Major Arcana · XVI
The Tower — tarot meaning
sudden change, collapse, revelation
Upright
Sudden revelation. What was built on false ground falls — painful, swift, and strangely honest.
Reversed
Collapse deferred or averted — the crack is still there, waiting.
In the Papus Tarot, 1909
La Maison Dieu — The Tower · Hebrew letter ע Ayin
Papus: the destruction of pride, the fall of the material construction. Martinists read it as a mercy in a violent form.
In the Oswald Wirth Tarot, 1889
Le Feu du Ciel — The Tower · Hebrew letter ע Ayin
Wirth names this card the fire of heaven: the tower falls where it was built on presumption. The two figures land on the ground, which is where the rebuilding must start.
Shown from the 1909 William Rider & Sons deck (public domain). A card is read in relation to the question and the cards around it; these meanings are a starting point, not a verdict.