THE BLASTED TOWER!

IF I HAVE TO FEAR ANY CARD I WOULD FEAR THIS ONE

It's hard to make a positive connotation from a card with this scenario. In the Tower (or Blasted Tower as it's called in some older decks) you have a tower being struck by lightning, it's on fire, there's people jumping to their death and it's cloudy, dark and grey. The card which is assigned to Mars represents the avenging force of Venus acting thru Mars upon Mercury.  When it shows up the card indicates a literal "shaking up" that is happening or about to happen but it has to take place and is taking place for a specific reason. Quite often from my experience this card will also show up to indicate a destructive matter related to the person's home or domestic situation. 

The interesting thing about this card is it's appearance and meaning operates on several levels- material, psychological, and spiritual. Mentally it symbolizes the beliefs which each person has built up through life since childhood- you know, the ones programmed at youth by our parents, teachers, peers and institutions. The Tower is built in this fashion, one brick, one belief at a time and is fortified in adulthood like a tower under siege. The Tower is protected by The Ego from attack by other belief systems that disagree with it becoming a closed armory shut against free flow of expression. The lightning flash which is Mars represents sudden illumination or realization causing the old realities to jump to their death and be changed forever. 

Spiritually the Tower can represent those dark inner practices and secrets inherent in all human beings. It also historically in the Tarot has been compared to the Tower Of Babel and trying to form a man-made way to God or the source which can only lead to destruction just like our sins. 

So what's the positive connotation from this menacing card? I always like to put it this way- after the storm passes and the place has been leveled, you can put the furniture back the way you want it. What's left of it at least.