- 24 -
Be Humble and True, though, whatever your power.
Sometimes you're the lightning, sometimes you're The Tower.
SUMMARY:
This stanza has two slightly different interpretations:
1) Sometimes you wield tremendous power, able to cast lightening
bolts at whatever you like. However, it doesn't mean that someone
else can't hit you with one of their own, so stay Humble and True.
2) Sometimes you change the life of another (usually unintentionally)
shattering the foundation they stand upon like a bolt of lightning.
Sometimes someone else walks into your life and does it to you.
 LECTURE:
In the classic Rider-Waite
Tarot Deck there is a card called The Tower. Its image
shows a bolt of lightning striking a tower on a high cliff and blasting
a crown from it top off. It shows the tower in flames and two people
(a man and a woman) falling from it, blasted out from the impact
of the lightning bolt.
Interpretation 1: Power
In martial arts there is a saying:
There is always someone better than you.
And even if there isn't, someone will get lucky.
This wisdom should extend to all aspects of life, especially Magic.
As your power grows, so does your need to use it responsibly. At
your peak, it will feel like you can do anything, like you can throw
lighning bolts from your hands if you want to. Your humility keeps
you from "showing off" your power for the sake of it.
By being True, I mean by listening to the guidance of your inner
voice and following the pull of your soul. You inherently know if
something is right or not. Heed that voice.
When you fail to use your power responsibly you will be notified
in subtle (hopefully at first) and not-so-subtle ways (if you miss
the subtle signs) that you are not acting responsibly. If you fail
to catch the subtle warnings, something in life will smack you in
the head with a two-by-four. Hopefully metaphorically. This is when
"you are the Tower" as it gets struck by lightning.
Interpretation 2: Effect
The Tower is one of the most dramatic cards in the tarot
deck. It a "chaos card", indicating the toppling of a
"mastered area" of life. The change is fundamental and
immediate when it occurs - there will be no mistaking it when it
happens.
With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
As you refine and train your powers, you will be able to do more
with them. You will have the power to "be the lightning"
and create shifts in the world around you. However, it is very important
that you do not get too impressed with yourself and let your ego
start inflating. Humility is required.
With an inflated overactive ego, when you try to listen to your
inner voice (your connection to Spirit) all you will here is your
Ego talking. If you maintain your Humility, you will still be able
to hear the small, still, inner voice when you listen for it.
It is this inner voice that serves as your guide, letting you know
what deserves your attention and effort and what should be left
alone.
At times you will be called on to be the lightning (though you
probably won't realize it until later, or you wouldn't have done
it), using your power in whatever way to blast the top of someone's
tower. (See Perspective for more information
on the good/badness of it all)
And at times, someone else's lightning will hit your tower
and shake things to the ground. At this point, it is time for you
to go and learn new lessons in the "cleared area" that
has been provided for you.
Self-Confidence vs. Other-Confidence (Ego)
There are people who have nothing to say, and say it constantly.
The wise are rarely talkative. Can you tell which is ego, and which
is self-confidence?
Ego and Self-confidence are not the same thing. In most cases,
they are exactly the opposite. A person who lacks self-confidence
will often be the most egotistical. They do not have confidence
in their own ability, so they "create" their confidence
by convincing everybody else of their power, and then figure they
must have power because everybody believes they do. This circular
logic prevents them from becoming self-confident because they do
not believe in their own worthiness. Instead they are "other-confident"
because their sense of self is based on how others see them.
The Egotist will spend their time convincing others how great they
are, rather than "being great".
The self-confident person is often the quiet person in the background
sitting there and just watching and observing, chiming in only rarely
with insightful and productive suggestions and observations and
then fading back into the background until they are needed again.
LAB:
- Think of a time when you were at your
full power.
- How did you get to that point?
- What did you do while you were there?
- Do you think you used your power wisely?
- How long did it last?
- Why did it end?
- What would you change if you could do
it over again?
- Think of a time when you "were the
Lightning"
- Who or what was "The Tower"
that you struck?
- Was it intentional?
- What happened as a result of it?
- Do you feel personally responsible for
it?
- Why or Why not?
- Think of a time when someone you know
"was the Lightning"
- Who or what was "The Tower"
that they struck?
- Was it intentional?
- What happened as a result of it?
- Did they feel personally responsible for
it?
- Why or Why not?
- What did you think of it as a spectator?
- Think of a time when you "were the
Tower"
- Who or what was "the Lightning"
that struck you?
- What were the effects of it?
- Did you see it coming or did it catch
you by surprise?
- What happened?
- How did you deal?
- Did you Rebuild? Did you try?
- What form did your "new tower"
take?
- What lesson(s) did you learn from it?
- Is there Lightning headed your way?
- Do you have a sense of any more lightning
headed your way?
- What will it strike?
- What form do you expect it to take?
- What do you expect to do about it?
- Can you make changes before it strikes
to make it less devastating?
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