HBP - spoilers - Is it on the cards?

[Barry Arrowsmith]

I'LL
     BE
         GLAD
                 WHEN
                             WE
                                 DON'T
                                             NEED
                                                         TO
                                                                 DO
                                                                         
  THIS
                                                                         
          ANYMORE
                                                                         
                              WON'T
                                                                         
                                          YOU?

A post I made over the weekend, combined with an exchange off-site  
with Talisman has set me to wondering. About Tarot cards.

Now as a believer in divination I can be compared to McGonagall -  
it's not my bag  at all. Though I do have a small confession to make.  
I did fiddle around with a Tarot pack in my distant, disreputable  
days. You see, I'd noticed that an awful lot of the females of the  
species expressed varying - but mostly positive - interest in  
horoscopes etc. And offering to do a personal reading turned out to  
be a surprisingly successful ploy for getting the girls back to my  
place. Happy days.

The four suits of the minor arcana (swords, cups, jewels (or coins)  
and wands -  equating to the modern pack suits of spades, hearts,  
diamonds and clubs  respectively) look as if there're an interesting  
line of enquiry into the relics left by the Founders. Fair enough.

Reading HBP I noticed that one of the key chapters was entitled after  
a card in the major arcana - The Tower Struck By Lightning. Generally  
it's accepted as an indication of change and of endings, with  
overtones of the need to awake and accept necessary change, that the  
shock or disruption was necessary. Hm. Seems applicable, all things  
considered.

There's another of the major arcana that has been represented (after  
a fashion) in the last two books - The Hanged Man. Unlike usual  
hangings, this one is upside down, suspended by his feet (or more  
usually one foot). Though this one doesn't fit quite so readily - it  
usually indicates that the obvious approach to a problem is not the  
best, that restraint and patience will provide a more successful  
conclusion.

Could all be coincidence of course, though those that are enthusiasts  
for this sort of thing will doubtless find other possible connections  
in the deck - The Hierophant; The Wheel of Fortune; Death; The  
Magician; The Fool - I should say that the card name is not always an  
obvious indication of the meanings that can be taken from it - The  
High Priestess for example is not about anything particularly female  
- it's potential, the need to look for the hidden or obscure.

But still - it's interesting that something I'd nearly forgotten  
about *might* have
some small applicability to HP.

Kneasy