Today, we once again rejoin The Fool on His Journey through the Major Arcana. Welcome back, and fasten your seat belts, for today may be a bumpy ride!
Last week, our hero resisted The Devil’s temptations and learned all about how to consciously choose to rise above the distractions of earthly temptations in order to stay on His desired path. He has learned so much on this journey! He’s feeling pretty proud of His accomplishments along the way, and rightfully so.
Today, however, EVERYTHING is going to change.
Moving up the mountain - where His path is leading Him - The Fool plods along silent and determined. His legs are full of fire and ache. His back is bent over beneath the weight of His pack as He climbs ever higher toward an unseeable summit. His thoughts thicken as the air thins. He feels the foreboding of physical defeat.
In His muddled mind, The Fool begins to question everything He’s learned along His life’s journey. He is questioning the very foundations of who He is and why He’s walking this path. He feels like He has outgrown the life He’s come to know.
These thoughts leave Him even more exhausted. He wonders how - or if - He will make it up this mountain.
Then He sees it: The Tower.
He can only spy glimpses of it through the trees, but His heart is lightened by the sight of a place to break the monotony of His climb, and the possibility of some hospitality to revive Him. He sees smoke rising from above the trees, and begins dreaming of a hot bath and a nourishing meal by the fireplace.
As He rounds the bend, nearing closer to The Tower, The Fool is passed by a small crowd of people running wildly - some screaming, some on fire, all with a look of terror and confusion in their eyes. Lifting His gaze, He sees what they are all running from: The Tower is coming down before His very eyes.
The whole structure is a burning inferno. Pieces of rampart, wall, and crenellation fall in great haphazard chunks to the ground, with no regard for what might be below. It is total and utter destruction.
The Fool watches on with gaping eyes and heavy heart as His hopes of rest and accommodation crumble before Him. The fire blazes on until The Tower has been razed down to the very earth on which it was built. The once-strong foundation now obliterated to dust and debris.
For a few long moments, The Fool stands there feeling dejected, heartbroken, and lost. He is so weary (mentally and physically) from His climb, and so desirous of rest, but He no longer has a place to find the immediate comfort He seeks. Head hung low, He resigns to what He must do: He must forge ahead.
As He turns to resume His walk, He sees a young man has joined Him at His side to take in the ghastly sight. The Fool engages this man in conversation by lamenting the loss of The Tower, assuming the man - who is clad in fire-singed clothing and ringed in smoke and debris from escaping the wreckage - will commiserate.
The man, however, shares a different perspective. “It was time,” is his reply. “The Tower had become outdated and was no longer able to optimally serve the community it housed. It was drafty and unstable and could no longer withstand the demands placed upon it.
Now it has fallen. Lightning has destroyed it, and smashed it to the ground. It is uncomfortable and inconvenient, to be sure; but now we will be able to rebuild a new Tower that will more fully meet the needs of the community using it. This is a gift,” said the man.
The Fool considered the man’s words for a moment.
‘This is what it is like in life,” said The Fool. “I continue to learn, grow, and expand, and as I do, so must the foundational beliefs and principles from which I’m operating. Otherwise, life will not be able to serve the current version of myself optimally.’
The Fool, initially shocked by the man’s attitude, now understands it completely. “Thank you for sharing your perspective with me!” he says to the man. “I look forward to one day witnessing the new and improved Tower you create.”
The two shake hands and part ways, and The Fool returns to the matter of His Journey feeling no less tired, but certainly more inspired to start rebuilding His own inner Tower.
Will our hero make it to the pinnacle of His ascent? And who will He meet next on the way? Stay tuned to next week to find out!