Earth is in her Tower era
An offering from my new book, You Are Not a Stranger Here
The following is an excerpt from my new book, You Are Not a Stranger Here, a metamorphosis through the Tarot’s Major Arcana. I know the collective energy is tense and uncertain at present, and as an offering to you during Earth’s extended Tower era, I’d like to share what I’ve written for this often reviled arcanum in an effort to remind you that you are not alone as you stare intently into the void.
You Are Not a Stranger Here is now available for print pre-order and immediate e-book download; it is by the far the most esoteric thing I’ve ever written and perhaps the most meaningful and fulfilling bodies of work I’ve compiled thus far. Stranger (which borrows its name from a beloved Alan Watts quote) follows The Fool’s Journey through the dark night of the soul, and was inspired by Eastern philosophy as well as my own spiritual journey and deepening relationship with the cards. This book is for Tarot enthusiasts and Tarot curious folks alike, and can be used as a compendium for your own sojourn into the abyss.
I would be honored if you chose to add the book to your sacred libraries, and I hope this excerpt takes you just a little bit closer to wherever it is you’re going.
The Tower (XVI)
UPHEAVAL. CHAOS. CRISIS. TRAUMA. IMMEDIATE + PERMANENT. WAKE UP CALL. BREAKTHROUGH. WRECKAGE. DISMANTLING. RESTRUCTURING. REVELATION. LIBERATION. EMERGENCE. SPIRITUAL AWAKENING.
The traditional imagery of The Tower portrays a scene of disarray, one that evokes abject terror and utter devastation. Havoc has been wrought, and this Arcanum arrives as the arbiter of destruction. In truth, however, The Tower’s approach is deliberate, its timing perfect, its purpose crystalline: to bring you to your knees so that you can rise once more. Sometimes, that which seems catastrophic on the surface is cleansing at its core, stripping away the barriers that keep us stuck, breaking down walls that imprison us—walls that have stood for eons with the illusion of impenetrability, walls, that once demolished will never be erected again.
Because what The Tower destroys cannot be rebuilt.
Its upheaval is immediate and permanent, its outcome inevitable. Everything is shaken loose from its moors, not with the intention of causing pain for the sake of itself, but to empower us to climb out of the wreckage, reborn. Like Sufi mystic and beloved Persian poet Rumi wrote, “Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.” Hope. Not a guarantee, but a possibility, dependent entirely on how we respond. We cannot stop The Tower, but we can choose how we receive its message, how we perceive its gifts.
Will we anoint ourselves the victim, forever doomed to lament our losses? Will we scramble to reclaim that which was taken, clinging to rubble and ash? Or will we rewrite the narrative, become the author of our own reality, and awaken in the aftermath of chaos?
A Message From The Tower
What does it mean to be rent asunder?
Is it raw and ragged and sharp around the edges? Is it the shock of shattered glass, the gaping hole of promises unkept? Is it the straw that breaks the camel’s back when Murphy’s law has reigned supreme? Is it the sting of betrayal, the burst of a bubble, the sudden, tragic loss of something you thought would last forever? When the lightning strikes, will you curse the gods? Will you cry into your pillow, scream into the darkness of the void, shake your fist in fury at the sky?
You may think yourself the chronicler but let me clear: I write the plot twists; I alone know the reason for each surprise ending. There will be no deus ex machina. What is done cannot be undone.
It is true that my intention is to take, to break, to shake up your world to the full extent that it will be shaken. But, like the poet Rumi said, “the wound is the place where the light enters you.” When I rend you asunder, you must let there be light.
A Spell for The Tower
This is the time of falling
When patterns meet their end
This is the time of reckoning
When conflicts must contend
As the walls around me crumble
in chaotic transformation
and the ground beneath me falters
on a volatile foundation
I’ll surrender to the wreckage
Allow it all to crash and burn
Before rising like the Phoenix
From the ashes of my urn
I was shuffling my cards for 25 mins last night, thinking, “haven’t pulled The Tower in a while, and I can just feel it coming…”…pulled both Justice & The Tower. 😂 Spot on, for sure!
cool stuff ♥️