The Tower

The Parthenon in Athens is our Tower. The greatest monument to Greece’s golden age, it was a shining example of Athenian art, culture and economic dominance–for all of about 5 minutes.  That’s how soon after the final freize was carved that the Peloponnesian Wars broke out between Athens and its greatest rival Sparta. The fighting turned the Aegean’s most visted city into a locked-down fortress almost overnight, with few tourists willing to brave a war zone to see the sights. This went on for a quarter century or so until the Spartans won and looted the city. They left the actual Parthenon building, which weighed a couple hundred tons, in favor of more portable examples of Athenian art in the form of wine amphorae and anything shiny. Afterward, the stripped remains became a roost for the local pigeons, until Lord Elgin came along a few thousand years later and looted them, too.

The Tower is possibly the most exciting card in the Tarot, in the same way that roller coasters are the best ride at the carnival. Unless they make you throw up, in which case substitute ‘terrifying and vomit-inducing’ for ‘exciting’ in the previous sentence and stop reading right now. You don’t want to know that the Tower is associated with sudden, staggering changes like the upside-down, blacked-out, tunnel-of-death ride at the carnival. The one with all the delighted, screaming children and vaguely green adults. This wild ride of a card heralds a new life heading your way at top speed. You may feel inclined to step off the tracks before this oncoming train crashes into you, but don’t worry, it probably won’t be an Athenian tragedy. The Tower upright usually fortells a change that can remake your life in a positive way. And if not, you’ll finally get to collect on all that insurance.

 The Tower Reversed:

The graceful Parthenon is our Tower. It came about because Solon, ruler of Athens in its golden age, was bored. Sure, he had wealth, fame, a cool nickname and could invite Socrates over for dinner whenever he felt like it, but something was still missing. Namely the satisfaction of being able to call Athens the pinnacle of Greek civilization. The problem was his rival city state of Sparta. Its people generally considered themselves civilized if they remembered to turn their heads before spitting, but they had a huge army and a reputation for fearlessness in battle. And their military prowess gave them the cheek to claim that they ruled Greece.

Instead of taking a break and maybe getting a massage, Solon decided to put the issue to the test. He talked the city into funding the most over-the-top monument ever seen, possibly the grandest in the world of that time, ostensibly honoring Athen’s patron goddess, Athena. Of course, the real point was to rub Sparta’s nose in their whole lack-of-culture thing, and forever cement Athen’s place as the leading city state in all of Greece. It took twenty years and more than a billion dollars in today’s currency, but Solon got his monument to Athen’s greatness–and his own. He also got a war with the uncouth Spartans, who might not have known art when they saw it but sure as hell knew when they were being dissed. Athens lost the war, Solon lost his life and the Parthenon was allowed to begin its long decline into picturesque ruins.

So yes, you’re bored. Bored with a capital B as in, my God, how did I turn into my mother/father/dull-and-fairly-peculiar-uncle? You were going to be the daredevil, the world-traveler, the rock star. Instead, you have three kids, a mortgage and an eighteen-year-old incontinent collie dog. You long to break away from the ordinary and reclaim the magic in life, but you’ve forgotten how. And when, exactly, are you going to relearn? Your vacation isn’t for another six months and you’ve already promised to clean out the garage and visit relatives when it gets here. Things may seem tragic right now, but don’t do something foolish out of frustration. That’s how Solon ended up with an expensive pile of rocks and your neighbor talked himself into that totally convincing 100% natural hair weave. For the love of God, take a deep breath and think about it!  There are smaller changes you can make that might vastly improve matters. And if not, ignore the garage, leave the kids with the relatives and head to Cancun on the vacation. A few double mai-tais and you’ll feel much better.