Meaning and interpretation Maison-Dieu / Tower

Reasons for Divine Wrath

God's wrath, as described in religious texts, is often provoked by human actions deemed morally and ethically reprehensible. Here are some main reasons that trigger divine wrath according to the Bible:

Disobedience to God's commandments and sins are the main reasons for divine wrath. Actions that go against divine laws are seen as serious offenses.

• Adam and Eve: The first instance of human disobedience is that of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Their act of disobedience leads to their expulsion from paradise and the curse of the earth. Genesis 3:16-19: "God punishes Adam and Eve for their disobedience by expelling them from Eden and imposing suffering and labor".

Moral corruption and violence among humans are frequent reasons for divine wrath. When human actions become too wicked, God intervenes to purify and punish.

• The Flood: God decides to destroy all life on Earth with a flood due to the widespread corruption and violence among men. Genesis 6:5-7: "God sees that human wickedness is great and that their thoughts are continually evil. He regrets creating man and decides to destroy them with a flood".

The worship of false gods and idolatry are serious offenses in the eyes of God. Humans are punished for abandoning the true God and worshipping idols.

• The Golden Calf: When the Israelites make and worship a golden calf during Moses' absence, God is furious and decides to punish them. Exodus 32:7-10: "God expresses his anger to Moses and threatens to destroy the Israelites for their idolatry".

Social injustice, oppression of the poor and vulnerable, and cruelty towards others are reasons that provoke God's wrath. God demands that humans act with justice and compassion.

• The Prophets: Many Old Testament prophets, such as Amos and Isaiah, speak of God's wrath against injustice and oppression. They call on people to repent and act with justice. Amos 5:21-24: "God rejects the sacrifices and feasts of the Israelites because they do not practice justice and righteousness".

Human arrogance and rebellion against God are reasons for divine wrath. When humans defy divine authority and act with pride, God punishes them for their arrogance.

• The Tower of Babel: The descendants of Noah attempt to build a tower that would reach the heavens out of arrogance and defiance against God. God intervenes to confuse their language and scatter them. Genesis 11:4-9: "God sees the construction of the tower as an act of defiance and decides to confuse their language to prevent them from continuing".

Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the most famous stories in the book of Genesis that illustrates divine wrath. These cities are destroyed by fire descending from the sky due to their sins and corruption. Genesis 18:20-21: "God announces to Abraham that the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grievous. He decides to go down to see if their actions are as bad as the outcry that has reached him". Genesis 19:24-26: "The Lord rains sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot's wife, who looks back while fleeing, is turned into a pillar of salt".

The sins of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah are numerous and varied. They include sexual immorality, violence, inhospitality, and social injustice. These actions provoke God's wrath.

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and sulfur is a direct manifestation of divine wrath. The rain of sulfur and fire is a powerful image of divine wrath. It shows God's destructive power when he decides to punish sinners. Genesis 19:24: "The Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens."

The biblical story and artistic representations of this destruction influence the symbolism of card XVI - MAISON-DIEU in the Tarot of Marseille, which represents catastrophe and divine punishment.

The Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel is the biblical story most often associated with the Maison-Dieu/Tower card in tarot, and may explain why people are falling from the tower in cards dating from around 1500 and after. In the biblical story, the tower was not destroyed and no one fell from the Tower, but an alternative version of the story captured the medieval imagination and was absorbed into folklore and art.

The story of the Tower of Babel is found in the book of Genesis. After the Flood, the descendants of Noah decide to build a tower that would reach the heavens. The construction of the Tower of Babel is motivated by human arrogance and the desire to defy God. Men want to reach the heavens by their own means, which is seen as an act of rebellion and defiance and provokes God's wrath.

God's response to human arrogance is to confuse their language (making communication and cooperation in building the tower impossible) and scatter them over the earth (The confusion of languages leads to the dispersion of people over the earth, thus preventing the realization of their project). This dispersion is a punishment for their arrogance and attempt to defy God.

Medieval representations of the Tower of Babel often show the tower under construction with elements suggesting confusion and dispersion. Some illustrations show the tower destroyed by fire, reflecting an alternative version of the story absorbed into folklore and art.

Genesis 10:8-12 describes Nimrod as "a mighty one on the earth" and "a mighty hunter". He built four cities in Mesopotamia, including Babel, so he was identified in popular imagination as the architect of the Tower of Babel, and thus an arrogant rebel against God. Nimrod was punished by a lightning bolt that threw him from the tower.

The Tower of Babel is another famous illustration of divine wrath in the Bible. Although the destruction of the tower is not explicitly mentioned in the biblical text, the dispersion of people and the confusion of languages are manifestations of God's wrath in response to human arrogance.

The Story of Job

The biblical story of Job may have inspired an alternative representation of the Maison-Dieu/Tower (as we will see below). Indeed, the illustration on the right has all the components of card XVI in Viéville and Vandenborre: shepherd, sheep, and fire from the sky. Job was made to endure every imaginable disaster as a means of testing his faith in God. In the Book of Job 1:13-16, one person after another appears before Job to tell him that a disaster has happened to his family or possessions. At one point, a messenger enters and says: "The fire of Allah has fallen from the sky, and burned the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I am the only one who escaped to tell you".

The Book of Job tells the story of a righteous and pious man who is subjected to extremely difficult trials to test his faith. God allows Satan to strike Job with calamities to see if he will remain faithful.Job 1:6-12: "Satan appears before God and claims that Job is faithful only because he is prosperous and protected". God allows Satan to test Job by inflicting suffering on him, but without touching his life.

Job endures a series of disasters that take away his possessions, his children, and his health. These trials are tests of his faith and fidelity to God. Job loses his flocks, his servants, and his children in successive disasters. He is struck with painful sores all over his body. Indeed, Satan strikes the man with "malignant boils" from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Job accepts his suffering with patience and continues to believe in divine justice.

The story of Job is an example of human suffering and tests of faith allowed by God. Job's trials, though caused by Satan, are perceived as indirect manifestations of divine wrath or means of testing human fidelity.

Tower Houses in Italy

In the Middle Ages, every Italian city was bristling with large tower houses occupied by important families. The Tuscan town of San Gimignano is still known for its tower houses, although only 14 of the original 72 towers that overcrowded the town at the end of the Middle Ages remain today. The families in each city were constantly engaged in competitive one-upmanship, the prize being the ability to look down on their neighbors from the height of the tallest tower in the neighborhood. The tallest tower house in San Gimignano rises to 230 feet, while the tallest tower house still standing in Bologna, the Torre degli Asinelli, rises to 319 feet. Without a doubt, these towers were a symbol of pride and perhaps a manifestation of arrogance on the part of the families who built them.

In Canto XXXI of Inferno, Dante reinterprets the biblical figure of Nimrod, traditionally associated with the construction of the Tower of Babel. The Florentine poet places him among the chained giants, symbols of human pride defying divine authority. The incomprehensible phrase spoken by Nimrod ("Raphèl maì amècche zabì almi") is a direct reminder of the confusion of languages inflicted by God following the presumptuous attempt to build a tower reaching the heavens. Dante brilliantly transforms the biblical narrative into poetic justice: the one who caused the linguistic fragmentation of humanity is eternally isolated in his own incomprehensible language. This representation fits perfectly with Dante's principle of contrapasso, where each punishment reflects the nature of the sin. Through Nimrod, Dante illustrates how human hubris seeking to rise to the divine level inevitably leads to confusion and spiritual isolation.

The creators of the early Italian tarot decks may have been inspired by these Italian tower houses. These towers, symbols of the arrogance of Italian families, recall the Tower of Babel, where human arrogance led to divine punishment. The destruction of the tower by lightning in the Maison-Dieu/Tower card can thus be seen as a representation of divine wrath against human arrogance, similar to the dispersion of people and confusion of languages in the Tower of Babel story.

In the Maison-Dieu/Tower card in the Catelin Geoffroy Tarot, Orpheus plays a hurdy-gurdy and makes the fatal mistake of looking back over his shoulder at his beloved Eurydice, thus failing the test of faith. The Devil grabs Eurydice around the waist and drags her to the underworld.

Orpheus, a famous musician and poet in Greek mythology, is deeply in love with his wife Eurydice. When Eurydice tragically dies, Orpheus decides to descend to the Underworld to bring her back to life. Thanks to his enchanting music, he manages to move Hades and Persephone, the rulers of the Underworld, who agree to let Eurydice return to the living under one strict condition: Orpheus must not turn to look at Eurydice before leaving the Underworld.

The condition imposed by Hades can be seen as a divine test or trial. Orpheus, despite his love and determination, succumbs to temptation and turns to check if Eurydice is following him, just before leaving the Underworld. By breaking this promise, he provokes the anger of the gods of the Underworld. By turning around, Orpheus loses Eurydice forever. She is immediately pulled back into the darkness of the Underworld, and this time, there is no possible return. This punishment is a manifestation of divine wrath, resulting from the transgression of the condition imposed by Hades.

The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice can be interpreted as a lesson on the consequences of disobedience and defiance towards the gods. Divine wrath manifests through the irreversible loss of what is most precious to Orpheus, due to his inability to respect the divine condition. Divine wrath in this context is subtle but powerful. It shows that even seemingly minor acts of disobedience can lead to severe and irreversible consequences.

Although the myth of Orpheus and Hades is not directly analogous to biblical stories of divine wrath like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah or the Flood, it shares similar themes of transgression and divine punishment.

The XVI card in the Tarot of Paris is labeled 'LA FOUDRE' (The Lightning), but it seems to illustrate the mouth of Hell. A popular theme in medieval art was sinners being devoured by the Devil in the mouth of Hell, rendered as the jaws of a monster. In this card, a confused mass of demons and people swirls towards the black jaws of Hell emerging from the right edge of the card.

The fall of the damned is a consequence of divine wrath. Sinners and transgressors are hurled into destruction, often represented by images of falling or entangled bodies. In this ancient version of card XVI - MAISON-DIEU, we see entangled bodies, symbolizing the fall of the damned. This image reinforces the idea of divine punishment where sinners are plunged into chaos and suffering.

The mouth of Hell is a powerful motif in medieval Christian art, symbolizing the entrance to eternal suffering and divine punishment. The damned are often depicted as being swallowed by a gaping maw, devoured by flames and demons.

Oswald Wirth and Occult Principles

Oswald Wirth, an influential occultist who lived a generation after Lévi, designed a deck to illustrate occult principles and was the first to put Hebrew letters on the cards. We see the letter Ayin in the lower right corner. The yellow objects falling from the sky, mixed with bricks, are not flames, according to Wirth, but Yods, the first letter of God's name in Hebrew.

Wirth called his card Fire from Heaven and said that the high tower attracts lightning emanating from the sun of reason. One of the falling people is a fanciful idealist, the other is the architect whose structure collapses with him, obviously a reference to Nimrod. The Tower embodies energy hardened into dogma, as well as exaggerated ambition that will inevitably lead to hard lessons.

The Golden Dawn and Martian Influence

When the London-based occult lodge, The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, shifted the Hebrew alphabet letters associated with each major arcana card, the tower acquired the letter Peh, aligning this card with Mars. Many Golden Dawn Tower cards are Martian: ambition, struggle, war, courage, danger, destruction. The Golden Dawn refers to the lightning of Mars, although in mythology, it is usually Jupiter who wields lightning.

The interpretations of Golden Dawn cards are similar to those of Wirth: a dramatic awakening, or the sudden collapse of outdated beliefs so that something new can emerge.

Arthur Waite and the House of Doctrine

A. E. Waite refers to the Tower as the House of Doctrine and the House of the False. The people falling from it are atheists and heretics who deny spiritual realities. The king's crown being toppled from the top of the tower denotes "the fall of intellectual error committed in trying to understand the ways of God". Waite aligns with Wirth in saying that the objects falling from the sky are Yods. His interpretation of this card is the same as Wirth's.