Practitioner · 15 min
The Devil and the Tower
Attachment and sudden change: The Devil's hold and The Tower's fall, read as processes rather than doom, from their pictures, across their range and against the cards they are confused with.
In this lesson you will
- Recognize The Devil and The Tower from their key symbols.
- Read each card across its range, upright and reversed, as a process rather than a verdict.
- Tell The Devil from the Eight of Swords and The Tower from the Ten of Swords.
Some things hold us for years: a habit we cannot quit, a relationship we keep going back to. Other things change everything in an afternoon: a phone call, a discovery, a door that closes for good. The third row of the Majors begins with both.
The larger forces
The Devil (XV) and The Tower (XVI) open the third row, the larger forces. The Devil is attachment: whatever has a hold on you, and the way you help it hold on. The Tower is sudden change: something that looked solid falls, and a hidden truth comes to light.
These are hard cards, and beginners often read them as doom. Read them as processes instead. The Devil asks you to see a bond clearly, which is the first step out of it. The Tower describes a shock, and also the clearing that follows it.
When one of them appears, ask what is holding on, or what has just fallen, and what becomes possible now that you can see it.
This lesson is part of Plus
Plus opens every lesson of the Practitioner, Reader and Advanced tiers, with practice that explains every answer.
What the lesson covers
- The Devil: what holds you
- The Tower: what falls
- Commonly confused
- Practice
Foundations and the first lesson of every course are free.