Lightning Strikes: Tarot, Trelawney and the Tower, How much did Rowling use the tarot deck in the Harry Potter series? |
  Nov 1 2008, 12:25 PM
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Sundae-Nut-Chopper at Florean Fortescue's  Posts: 921 Joined: 10:41pm March 2, 2007 Location: Entering the Ministry of Magic    |
It is surely not simply coincidence that the lightning bolt which forms Harry’s scar mirrors the Lightning-Struck Tower tarot card that foreshadows the death of Dumbledore. In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, the lightning bolt makes a second fateful strike to Harry’s life.
Trelawney says to Harry: “I am not one to press my company upon those who do not value it. If Dumbledore chooses to ignore the warnings the cards show –”....Her bony hand closed suddenly around Harry’s wrist. “Again and again, no matter how I lay them out –” And she pulled a card dramatically from underneath her shawls. “– the lightning-struck tower,” she whispered. “Calamity. Disaster. Coming nearer all the time ...”(Scholastic 543) Here we have Trelawney making yet a third correct prediction that might warrant a raise, but this is also an explicit statement that the title of the chapter to follow “The Lightning-struck Tower” is indeed a reference to the tarot card. Rowling is gives the Tarot deck a role in the Half Blood Prince. Wikipedia lists keywords that are associated with the Lightning-struck Tower card: * Chaos ----- Sudden change ----- Impact ----- Hard times * Crisis ----- Revelation ----- Disruption ----- Realizing the truth * Disillusion ----- Crash ----- Burst ----- Uncomfortable experience * Downfall ----- Ruin ----- Ego blow ----- Explosive transformation Although Professor Trelawney is depicted as an “old fraud,”she actually predicts Harry’s powers, Dumbledore’s death, and Harry’s confrontation with Voldamort. But beyond Trelawney’s predictions, what does the tarot deck tell us about the Half Blood Prince? I wrote up a few influences that I saw in my essay “A Tarot Reading of "Deathly Hallows”, but I think this just scratches the surface. The Lightning-struck Tower is the 16th tarot card of the tarot deck. Also, if we use a seven card tarot spread to read a prediction for the story, this card is the 6th of the 7 cards in the spread. What significant aspects of this card or the card numbers might influence the story or characters in the Half Blood Prince? What other tarot deck influences might be associated with Harry or the prophecy in this book? Why does Rowling bring the tarot deck into the Harry Potter series? This post has been edited by chloe squibbulus: Nov 2 2008, 01:30 AM -------------------- "I would like to say a few words. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! 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. |
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