what happens when we attempt to grow up(ward) ⬆️, to rise above ourselves. Like the construction of the infamous Tower of Babel, which tower, we could say, was attempting to be a tow-er from earth to the heavens/sky/god,
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth." Genesis 11:14, ESV
in the city of Babel[which name became a shem "name" of shame], called Βαβυλών by the Ancient Greeks (from Akkadian Bab-ilani/Bab-ilim "gate of the gods/god")
𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
and Latinized as Babylōn. But its all very confusing and confused due to the different transliterations and translations. There, in this city, the language of one people is said to have become "confused" (balal /בלל) deliberately by YHWH in order to frustrate their plans. However, this sort of thing naturally happens due to the interactions of different people with diverse languages and writing systems as in this great metropolis of its time, Babylon.
During the 3rd millennium BC, an intimate cultural symbiosis occurred between Sumerian and Akkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian and vice versa is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to static, morphological, and phonological convergence. wikipedia/Baylonia
feminine active participle of an unused root meaning to hollow out; something hollowed (as a gate), i.e. pupil of the eye:—apple [of the eye] -Strong's
So, for example, a place "hollowed out" in a wall surrounding a city is a "gate," it is an opening, and the hollowed out place in the eye, then, would be, the "gate" in the eye, therefore the "gate" is the pupil. . . sometimes called the "apple of the eye," the history of which idiom itself is ripe with babel. But if eyes are the "windows to the soul"(and windows['wind eyes"] are themselves places "hollowed out"), then indeed this "gate/window" is very special. Apart from this, according to Brown-Driver-Briggs this word, babah, relates to the Aramaic בבא "gate". So that would be Baba-el "gate of god," therefore even in Hebrew, the meaning of "gate of god" is not totally lost. In some sense this city, Babel, was a place to meet or encounter God, i.e. El "the mighty one, the Almighty".
There is a difference between 1.) hearing something in a strange language, knowing its a language that you don't comprehend, yet having the understanding that the speaker is making proper sense, not just "babbling", . . . and 2.) hearing something and thinking that you understand it because you are "apparently" both speaking the same language, yet the meaning of the words, that is, the image[eidōlon] you form, from said words, is off or in vain[idle] from what the speaker intended, . . . however neither are necessarily aware of this. . . The second case is where the real confusion(balal) lies. Is babble incomprehensible meaningless speech like gobbledygook? Or is babel speech that somehow becomes confused due to wrong understanding and differing assumptions? Things can get lost in translation, or misunderstood, or misheard like in a game of "Telephone"? Who's on first? Who is on first. That's what I said. . .
"The dominating feature of this card is the Eye of Horus. This is also the Eye of Shiva, on the opening of which, according to the legend of this cult, the Universe is destroyed" -The Book of Thoth, pg. 108
And if misunderstanding causes division, and division causes war, then this kind of confusion is a big problem. It's actually the root of all evil. War is:
said in Watkins to be from PIE *wers- (1) "to confuse, mix up," suggesting the original sense was "bring into confusion." -EO
Well, isn't that interesting? Crowley thought the name "War" suited this Atu(Trump) XVI. And the Eye is prominent in the artwork. And we could say the eye, given that it is the Eye of Horus or the Eye of Shiva is a Baba-El, or Gate(pupil of the eye) of God, or Babel/Babylon, the place where God "confused[balal] the language of all the earth." Gen. 11:9 So to balal "confuse" a people can be the cause of bella "wars"/bellum "war" in Latin. And when you mix up people's language you also mix up their worship and this can be a cause of idolatry.
For the worshiping of idols not to be named[άνωνύμων "unnamed" anonymon] is the beginning, the cause, and the end, of all evil. Wisdom 14:27 KJV
Is idolatry the worship of a false God/gods or is idolatry the worship of "God", but falsely? Isn't this a great Confusion/Babel? No one says they are worshipping a god who is an idol. People say they are worshiping the true God/gods, so if they are in fact idolaters, their idol is not named as such, or is an unnamed idol. So how can anyone know if their God is truly God and not an unnamed idol? A true God should be known by Their works, and not only by Their works, but also by Their effect on Their worshipers. If the "God" is idle("vain, worthless, useless"), then it is an idol. Are the worshipers acting in evil ways? Then they are in effect idolators regardless of whom they call "LORD, LORD." For, "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit."Mt 7:18 DRB The form[eidos] they(evil persons) are portraying of God(all persons being an image of God) is a false "incorrect, mistaken" image; an idol. It is abominable, it is worthless.
For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles["nations"] because of you. Romans 2:24
Whoever is not careful in their worship, that is, where they place their worth(worth-ship), is building upon unstable ground and cruisin' for a bruisin'.
Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." Luke 6:47-49
And isn't it in fact a good thing for a house to be destroyed if it needs to be destroyed in order to allow for a better, more stable house to be built in its place? God is not shy about knocking his houses down.
In the Tarot de Marseilles, The Tower is, La Maison Dieu, "The House of God." It is a lofty place. Not to be trifled with.
Like Phaeton, the higher you dare to fly the further you have to fall, but then again, only those who dare mightily can ever succeed mightily. Phaeton himself was remembered for just that reason;
Here Phaeton lies who in the sun-god's chariot fared. And though he greatly failed, more greatly he dared.
The preceding card to The Tower was The Devil XV, representing the "barely anything" bond/chain that binds us when we strive after the good/beautiful/pleasurable, but stray too far from the middle, from our firm foundation, i.e. Temperance. It is a terrible trap to always want more and more, to seek higher and higher towards the unfathomable infinite goal which is equality with God or perfection. It is not that the goal is so wrong. We are in fact gods. Like Phaeton, we are children of God, made "in [His/Their] image according to [His/Their] likeness"[Let *Us*] The problem is that a creature[any created being(who is inherently laking or imperfect due to this very fact, i.e. they are created [they move/change/grow]) who is striving to become God by ever expanding higher is engaging in a loosing battle, because God has no beginning nor ending, so it is not possible to expand sufficiently to encompass the unfathomable. A person would forever be seeking, yet always lacking. In reality, our perfection, our heaven, i.e. ouranos ούρανός is not "out there," rather it is within. The house/dwelling/temple of God is within. God is in [έν /en] us. To realize the futility of striving to become God by expansion; being the top, the best, the brightest is the true beginning of wisdom.
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give to you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'" Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. Mt. 4:8-11, ESV
However this truth doesn't always naturally dawn on us until we reach the point of futility and collapse.
And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will be impossible for them. Genesis 11:6 ESV
In other words, the citizens of Babel would have kept endlessly striving outward and upward, straying from wisdom in their attempt to be great. Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a person is to have someone knock them off their block. If going up is leading you down, what is there left to do? The only way to move forward from this trap of the devil is a fall from grace, a reversal, something gone topsy-turvy, a shake down, a break down; which is a disruption of the mighty structure, the tower, or temple(dwelling place/house of God).
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?" But he was speaking of the temple of his body. John 2:19-21 NRSV
and declared, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple[naos "dwelling"] of God and rebuild it in three days.'" Matthew 26:61 BSB
In this way the Tower can manifest as a point of futility, distraction or stagnation like Rapunzel stuck in the tower. She was kept "safe" from the world below. She was up high, close to heaven, but was not allowed to grow up on her own. Growing up can be harsh, but we all need these experiences in order to mature into [true]adulthood. And, in any case, being locked away, did not ultimately save Rupunzel from being discovered by a man, the prince, and getting herself "into trouble." Nature always finds a way.
The story begins with Rapunzel's expectant mother wanting to rapere "to seize" the "rapunzel"(a type of herb) in her neighbor, the sorcerer's garden. The woman(out of her zeal[zel] for the rapa) has her husband rape the rapunculus(rapunzel) from the garden of the witch, and the witch in turn seizes their daughter(Rapunzel) from them after her birth and locks her in the tower at the age of puberty(her time to grow up)."
The sorcerer/adoptive mother who keeps Rapunzel in the tower is named Gothel, which is similar sounding to gadal. Gothel did not want Rapunzel to gadal "grow up" or "become great" in this way. Instead she attempts to keep Rapanzel separate and "safe" from the world. Perhaps we could say not "mixed" with or "confused" by the world. However, because Rapunzel is imprisoned in the tower she is not grown up on her own, and is left in a vulnerable state. As it turns out Rapunzel's downfall, not unlike the innocent Eve in the Garden of Eden(who also was not "being allowed" to grow up), comes from a "snake" of sorts. In this story it is Rapunzel's long hair that is snakelike and allows for the witch, and ultimately the prince, to have access to her reality. The prince sneakily(snakily) climbs up her hair and brings her knowledge of the world. The two "know" each other and Rapunzel becomes pregnant. When the witch discovers this, Rapunzel is banished to the woods, and the prince ends up falling from the tower, and being blinded by thorns, after he is deceived(snakily) by Rapunzel's long hair which the witch had cut from Rapunzel's head in order to trick him. They both are forced, by this calamity, to grow up (gadal) in a way that wasn't possible when Rapunzel was safely hidden away in the tower in the garden. And ironically Gothel is the cause of this by placing Rapunzel in the tower to begin with, even though she never meant for Rapunzel to gadal "grow up" in this way.
Catastrophe, sudden change, crisis, releasing all emotion, suffering a blow to the ego, revelation, and seeing through illusions. A necessary disruption to the status quo— violent and explosive upheavals the only way to break through the long-established patterns. Fantasies shattered by the harsh and brutal hand of reality. Making a clean and utter severing from the past. It is time to re-examine belief structures and opinions.
The leaving/falling from the purgos πύργος "tower, fortified structure" in Greek (from a root meaning "to tower, to rise"), ended up being a purge by means of the purgatory the two experienced before they were once again reunited. Purgatory is from Medieval Latin purgatorium "means of cleansing," from Latin purgare "clense, purify," from (purus "clean, clear, unmixed" + agere "to set in motion, drive"). So a tower could be said to be, metaphorically, a structure which drives(tows) purification or pyr/pur(πύρ/πύρός "fire") -ification through its destruction.
We're building it upTo break it back downWe're building it upTo burn it downWe can't wait to burn it to the ground - BURN IT DOWN, Linkin Park
A tower is a building which is drawn out(upward) and which drives (agere from PIE *ag- "to drive, draw out to forth, move"), or moves people up(i.e., it raises), or down(i.e., it razes), but figuratively it is a force of nature that has the ability to make people to be "moved" inwardly.
However, regardless of any unintended folly, the person who is building or utilizing a tower is aiming for what is perceived to be a good. People in a tower, i.e. those who are towered, might be those who are seeking, inclining, i.e. toward "aiming, intending to reach" upward, those who are to-ward "turned toward" the sky/heaven. Whereas someone who is NOT in the tower, who is un-towered, does not see the enemy approaching because they are not elevated or seeking in this way. The effect of which may be untoward "adverse, unpropitious."
So, which is worse? To never be elevated and so never risk a fall, and in fact never to fall (because it is not possible without first being elevated), or to just do it, go for it, shoot for the moon, fall and then see what is redeemed in the process?
O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the death of Christ! O happy fault that earned so great, so glorious a Redeemer! -Exultet—Easter Proclomation
We are mortal! If we fall we die! We crash! We burn! . . . yet we are sons of God! We are "built" in God's image and after his likeness, . . . therefore after the fall. . . God really had to. . . was required to, even, pull some magic out of his hat and make something extraordinary occur that wouldn't have occurred unless it needed to. . . How is a CREATURE who is so daringly made to be in GOD'S image(made an idol / pesel / eidolon) redeemed? He must first be brought low, humbled, and proven in purity and obedience to the one true God, so as to not forever traverse a path of futility(like the Devil). Only then can he be properly exalted "raised up" by the Creator.
In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be used to his advantage;rather, he made himself nothing[empty, void]by taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness.And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfby becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest placeand gave him the name that is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth,and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, butnow much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, "children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation." Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky . . . Philippians 2:6-15
Perhaps this is the point, we were never meant to reach equality with God by being entowered. Towers have limits. Striving is vanity. We must allow ourselves to be limitless through the indwelling presence of God. We were made to reach for the stars. . . However, the destruction of the tower raised up by man and not by God is an important step along this path.
