[the_old_crowd] HBP - spoilers - Is it on the cards?

[ewe2]

On Tue, Jul 19, 2005 at 05:03:33AM -0700, Catherine Coleman wrote:
> 
> 
> --- Barry Arrowsmith <arrowsmithbt at ...> wrote:
> 
>  I'LL
>         BE
>                   WHEN
>                               WE
>                                     DON'T
>                                              NEED
>                                                          TO
>                                                                   DO
>                                                                           
>    THIS
>                                                                         
>            ANYMORE
>                                                                           
>                                WON'T
>                                                                           
>                                           YOU?
> 
> 
> YES
> 
> 
>             I
> 
> 
>                     WILL!
> 
> 
> 
> Snipping all of your post because I have nothing useful to add, but I have been wondering about
> the significance of Tarot cards myself.  Anyway, Kneasy, if you have some knowledge in this area
> (I have none), can you shed any light on the scene in which Harry overhears Trelawney trying to
> interpret her cards?  That scene intrigued me, and I can't believe it doesn't have any
> significance.

While I'm awaiting the retrival of no less than three reposts that Yahoomort
has seen fit to hide, I'll take a stab for you based on my own Tarot
experience.

Firstly Trelawney insists that the same cards come out in every layout she
tries. There are almost as many layouts as there are Tarot readers, but all
you need to know is that a card's significance comes as much from its position
as its own particular interpretation. Probably Sybil is so excited by the
meaning of the card that it doesn't matter where the card came, which is a
pity because it would be a more useful clue. Again, some see significance in
whether the card is upside-down or not; depending on who you believe it either
inverts the cards meaning or lessens its impact. 

I went into detail because the card is pretty serious: the Tower is a symbol
of a calamity that has been some time in the making. Hardliners see it as a
retribution for building a foolish structure; others see it as a more natural
re-balance however sudden. There is a sense that the disaster is a necessary
purge, a clearing-out of deadwood. Now the penultimate death scene is entitled
The Lightning-Struck Tower so there might be some significance for Hogwarts
there, certainly it's the end of an era and a shock for all.

-- 
"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" - Adam Savage