Tower Moments

As a musician, ritualist, and healer who has been so focused on shadow work over the past few years, I want to blog about a difficult life transition, and one that absolutely everyone can relate to.  

In my own personal life I’ve been going through what I would refer to as a “Tower Moment.”  So I thought that would be the perfect thing to write about.  Maybe I can “master as I teach.”  🙂

What is a Tower Moment?  A tower moment is a point your life where there is so much pressure that something has to give.  Something has to change, and fast.  It is symbolized by the sixteenth tarot card in the major arcana.  (Pictured below.) 

In some cases, such as the loss of a job, this moment can happen very unexpectedly and abruptly.  Other times you just know that you have to take the initiative to make a change in your life or you will keep falling into the same uncomfortable pattern over and over again. 

For me, I’ve found my personal tower moments come from not being true to my own energy levels and not keeping my boundaries strong.  In short, not having enough respect for myself to consider those two things important. Eventually, it all comes to a head and “the tower falls” because I need my physical, spiritual, financial, or creative energy to return to me. Usually, several parts of me have been depleted at the same time.  There is a saying, “You cannot pour from an empty cup.” And oh how I’ve tried!  

So how do we get through those Tower Moments?

Stop beating yourself up

In these tower times, it is so important to be gentle with yourself.  Remember these hard transition times are opportunities to learn great life lessons and to enjoy tremendous growth.  (Remember growth is usually painful in the beginning.) Pat yourself on the back!

Remind yourself:

• I am learning.
• I am getting better.
• I am seeing my negative patterns more clearly and breaking them.
• I am setting my boundaries stronger.  
• I am respecting myself and my energy levels.  

Remind yourself you’re not perfect and you don’t have to be

We all make mistakes.  We’re human.  The important thing is that we learn from them.  Be compassionate to yourself and anyone else involved (while simultaneously protecting your energy and keeping your boundaries strong). 

Ask yourself….Where did the root of this Tower Moment come from?

It’s important to see where the patterns are coming from in the first place.  Often patterns of trauma and negative messages that we learned as children come back to haunt us over and over again until we call them out and say, “Hey, that’s not at all true.  I don’t need to believe that anymore.  That’s not the person I am now.”

Ask yourself…is this Tower Moment actually an answered prayer?  

A friend of mine recently got let go from her job very unexpectedly.  She is a powerful witch and she was very miserable in that job.  She started asking herself if she had actually created that situation.  She came to the conclusion that, yes, she had. That self-reflection was a reminder of her own personal power and gave her the strength to move into a job that she loves.  

One way or another, it is likely that you brought about your own Tower Moment.  Our outer world is often a reflection of our inner world.  Remember, you are so much more powerful than you realize!  

I don’t believe this is true 100% of the time.  But life is always “life-ing” a.k.a. throwing us curveballs.  Maybe sometimes the curveballs are thrown by our higher selves.  Or maybe they come from our gods, who are sending us the spiritual ass-kicking we needed.  

That idea circles me back to the answered prayer hypothesis.  Prayers and spells can often be answered in, how shall I say this, unconventional ways.  

My song “The Tower”

This is a song of goddess comfort while you’re going through the tough stuff.  This was written during Tower Moment #372, that sweet Covid-times moment when I lost all my music jobs.  

By May 2020  had booked several weddings and festivals that were to be key to my financial health in 2020.  My apartment contract was up for renewal and the corporation that owned the building was going to raise my rent by $100 per month. My state had set up an unemployment application platform for those of us that have a sole proprietorship.  After a long wait, I had gotten accepted and received one unemployment check, followed by an unemployment rejection letter.  A glitch in the system kicked me out and I had absolutely no way to feed myself and my daughter.  That felt like a triple tower moment for me. 

My Tower Song came to me in that rock-bottom moment.  It felt very much like the Mother Goddess coming through to redirect my energy to hope and my efforts to the service of all who were struggling.  I wrote some new workshops, created some Facebook invitations, and did my first virtual presentations on that weird platform that I knew nothing about called Zoom.  I did a live Facebook concert after sharing my unemployment story.  Family, friends, and fans came forward to help with food and bills.  They shared my online presentation info far and wide, helping me to bring in some much-needed income. 

I am forever grateful for that rock bottom, for that learning experience, that I had enough clarity to channel a goddess message, and for my loved ones’ and Community’s support.   

I am right here
Breathe in, breathe out all your fear
Take my love into your depths
Surrender, trust with every breath
With these waves of sound
Let the truth of your soul be found
In fear you’ve been drowning
I am here to pull you out

In this moment just breathe
In this minute just be
To your spirit I softly sing
You are healing and strengthening
Let deepest peace flow
Into body, mind and soul
You are divine, worthy, whole
Just breathe, just be, just breathe

You’ve been watching your tower fall
But you’ve been playing way too small
You will rebuild it all
A shining tower standing tall
You will make a new start
Following the truth of your own heart
Sometimes life requires disruption
And brings the fires of destruction

In this moment just breathe
In this minute just be
To your spirit I softly sing
You are healing and strengthening
Let deepest peace flow
Into body, mind and soul
You are divine, worthy, whole
Just breathe, just be, just breathe

“The Tower” by Jenna Greene, (c) 2020

One thing I know for sure is music helps to heal, soothe, and empower during those trying times in life.  

Here are some of my favorites…

The Tower by YMIR – 

I interpret these lyrics to be about rising above a tower moment by recognizing the Divine within and seeing the bigger picture.  

Tower Song by Townes Van Zandt

These lyrics are exquisite.  

I See Fire – Ed Sheeran

Because sometimes you just need a dragon to burn it all down for you (and Ed is swoonworthy.)

Morrighan, by me – 

Written during my Tower Moment #370ish when I was going through a divorce and dating someone also going through a divorce.  Don’t do that for many good reasons.  But that’s a blog for another time.  LOL.

Sidenote: This dark goddess has helped me battle and integrate my shadows many times. I wrote a lot about her in this installment in my Dark Goddess series of posts here on Pagan Song.

Blessings to your growth.  May you rise with strength and grace from every fiery and thunderous tower fall!
 -Jenna

• Please consider monthly patronage of Jenna’s work at Patreon.  You will receive unreleased music, art, videos and more! www.patreon.com/jennagreene

• Join Jenna’s mailing list and check out her calendar of events at her website:  www.greeneladymusic.com

• Please consider supporting Jenna and all your favorite independent musicians through downloading their songs on the first Friday of each month at Bandcamp.  Musicians get to keep 100% of the profits on those Bandcamp First Fridays. Her Bandcamp: https://greeneladymusic.bandcamp.com/

A helpful tip for supporting musicians:  The profit of 1,000 streams is only 3 cents.  

The header photo for this post on the website pictures the Tower card in the following decks: The Fantasy Showcase Tarot, Tarot of Pagan Cats, Scapini Tarot, Crow’s Magick Tarot, The Robin Wood Tarot, Llewellyn Tarot, and The Aquarian Tarot.

For more information about Jenna Greene, including her collected articles here on Pagan Song, her bio, and links to Jenna’s sites on the web, check out Jenna’s page on Pagan Song.

Please subscribe to the Pagan Song blog, to receive our blog post each week. Don’t miss any of the musical magic!

Visit our homepage to see the full list of the musicians who write for the Pagan Song blog.

Pagan Song has a fan club on Patreon. Join for as little as $3 a month for exclusive features! Click for info.