The Tower Upright:
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.
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