Towers and castles in tarot

A tower is strength, height and isolation, and in medieval allegory it can be a fortress of virtue or of pride; the Tower of Babel is the classic warning. The lightning-struck Tower is the deck's most dramatic example. Two plain towers frame the path in the Moon and the rising sun in Death, a gateway at the edge of the known. Elsewhere castles and walled towns form the background to the Chariot and many minor cards, standing for security, home and the established order. Notice whether a figure is inside the walls, leaving them, or looking back.

Cards that show towers and castles

The Chariot
The Chariot: The town and river
Behind him, beyond a strip of river, stand the walls, towers and red roofs of a town. He has left settled life behind and crossed water: the chariot is heading out into the world.
Death
Death: The sun between two towers
On the far right a sun shines on the horizon between two pale towers. Waite called it 'the sun of immortality'. Whether rising or setting, it places the ending inside a larger cycle, and the towers recall the gateway on the Moon card.
The Tower
The Tower: The tower
Tall, grey and windowless except near the top, the tower stands alone on a jagged peak. It is a picture of ambition and of isolation: something built high, closed off and difficult to reach. Waite called it a 'House of Falsehood', the structure that was never sound.
The Moon
The Moon: The two towers
Two plain grey towers, each with a single small window, frame the scene on left and right. They form a gateway. Beyond them lies unknown country, and the card places you just before passing through.
Ace of Wands
Ace of Wands: The castle on the hill
On the left a pale castle crowns a green hill. It is small and distant, a goal on the horizon: the place this energy might eventually build, if it is carried that far.
Two of Wands
Two of Wands: The battlements
He stands on a stone rampart with square merlons, high above the land. The height gives him his view but also keeps him apart from the country he surveys: secure, and slightly removed.
Four of Wands
Four of Wands: The castle and its tower
A grey wall with a round, red-roofed tower stands behind them, with more turrets and a house beyond. Waite calls it an old manorial house: home, shelter and settled life.
Five of Cups
Five of Cups: The ruined tower
On the far bank to the left stands a small crumbling tower among dark trees. Waite calls it a 'keep or holding'. It can be read as the security or home that still exists beyond the loss, weathered but standing.
Six of Cups
Six of Cups: The old town
Behind the children rise a square stone tower, steep grey roofs and yellow walls. The setting is old and enclosed, a safe and familiar place, the kind of world memory tends to preserve.
Seven of Cups
Seven of Cups: The castle
A pale blue castle or tower on a rock sits in the lower left cup. It suggests ambition, security or a dream home, but here it floats on cloud: a castle in the air.
Eight of Swords
Eight of Swords: The castle on the crag
Behind her, a grey castle with red-roofed towers rises on a rocky hill. It may be the home or authority she has been cast out from, or the safety she could walk back to. Either way it is within reach.
Four of Pentacles
Four of Pentacles: The town behind him
A walled town with tall towers, red roofs and a few trees stretches along the horizon behind him. It suggests the society and exchange he has turned away from: the place where coins circulate, while his stay still.
Six of Pentacles
Six of Pentacles: The town in the distance
A small walled town with a tower and green trees appears low on the right horizon. It places the scene on the edge of a settled community, the world of trade the merchant belongs to.
Eight of Pentacles
Eight of Pentacles: The distant town
On the far left, a small town with a red roof and a tower stands among green trees. It is the world where the finished work will be sold or used, kept at a distance while he concentrates.
Ten of Pentacles
Ten of Pentacles: The archway and coats of arms
The foreground is framed by a stone arch, with heraldic shields on the left pillar, one showing a castle. Heraldry is the visible sign of a family's name and lineage, and the arch is the threshold of the estate.
King of Pentacles
King of Pentacles: The castle
A castle with pointed towers rises on the right behind a low wall. It represents his domain: a secure, established place that he has built and governs.