The Tarot of Eli 2, LLC: Gold Foil Tarot- Key 16- The Tower & The Tarot of the Old Path- Key 16-The Tower.

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Janet and Stewart Farrar.

Mars-Water-Fire.

In most of the traditional Tarot Decks like the Connoly Tarot, B.O.T.A. Deck, The Prophet Tarot, Rider-Waite-Smith, Gold Foil version of THE TOWER, we see stylized lightning or energy strikes knocking off the anatomically accurate human forms which symbolize the man-made personalities that see reality as a world of straight lines; straight lines as in 'black and White" or "good and bad". The Man-Made personality, (false ego-a mind virus program) sees a reality foreign to Nature and the Universe, which is circular and/or spiral in nature, and is known for its lack of straight lines as its "I" sight is about I AM Light; Self-Awareness being a circular creation of self- reflection that has no right angles, and is all assumed potential, as it is all about the spiraling and thereby, transforming potentiality of "I Will Be" and/or "I Am the Dream and the Dreamer".

Now I know that Mars is the symbol of the war god of destruction, but few remember that Mars/Aries is also attributed with the power of crop fertility. Again, the process of destruction to build anew is seen here as the peace and calm of the soil that is distributed by the plow to plant healthy crops. This really is the core of the message of The Tower-Key 16.

The Tower symbolizes the construct that most people call "I" or Self, where perspectives of the Personality and its "false ego", shown as the crown-Kingdom of Earth, are being shattered by the influx of the Fiery Energy of Higher-Self -Knowledge. The toppling Tower also represents the destruction of man-made institutions, Military Industrial Complex, government, religions, the media supported "hypnosis of words" or any accepted values. Yet this striking down, is not to be construed as the destruction of evil, rather it is a process of change, as "stepping stones" of perspective are built that contributes to the continual building up and striking down of "stepping stone" concepts that lead into the Inner Realms of Higher Self; Kind of like the building up and striking down of miles as one travels, but also accompanied with the pain and effort of long travel. Evil may seem a horror of darkness; However, we must know darkness to know Light. So, one becomes immune to the evil mind virus of the "False Ego", whose only power is denial and hiding, the cure comes from knowing and observing it. Above all things, know thyself !

Another way to understand THE TOWER'S process, is that upon first approach to these "Higher Planes" of reality, many people begin anthropomorphizing the States of Conscious Energy, as Archangels or "Spiritual Beings", as that is how they "realize" them in a cultural egregore; However, these Creative Forces are formless dimensions of Mind, so in order to incorporate these forces into our own anthropomorphic "reality", we must destroy the previous false concepts of these angelic beings and know them as states of Self -Awareness, that we are to manifest and often do manifest in balance or imbalance, to assist in correcting the illusional identity of " Me." This is a necessary process of progressive and expanding Self-Awareness as we journey on the "Above all things, know thyself" Paths of the Tree of Life. Just to travel in the present, we must destroy the perspectives of our past! For if we are always looking behind, we never seen the present or the possibility of future and only loop around and upon yesterday's travel. To have true "I" sight, we must always remove the blinding veils of yesterday's views. And yes, the Soul, whose shape is undefined by infinity, is I AM-anthropomorphizing itself as Me -dream so that it can experience with intimate certainty, data/information. When information becomes in-form-action, knowledge is produced.

The Western Hermetic Qabalistic Thoth Tarot- Tower Card-Key 16, displays the Hebrew Letter-Peh (bottom of Thoth Card-Not shown on Traditional Tarot); the Path of Peh (meaning Mouth), the 27th Path on the Tree of Life. Dr. Paul Foster Case (of B.O.T.A. fame) calls the Tower card the 27th Path of Peh," The Exciting Intelligence", as its vibrations excite matter and are simulated in the Mouth, which sends forth vibrations as sound or words. Hod (Splendor), the Sephirotic center of the reasoning process is connected to the center of the intuition-desire nature, Netzach (Victory) by the Path of Peh-THE TOWER. This Path of the Personality brings into balance what is out of balance and is related to Mars, the Roman god of War and the North.

Traditionally the North was the quarter seen as the "greatest place of darkness", for when the Mysteries were initiated, the North side of King Solomon's temple was the darkest side. But all is not doom and gloom here, as any initiate or aspirant in the Mysteries knows, it is from the darkest night that comes Light and that "enlightenment has its origin in the hidden sources of power which terrify the minds of the ignorant". To us moderns who are familiar with Quantum Physics Theory, it is said that Dark Energy and Dark Matter are the birthplaces of Light energy.

Peh, the Hebrew word, is called a double letter, for it not only means -Mouth but also-Grace-Indignation, a union of opposites. Double letters are considered gateways of the Soul, which have two directions of passage. It is also a fact that the mouth has two passages as well. One passage takes in nourishment into the organic system and another expresses speech. Thus, we can see the similarity between the two actions of the Path of Peh/Tower. For it not only is a devastating Path of the Higher Vibrations that burn away the dross of our Personalities, but it is also the entrance that nourishes the consciousness with the Spiritual knowledge, (enlightenment) from the Real Personality...the one your soul built before you were reconstructed by your indoctrination and environmental reactions created by a viral mental program.

Many of us are familiar with chanting and the effects of the power of vibration on the physical world and body. Many Mysteries expound on the use of "god names" or "Words of Power" to affect the destruction of "negative energies", in body and environment. (Relative to speech, we know that the Logos, is also called the Word). These "negative forces" of The Tower card represent the destruction of our own personal towers of false concepts and institutions that are commonly believed to be reality. By tearing down past reality, which is ignorant of today, room is made for something new in perspective. When a mask is ripped off, the Real face is exposed (persona, the root word for personality, is mask in Greek).

The lightning flashes are representative of sudden inspiration, or flashes of perception, which occur when we realize our Real Identities. The Gold Foil-TOWER CARD displays the Crown as an obvious reference to Kether (God name of Eheieh-"I Will Be") at the top of the Tower; However, this also symbolizes the false crowns of our existence, those man-made values that we believe control us; hence, false authority is outside authority. To show this conflict within humans, Waite called the two falling figures who are also wearing crowns, The Kings of Edan (the consciousness and the unconsciousness). The Striking of the Crown from the Tower also refers to an older, more complex Hebrew mystery of the Circumcision. This is a most secret meaning of the Tower card, which is supported by Gematria as the Hebrew word for circumcision is the same value as the number 85. We also know that in numerology 8+5=13 which is the Death Card and that 13 in numerology is 1+3=4 which is the emperor who is the Authority of Mars and/or the Father as avenger and protector. There is much to research here so I would advise the curious student to do so.

To carry on, the fore-stated inner conflict of man-made values and spiritual values, is why A. Crowley subtitled THE TOWER as WAR. But this is not a new perspective on the inner conflict of survival persona and the Higher Self, as throughout esoteric literature is depicted these moments of "inner- and outer war". For instance, in the Bhagavad Gita, there is described symbolic battle of self-perspectives, and/or component parts of Self: The Higher Genius is portrayed as Krishna (Solar Logos), guiding Arjuna (lower personality) onto his inner, and personal field of conflict.

We also have the storied example of the destruction of the Tower of Babel illustrating the fact that those who are locked behind the bricks and mortar of any system, culture, words, institutions of man and/ or religion, are unable to see beyond that system to the Divine Unity and purpose which is the Light of all True Self.

In Western literature, we also have Christ, going through his days in the desert, solitary and alone, while being continually tempted by the lower personality of Satan, (false ego) which relates to the survival-based ego/mind virus, trying to usurp the Rule of the True Ego/Soul/Psyche

Also, I previously mentioned that this card is about the destruction of the old order.

Primarily, the flash of Super consciousness turns all perceptions of personal consciousness upside down and destroys these false conceptions. The 22 Yods (flames) on the Gold Foil card represent the 22 basic modes of consciousness as symbolized in the TAROT KEYS.

The Tarot of the Old Path shows Key 16, the Tower as a human form, with parts relating to the human body; the roof as the Mind, the upper floor as the brain/head etc. Thus, the Tower in Tarot of the Old Path stresses the self. The falling tongues of flame are the Yods (Essence of The Fiery Father God) that are the "movement within the motion" (Ojibwa statement) of all life. This internal motion of the external world causes change: the Universal Constant. The resulting fiery fall of Yods (Hebrew for Hand) alights the Tower of Self, the flames represent the deconstruction, i.e., God's hand of change. that is necessary for reconstruction. The Male and Female figures are dislodged from their rigid concepts of self, victims of their own stubbornness not to progressively change their self-identity. The falling is a sense of knowing that what we thought we were illusion and a device of comfort seeking. Hence, thinking you're right just a form of comfort seeking, because if you are wrong--you are taught to feel uncomfortable. Righteousness must be deconstructed, or one learns nothing. Truth may be what is right today; However, it often is wrong tomorrow, as the evolution of our own sciences and societies show. What is true is I Am, what is not is what I Am thinks it is, for that is all assumption.

In the Tarot of the Old Path-Key 16- The Tower, the moment of crisis, which brings about the destruction of rigidity, is implied in the lightning flash and the bridge stands for a change of state, and/or a transformation from one state of mind to another.

The River of Time is shown as an eroding river, implying time changes the shape of everything, and the second law of Thermodynamics which states: "All things proceed from order to disorder".

The Toad, looming in the foreground, is the key message of this card, which is, " The negative is often the harbinger of the positive." With deconstruction of the past, we move forward into greater creative rewards of self-expression. The old legend of "kissing the Toad" to make a King or Prince manifest can be implied here.

Often Severity visits us because we refuse to change, and that is a form of entropy and the soul will not cease to move and wipes out the obsolete ego, to allow us further progress. The Love of I AM demands we stand in our power, and not kneel to our weakness. That Power of Limitation gives us the ability to do work in the material world. Hence, change is often reconstruction. Attitudes no longer adequate for the situation shall be swept away by the Spiritual motion within for the material world is transitory but the soul is immortal in its movement of I AM.

Overall, this Tower Card forces us to consider the source of negative life experiences, such as loss of job, illness, and other disasters that arbitrarily befall us. Are these accidents, or are we "reaping what we sow" by using the "false ego" as identity? Such questions must be addressed towards this Archetypal image: Therefore, scrying this card is recommended.

When the Key 16-The Tower, is thrown in a divination, it implies:

• The instinctive destruction of form.
• The upheaval of values.
• Overcoming one's self-setting the soul free.
• The truth and enlightenment of perception that strikes like lightning and destroys false and/or rigid ideas.
• Breaking open encrustations. 
• Passing through pain to new birth.
• Sudden, massive, and painful change is on the horizon. 

When reversed:

• Blind destruction.
• Stagnation.
• Lack of insight.
• Unable to make changes. 
• Caught in a negative situation. 
• Imprisonment.

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