Sundae-Nut-Chopper at Florean Fortescue's
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QUOTE(WaggaWaggaWerewolf @ Nov 2 2008, 03:55 AM)  Do you mean the tarot cards Professor Trelawney read at odd points in the HBP saga? Or do you mean the tarot cards you indicated as representative of the seven books?
I really only used one card that Trelawney mentions in the saga - that of the Lightning-struck Tower. I didn’t really examine any others so I have to say that I was meaning tarot cards as representing each of the books in my essay. I honestly have forgotten that other cards were specifically mentioned in the series. Do you have the quotes where they are mentioned at hand? I would love to take a look at those in relation to this tarot idea.
QUOTE(WaggaWaggaWerewolf @ Nov 2 2008, 03:55 AM) 4. The Devil, card #15 in your essay. This time it is for GOF and may represent BCJ, who, after all, was the Devil in the Detail. But when you posted this meaning for the card, you also indicated that the Devil card indicated this meaning:
The card of self-bondage to an idea or belief which is preventing us from growing […] Should the Devil represent a person, it will most likely be one of money and power, one who is persuasive, aggressive, and controlling […] In any case, it is most important that the Querent understands that the ties that bind are freely worn, and you are only enslaved if you allow the abuse to go on.17
I really like this observation. GOF is the book when we first learn about House Elf slavery and also about their choice to be so enslaved to Wizards. In HBP Dobby with a free choice and Kreacher by obligation of inheritance find themselves serving Harry with mixed results. Which elf was the more effective?
This would be on the surface very hard to say, but I think if one remembers that Kreacher is really exercising his free will much of the time in the series, it could really be said that free choice influences both characters. Kreacher really acts counter to his ‘obligation’ to serve his ‘master’ with regard to both Sirius and Harry, through most of the series. He is loyal to the ‘Black’ family ideology rather than to his direct ‘master’, which really is an exercise of free will. His betrayal of Sirius is really a rebellious act, rather than an act of loyalty...technically. It is only when Kreacher begins to respond to Harry’s kindness that he finally acts according to his ‘mandated’ slavery, but this again constitutes free will, because now he WANTS to serve him. Both Kreacher and Dobby play pivotal roles in the storyline with their deeds. We should remember that Dobby caused Harry some pretty nasty accidents and punishments in his own efforts to exercise his free will, before he was technically freed. I think your observation that free will is an earmark of this card is a good one.
QUOTE(WaggaWaggaWerewolf @ Nov 2 2008, 03:55 AM) And in GOF and in all the series is it so difficult to find someone who is of money and power, one who is persuasive, aggressive and controlling? Am I the only one who thought lucius.gif ?
This is the beauty of, and yet the problem with tarot - that the cards are so general that we can apply them to almost anyone. This is the very thing that gives Trelawney the ‘fraud’ reputation I think. Fortune telling in general operates on this principle: something is said that is a ‘truth’ for so many people in so many situations that it appears to be a real prophecy. Often people see the ‘truth’ in how it applies to their individual situations and in a sense they write their own prophecy by filling in the blanks. This ‘blank’, this Devil, could be many different characters, as you point out so nicely. Lucius is a good candidate, but I must admit, he was not the candidate I had in mind. My candidate was Voldamort. I looked at him as being the source of power that enslaved all his followers and was attempting to enslave all the wizarding world.
QUOTE(WaggaWaggaWerewolf @ Nov 2 2008, 03:55 AM) Could it also be that holding to prejudice is something else that is enslaving if people choose to adhere to those prejudices?
Yes. I think this is a lovely observation. This interpretation makes the case for the Devil being a part of ourselves - ‘the Devil within us’- the dark side of our character - our own dark and negative thoughts. But again, I feel this gets back to Voldamort in so many ways because he literally seems to have the power to be able to cast a pall over the minds of the wizarding world.
QUOTE 5. For OotP there is #13, the card of Death. As in the other books of the HP series, Chapter #13 is the chapter where the villain is unmasked. In HBP this is the chapter where Tom Riddle as a person, growing up in an orphanage is revealed. With his fear of death of course. QUOTE Why does Rowling bring the tarot deck into the Harry Potter series? I think because this is the only method of Divination she hasn't mentioned so far, and although Sybil Trelawney might have been an old fraud, she might also have been telling the truth. Except that like the mythical Cassandra, her reputed ancestor, nobody is likely to believe her. When something about to happen, whether a stock market crash or an execution of terrorists, is said to be 'on the cards' it sometimes appears only too likely. Frankly, I don't think that this prophecy was her third true prediction exactly.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on this point. It is so interesting how Rowling uses prejudice against Trelawney to diminish her predictions, because over and over Trelawney’s predictions are quite correct. Think of the ‘grim’, and so forth. I have to admit that she does seem to predict a number of things that also turn out be false, but Dumbledore’s assessment of her skill is a little negative and off the mark - to be quite honest. But in light of this, its also interesting that Dumbledore is the one ‘struck down’.
Ironically, Rowling creates a kind of hierarchy of magic skills. Magic in general (in our real world) is generally thought of as superstition and metaphysics at best, and this includes all forms of magic. Next to science, magic is viewed with the same suspicion as fortune telling is. In the wizarding world, magic is real and yet fortune telling is seen even there as a sort of sub-standard magic - a pseudo-magic. As you point out, Cassandra was not believed, but that was part the curse that allowed her the power to see into the future. Rowling uses this to great effect by making Trelawney (her descendant) a bit of a drama queen and having Dumbledore (who is on most points the most authoritative voice) question her skills. (If Cassandra is of interest, there is an excellent novel written about Cassandra by Christa Wolfe. It was originally written in German “Kassandra”, but there is at least one translation in English “Cassandra”. It is one of my favorite pieces of literature at present.)
But given this curse (of not being believed), Rowling seems to be saying that fortune telling in general - including tarot reading - is as real as the other forms of magic in the books, and that it has great influence over the plot in spite of the disbelief of the wizards. When you ask why Trelawnley’s predictions have to be so pessimistic, it might just be because Trelawney uses the most dire predictions to get people to take notice of her and also because the fortunes of the wizarding world are indeed clouding over and becoming darker and darker in the series. The purpose of fortune telling is not only to predict the future, but to provide warnings about what is coming so that disaster can be avoided. So if we look at her negativity in this light, maybe it would seem more justified.
QUOTE(WaggaWaggaWerewolf @ Nov 2 2008, 03:55 AM) By the way, what is the difference between inverted cards and cards that are not inverted?
I found this online about the inverted meaning of tarot cards: “There are several schools of thought on how the inverted meanings of a tarot card should be read - inverted is when the tarot card is upside down [when the cards are shuffled and laid out in the spread]. Most experts agree that an inverted meaning is not the opposite to the original meaning of the card, but a subtle shift to the original meaning of the card that affects the outcome.”
Another quote on inverted tarot meanings I found is: “The Key to the Rider-Waite deck was written by Waite and includes a detailed description of what each card means and why. It also gives the inverted meaning of each card in the deck, so that if shuffled properly, an inverted card has a distinct and different meaning in a reading. It is important to note, however, that most people do not shuffle tarot decks properly. In order for an inverted card to come up with a different meaning, the cards must all be facing the same way to start with, and the deck must be shuffled sideways. Otherwise you have a 50 percent chance of getting an inverted card, which means nothing and can throw the entire reading off.”
Assuming that Trelawney was shuffling the cards correctly, she could be reading either the regular or inverted meanings. I don’t think she ever uses the term ‘inverted meaning’, so we just have to use her predictions as she states them. When making our own predictions, we could legitimately look at both meanings, but it seems that we should look at them each separately, since they are either the one, or the other when read (although in this first quote, it seems to imply that the inverted meaning may be just a subtle shift of the regular meaning....so in a sense, both meanings are used).
For me, the strongest associations with tarot cards are:
The MAGICIAN with his symbols laid out in front of him. I have to think that this card informed Rowling’s plot structure - especially because the Magician is described in some tarot decks as having very noteworthy eyes. In Wikipedia the Magician card is described as: “A youthful figure in the robe of a magician has the face of the divine Apollo, the sun god, with a confident smile and shining eyes. Above his head is the mysterious sign of the Holy Spirit, the sign of life, like an endless cord, forming the lemniscate of infinity. About his waist is a serpent-cincture or girdle, the ouroboros, the serpent devouring its own tail....In the Magician's right hand is a wand raised towards heaven, the sky or the element æther, while his left hand is pointing to the earth. This iconographic gesture has multiple meanings, but is endemic to the Mysteries, symbolizing divine immanence, the ability of the magician to bridge the gap between heaven and earth. On the table in front of the Magician the symbols of the four Tarot suits signify the Classical elements of earth, air, fire and water.”
The MOON card, because of the images of the dog and wolf and the connection of the moon to the werewolf tradition. The ‘animal’ nature seems also to be something Rowling uses to great effect in her series - the animagus or patronus forms that are associated with all wizards in a very literal way.
“According to Waite's The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, the card represents life of the imagination apart from life of the spirit. The dog and wolf are the fears of the natural mind in the presence of that place of exit, when there is only reflected light to guide it. This reference is a key to another form of symbolism. The intellectual light is a reflection and beyond it is the unknown mystery which it cannot reveal. It illuminates our animal nature, types of which are represented below--the dog, the wolf and that which comes up out of the deeps, the nameless and hideous tendency which is even lower than the savage beast.”
The LIGHTNING-STRUCK TOWER card of course applies to the current book being read here:
“Many differing meanings are attributed to the card:
* To some, it symbolizes failure, ruin and catastrophe.
* To others, the Tower represents the Paradigms constructed by the Ego, the sum total of all Schema that the mind constructs to understand the universe. The Tower is struck by lightning when Reality does not conform to expectation.
* Epiphanies, transcendental states of consciousness, and Kundalini experiences may result.
* The Tower further symbolizes that moment in Trance in which the mind actually changes the direction of the force of attention from alpha condition (pointed mindward) to theta condition (pointed imaginal stageward). Theta Condition (especially in waking versions of Theta states) is that moment when information coming in to the ego mind overwhelms external or sensory stimulus, resulting in what might otherwise be called a "Vision" or "Hallucination."
* Each card in the Major Arcana is a result of the previous. After the self bondage of The Devil, life is self correcting. Either the querents must make changes in their own lives, or the changes will be made for them.
* The querent may be holding on to false ideas or pretenses; a new approach to thinking about the problem is needed. The querent is advised to think outside the box. The querent is warned that truth may not oblige schema. It may be time for the querent to re-examine belief structures, ideologies, and paradigms they hold to. The card may also point toward seeking education or higher knowledge.”
Last, the HANGED MAN card. This card has special significance because the ‘hanged man’ game was what Rowling used to give us the title of her last book on her website. Rowling herself was making this connection between tarot and the series. This also seems to demonstrate that the tarot deck has a strong presence in her Harry Potter universe.
While I think that these cards seem to have more affinity with certain characters, for obvious reasons, I also think that these card describe wizards and their world in a general way. I think that Rowling used many aspects of these cards in particular to formulate the character of what a wizard is and to describe the influences that exist for these wizards in their world.
This post has been edited by chloe squibbulus: Nov 10 2008, 01:27 PM
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And now before we go to bed, let us sing the school song! Everyone pick their favorite tune...and off we go!"
Dumbledore; Sorcerer's Stone. |
Nov 1 2008, 12:25 PM
? He certainly was a leading light among Death Eaters in GOF and as part of Voldemort's strategies in OotP. But there is a risk in dancing with the Devil. In HBP he is in Azkaban, Voldemort is furious, and others, especially his own family, have to pay the price. Could it also be that holding to prejudice is something else that is enslaving if people choose to adhere to those prejudices?
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