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Ellygator β HP Tarot - 16 The Tower
Published: 2008-07-12 19:29:34 +0000 UTC; Views: 17349; Favourites: 262; Downloads: 1130
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(2008) 5 1/2" x 10 1/2" Pencil on Paper. Processed and framed in Photoshop.This is as canon as it gets: "The Lightning-Struck Tower" chapter from HBP as the Tower card. I don't mind, though, because it shows the dual nature of this card very well.
On the one side the Tower is life delivering a sucker-punch to the stomach, one of those jolts of fate that leave you flat on your ass, gasping for air, wondering where that came from and what you had done to deserve it. These are the catastrophes in life: the car wrecks, the betrayals of friends and partners you trusted, the sudden downsizing at your company that leaves you jobless, the bank repossessing your home, the medical diagnosis you didn't see coming. Once you've been through a true Tower experience, life will never be the same.
The killing of Dumbledore certainly qualifies as a Tower event - the heart and soul of Hogwarts destroyed, the last bastion of safety fallen, and with it the suddenness and the violence of it all, and the seeming betrayal of a trusted friend.
But there is a second dimension to the Tower. While for some the destruction of the tower is a terrible event, for others it may be a prison suddenly broken open. Tower events have an ability to relieve and release. You may lose the stability of your current life, but this may in fact be liberating, and once you've got over the shock and pain you have the ability to grow, to move beyond what you thought possible and to achieve more.
The killing of Dumbledore has this dimension as well. In DH when we learn of Snape's memories we find that Dumbleore begged Snape for this deed as an act of mercy, as relief from pain and suffering - in fact as release from the prison of his life with his old guilt, the curse of his withered hand and at the end the horrible effects of Voldemort's poison.
The Tower always is a difficult card to deal with, but it sometimes just takes a shift of perspective to not just see the destruction, but also the opportunities.
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Comments: 74
Thank you so much! It feels like a very rewarding project.
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Thanks so much and for the fave as well! I am glad you like it.
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Dumbledore is reborn and remembers his past and gains imprints of the 6 most powerful DE, one who drags him into depression, and another, the one he's at, who accidently saves his life. Now they're friends.
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It was amazing to me how the chapter "The Lightning-struck Tower" was just JRK tapping into this card full-force. Loved it!
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And it ties to Albus's future fear of thunderstorms.
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So I just made the mistake of showing my mother (who's more obsessed with HP than I'd ever imagined) these Tarot Cards... let's just say it was 4o min before she'd stopped raving about them, so I thought I'd pass on the compliment
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Wow! Thanks so much! I am so glad to know other people are into them as well!
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Trust me, she was 
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So much thought and research has gone into the design of these i can really see how it works out (as i sometimes use tarot cards myself. i would say this would be a stunning deck to own!
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Thanks so much! It was truly a labor of love!
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Thank you! It was JKR's chapter heading that did it, but it also illustrates the concept so well, both the scary aspects of the card as well as the liberating ones...
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you draw very well with the greyscale. Your pictures have nice composition. The charachters are easily recognizeable from the movies. Good work!
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Thanks so much! I am glad you like this art.
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Thank you! I had settled on the idea before DH and was a little doubtful, even though I didn't loose faith in Snape after HBP. Then when we found out the whole story of the tower scene in DH I just new I'd made the right call.
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Oh and beautiful job on the art by the way. It's incredible. I'd love to have a deck like this.
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Thanks! I've added you to the list of people to note if there are any developments with getting it printed.
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I love how this card's subject just fits so perfectly. I always did see the tower as a sign of upheaval, but upheaval so you could begin to build something new on the site. If you look at the story of Harry from this point on he definately will be building something new. "The Tower" I think and the card "Death" have alot in common.
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Thank you, I think that's a very insightful interpretation, and I couldn't agree more.
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Guh. Your spectral face is, I suppose haunting is the obvious word but I'm not finding another readily available. ANd the shading on the tower is fantastic.
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Thank you! It was odd to have the figures so small in a card for once...
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The tower is the figure!
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GroΓartig ! 
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Ja, das wird verdammt intensiv!
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Thank you! I like your comparison between the light and the darkness with Snape and Dumbledore. I definitely wanted to emphasize the contrast.
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This is gorgeous, and I love your analysis of the card.
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I know nothing of tarot or Harry Potter but I can appreciate this as a piece of art on its own merits. You must have tons of patience.
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You really work with those tarot cards - I like your pictures very much, but I fancy the explanations even more. As tarot lover myself I'm really digging those insights and thougts, and again I have to agree with your ideas to a card. The tower is mostly misunderstood as desctruction card, but in every destruction there lies a new beginning, as in the Death card, too.
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wow, that's great!
i didn't know the tower was a male. that is a male symbol up on the brickwork, right? (i get those all cornfused in my head sometimes 
nice job tho!
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Well, each of the major arcana is associate with either one of the 7 original planets, the 12 signs of the zodiac or water, air and fire to make up a total of 22. The Tower is asssociated with Mars, because of its violent nature, and of course the sign for male and for Mars are identical.
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ah! well that certainly explains it!
thanks for telling me.
(i love it by the way, did i say that? maybe i did.)
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beautifully rendered Elly... luv the texturing of the tower stones.
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So dramatic and so much detail 
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Thank you, I almost suspect so, given the chapter heading she chose. She did a lot of research into magic and alchemy for her books...
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WOW! The meaning of this card is amazing and what you did with it is beyond amazing as well. This is so intense and dramatic. I am just in awe! WOW!!
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OMG
The dark mark in the sky...
Dumbledore falling...
This is a fantastic job
And so sad
Congrats !
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Great job Elly, ...
I 've read this part of the book twice:"this can not be true..." than tears followed, ... 
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Drawing all those bricks would make all my patience evaporate
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This is so amazing, just like always! Your background definitions are always so in-depth and fascinating. If you ever get this deck licensed, you should be sure to accompany it with a booklet defining the cards. Speaking of which, do you have any more cards printed and up for grabs? 
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Just had to say, love your quote
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Haha, thank you so much!
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Actually I was going to send you the next instalment anyways, however, I am kind of waiting for another of my project management classes to be ordered by one of my customers, so I can combine the deck order with getting the class workbooks printed making the postate a bit more efficient. If they are not doing anything over the next few weeks, I think I'll get an order printed anyway. I can now get all the majors from the Hanged Man to The World and the 2s, 3s, and 4s of all suits from the pip-cards. Thst's a fairly decent order in itself.
Let me see how the next few weeks shape up, and I'll let you know.
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OH I'm so exited!! 
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