The image of the Tower card is powerful, depicting a solid tower being struck by lightning, and fire crawling out from the small windows at its top.
“The Tower – whatever it represents in your reading – comes crashing to the ground. All that you held to be true is suddenly…not true. The world looks different, and it can feel like a disaster. This card’s usual image of lightening destroying a tower is incredibly scary – destruction is all that we can see. The ground is unsteady beneath our feet. We don’t know what to hold on to.”
There is no doubt that Rosie Batty’s world came crashing to the ground when her 11-year-old son Luke was killed by his father, Greg Anderson, at an oval in Tyabb, south-east of Melbourne, in February 2014. Sadly, at this point in time, Batty joined a club that no-one wants to be a member of. Members of this horrific club include Hannah Clarke’s parents, Darcy Freeman’s mum — the little girl that got thrown off the West Gate Bridge; and the Farquharson boys’ mother — who were drowned by their father in the lake.
Quite rightly Batty still wonders “How on Earth, when you become one of these tragedies — these worse-case scenario tragedies — how do you live with murder?”
“If anything comes out of this, I want it to be a lesson to everybody that family violence happens to everybody no matter how nice your house is, no matter how intelligent you are. It happens to anyone and everyone.”
The Batty Effect
Many tarot readers talk about their own ‘Tower moments’, referring to those huge and very challenging moments in our lives where everything shifted. Most recall the terror at the moment of fallout but also observe that when the dust has settled things do regain some balance. There is no doubt that Batty’s work to raise awareness about family violence since Luke’s death, gave her “new distractions, new purpose”. Whether she will ever get over what happened is debatable. However, the impact of her work has been far reaching and provides some comfort for her.
By January 2016, she had spoken at approximately 250 events and addressed more than 70,000 people. She had also inspired Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to commit to an Australian-first Royal Commission into Family Violence. She has, quite literally, changed the conversation about domestic violence in Australia.
Rebuilding
When you are ready, the Tower is also about those steps you take to rebuild.
Wild Mother Calling 