Reinventing Ourselves With the Tower

by - July 27, 2016










On this blog you'll see some articles about running your tarot business in the traditional way to read tarot.  That's because back in the day, that's what I did, I was a traditional tarot teacher who taught traditional ways of running your tarot business.

Today, on the other hand, I am more about introspection and using the tarot as a tool to excavate your authentic self from the hidden depths of  your soul (those parts covered in the muck that has accumulated from years and years of negative experiences).

If you've read my About Me, you'll see how I came about to reading the tarot.  And from that you can see how I found the traditional way of reading, probably just like all of you.  Maybe our journey to the tarot is different, but getting out tarot card meaning books and applying them to the cards is a pretty much universal way of reading.

Some books will tell you "Card 2 means A".  Some other books will tell you "Card 2 means A with lots of different things you can apply to it".  And others will tell you "Card 2 means A, but also feel deep inside what the card could mean that could pertain to your client (aka, using "psychic ability").  The last one makes me think of those Miss Cleo commercials, which, dear reader, was a total crock of doodie.

"Oh I see your boyfriend is cheating on you right now!  You better go home and see if he's there with another woman!"

Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  Seriously.  If your tarot reader says this to you, run for the hills and call the cops because you are with a con-artist. 

Miss Cleo was sure entertaining, though.  Stick that gorgeous Jamaican accent on anything and we'll believe it! (As of this writing, Miss Cleo actually just died a few days ago, which saddens me.)

I used to be the reader that would rotate between the first two types at will.  I would use book meanings mixed with some insight.  I honestly thought I was helping my clients.  And the worst part was that they thought I was helping them as well.

As the years went on, I got better and better and better at reading, but I had no idea why.  Perhaps I was getting "psychic-ier"?  That's not a real word but it's funny to say anyways...

Alas, I wasn't more psychic.  And when I finally figured out what it actually was, I realized:

It's time for a reinvention.  

When I started with this transformation, I literally stopped reading the cards completely.  I felt that if I wasn't doing it legit, I wasn't going to do it at all.  No more pretending (though I wasn't pretending consciously) to be psychic.  No more bland book meanings.  And no more fake-ass cold reading techniques (even though as unintentional as they were).  I had pulled back the curtain and saw that the wizard was only a mere human and there was nothing magical going on at all.

I was disillusioned.  And let down.  But most of all, I felt I had cheated every single client I ever read for.  Were my readings on spot?  Yes.  But only because I was already putting into practice what I was evolving into without even knowing it.  So when I quit the tarot and got rid of my website, let my domain name expire, took everything off Facebook, deleted my classes, and threw my business name in the garbage, I was purging my old form and unintentionally making way for the new. 


And now, slowly, little by little, I've been coming back to the tarot again.  But I am not coming back as the same person I was when I started.  Hell, I am not coming back as the person I was last year.  I am reinventing myself, my way of reading tarot, and my way of teaching tarot.  Granted, I already started my way of reading the tarot, but now I am honing it so I can be more honest, more real, and actually help my clients rather than telling them what they want to hear.



How does one reinvent themselves? 

Usually there is a breakdown of some sort.  Not a mental breakdown (rarely) but a breakdown of something you thought you once knew.  All your walls fall down.  Makes me think of that song "Torn" by Natalie Imbrulia:

I'm torn
I'm all out of faith
This is how I feel
I'm cold and I'm shamed
Lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
I'm wide awake
And I can see the perfect sky is torn

I feel that this exemplifies exactly how the Tower card in the tarot makes us feel.   What we once thought to be true is now replaced by silence and fear.

"What's next?" you ask the Tower, desperate to not feel like this anymore. 

It replies, "Just wait.  Just wait and see.  Something is coming to change you and you won't ever be the same again".

The tower is about breaking down the walls and rebuilding them into something new.  A reinvention.  A brand new you.

But the difference between the traditional way of reading the tarot and my way is that the Tower isn't something that happens to you.  It happens because you choose it too.

Let me reiterate:

If you get the Tower card in a reading, you can either choose to make a huge change or maybe it's already happening somewhere in your life.


So let's take this tower thing for a spin and figure out how YOU need to be reinvented, shall we?

Do you feel stuck?  Do you feel like you need a change in your life?  Do you feel bad about yourself or that others make you feel bad about yourself?  Do you want to take some steps to bring about real change in your life? 

If so, I have developed a worksheet for you to download and print to use in your leisure.  But don't be too leisurely about it.  Work on it a little at a time, because reinvention takes awhile.  But don't shove it into a drawer and forget it about it.  Instead, commit to answering one question a day for a week.  Journal about it in your journal.  Ponder the question all day, and see what ideas you come up with.  If you come up with something, put a note in your phone or jot it down. 

And get out your Tower cards to view as catalysts for change.  Make some Tower art or jewelry to remind you that at any time you like, you can change your life.  Let's just immerse ourselves in this card for a bit and see what we come up with.  If nothing, then you are no worse for the wear.  BUT, you also may come up with something amazing and realize, it's time for a reinvention :)


Download Your Worksheet Here


Emma's Top 15 Tower/Reinvention Playlist

  1. Blackbird by the Beatles
  2. I Can See Clearly Now by Jimmy Cliff
  3. Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie
  4. Lose Yourself by Eminem
  5. Warrior by Demi Lovato
  6. Do or Die by 30 Seconds to Mars
  7. Revolution by the Beatles
  8. The Middle of Starting Over by Sabrina Carpenter
  9. Begin Again by Taylor Swift
  10. One Day by Matisyahu
  11. Live Like a Warrior by Matisyahu
  12. Eye of the Tiger by Survivor (because DUH)
  13. Empty Bottle by Ingrid Michaelson
  14. Rule the World by Walk Off the Earth


Reinvention isn't always easy, but always is necessary.  Without change, we become stagnant, we do not grow.  So never be afraid of the reinvention process.  For when you go through it, you grow both spiritually, and mentally, which is needed to become your most authentic self (which is what Soul Archeology is all about!). 

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