Quantum Harry, the Podcast

Each of the seven columns of cards in the Tarot Major Arcana can be aligned with each of the seven books in the Harry Potter series. (See Quantum Harry, the Podcast, Episode 30: Harry and Tarot .) However, the cards of the Major Arcana that do not include The Fool (numbered 0 or 22, depending upon the Tarot deck) can also be divided into seven sequential sets of cards: the first three (one, two and three), the second three (four, five and six), and so on. This is because the Major Arcana was not originally created for divination but for storytelling , and each set of three cards heralds a new stage of the Tarot story. These sets of three cards can also, in order, be aligned with each of the books in the Harry Potter series. The first sequential card for each book is called the “seed card”. The card that fills this role for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone , the first book in the series, is the Magician, card number one. The Magician is often depicted with an infinit...

What are Ron’s, Ginny’s, and Hermione’s Tarot archetypes? How can Scabbers/Peter be linked to the Hanged Man card in the first book? And which Deathly Hallow is the equivalent of the Mirror of Erised? Episode 32: The Mirror and the Stone Watch the Episode 32 video on YouTube. Related Essay: Ring Around the Rosy EPISODE GUIDE

The cards of the Tarot Major Arcana numbered one through twenty-one can be arranged in a grid with cards one through seven in the first row, eight through fourteen in the second, and fifteen through twenty-one in the third, and when we look at each vertical column in this grid of cards, we can apply the symbolism of the cards in each column to each of the Harry Potter books. The first column of Tarot aligns with the first Harry Potter book, the second with the second book, and so on. This gives us the Magician (card number one) at the top of the first column, Justice (card number eight) in the middle of the column, and the Devil (card number fifteen) at the bottom. The first card at the top of this column, the Magician, is the Tarot equivalent of the archetype of the Wise Old Man, the ruling archetype for the first book in the series. (See Quantum Harry, the Podcast, Episode 2: This Old Man .) The Magician is traditionally depicted with various accoutrements of wizardry—in ...