Tuesday, December 1st, 2015 8:22pm

Major Arcana

When the Tower card appears, the universe is shouting that you have been ignoring a difficult situation in your life for long enough and it’s time to take the necessary action to change your surroundings rather than continuing to bury your head. Most likely, things are getting worse and harder to overlook. When we ignore our issues for too long, the universe steps in and shakes things up, forcing us to face our fears and deal with the situation and the underlying emotional factors surrounding it.

If you’re miserable, look at how you’ve been responsible and make the needed changes before they get made for you. With the outward changes we set forth in our lives, we make inward changes that reflect how we have learned to handle the challenges we face. New experiences are uncharted territory, and therefore intimidating, but sometimes life requires hard decisions and if we participate in the decision-making process, we are able to influence the outcome to our best advantage. We gain courage when we tackle the big problems and come out okay—maybe a little scathed, but mostly okay—and we definitely feel better about ourselves and our circumstances. Facing the unknown helps us discover that we are a lot stronger than we give ourselves credit for, and we come away with more knowledge and confidence added to our arsenal.

This is what I consider to be “growth,” which is an often overused New Age word. Hating the state of affairs but doing nothing about it allows outside forces to dictate the outcome. We still learn and “grow” because now we must deal with the result that has been forced upon us due to our inactivity (job loss, divorce, family blow-up, financial trouble, etc). The Tower reminds us that our problems don’t solve themselves. Whatever the stagnant situation is in your life, it’s time to look at it squarely and take the necessary steps to begin the process of changing it. Even if you have no idea where to start, knowing is half the battle and just accepting that the issue is real and must be dealt with is the first step in changing it.