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Post by dana on Apr 23, 2005 16:07:49 GMT
Dana had dug out a pear from her bag and offered one to Caiest as well. She had just bitten a piece from the fruit, when Trelawney called on her, making Dana choke on the bite. What on earth did she know about tarot cards? Absolutely nothing! Maybe she could pretend she didn’t hear the question. A wary glance towards the professor told Dana that she didn’t have any hope of getting away with that.
Alright - death card. What could it mean.
“That a batty professor will almost choke you in Divination?” Dana muttered to Caiest with sarcasm dripping from her voice.
“Considering that it IS a death card, could it possibly perhaps symbolize death? Maybe mr.Potter could tell you more accurately – after all you have foretold his death many of times,” Dana answered with false sweetness with her voice a bit louder now, so the professor could hear her.
What did death mean. Euthanasia? Murder? Jail-sentence? Poison-shot? Electric-chair? Big explosion. Expulsion from school. Drinking. Drugs. Addiction. Books. Pencil. Eraser. Destroying. The end. Dana's thoughts had travelled through a rather... strange... path, but the end - now that might be worked upon.
“Maybe the death card symbolizes the end of something. The end of some stage of one’s life perhaps?” Dana offered randomly, hoping that as Trelawney had already asked a question from Lenora as well, then Gryffindor girl – who actually knew something about the stuff! – might continue speaking and her rather lousy answer would go unnoticed.
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Post by Desiray on Apr 23, 2005 19:53:40 GMT
Desiray sat up and sighed, she didn't have a partner. She shrugged and decided to just listen and see if she could do the class without one. She sat back and watched as Dana started to answer the question that the professor had asked her. She looked to the filthy Gryffindor that was Lenora. She glared, already hating her. She sighed and wanted to fall asleep. Her mind wanted to say something sarcastic and very cruel out loud toward Dana but she yawned and laid her head down again.
"Boring... so very boring..." she said to herself.
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Post by Tristan MacCay on Apr 23, 2005 23:30:22 GMT
Tristan sat up to attention. Divination wasn't his favourite subject but Tarot seemed a good thing to learn. It had a fascinating history and there were precise and practical spreads to learn and card meanings. Tristan listened to Dana's answer. He wasn't sure if she was correct or not, but he did know for a fact that the death card was a goodcard to get. He did know the meaning, but he could call on it. Tristan put his head down on the small round table and closed his eyes, racking his brain for the answer... YES! He found it!
the Death card portrays symbolic death-a change or transformation. Often, it heralds the end of a familiar or more comfortable mode. It conveys a release which is necessary for growth and expansion.
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the death of the old self, but also the dawning of a new day. The Death card is a cue that you are at a "threshold"-a crossing into a new phase, unbounded by the past.
...
When this card appears in your reading, it may be an invitation to embrace change and transformation, especially as it refers to your consciousness or past lifestyle. As such, it represents the quintessential example of "letting go." It's appearance may encourage you as you are clearing out the old and making way for the new.
...
At other times, the Death card may appear in your reading when there are changes which you know you need to make but which you are resisting. The potent Death imagery may serve to remind you that the more you hate something and the more you run from it, the more you are bound to it.
Tristan tried to summarize the information he had remembered and put his hand up to answer the question.
"Please Professor," Tristan said, "The death card can mean many things; SYMBOLIC DEATH - change or transformation; the death of the old self, but also the dawning of a new day. When this card appears in your reading, it may be an invitation to embrace change and transformation, At other times, the Death card may appear in your reading when there are changes which you know you need to make but which you are resisting. Over all the death card is a good card to get, reminding us that there isa sunrise on the horizon and the bringing of a new dawn."
Tristan smiled to himself. He was glad he had called upon that memory. It had proved useful and he hurridly wrote it down in his notebook. He wanted to learn as much as he could about Tarot
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Post by Lenora Byers on Apr 24, 2005 4:20:21 GMT
Lenora listened somewhat amused to Dana’s answer; from a former conversation she had known Dana knew nothing of the noble art of Tarot. After her feeble answer Lenora was called upon to spread ‘The Celtic Cross’; one of her favorites. She used Zen cards rather than traditional Celtic ones most the time though so she hoped the spread was done the same…<br> Lenora picked up her pack and shuffled it trying to keep her mind centered; focused on the cards. She then fanned them out on the table with her left hand because it was the one with the direct connection to the heart; or so she was told. She then picked ten random cards with her left hand before re-stacking the rest of the deck and shuffling those 10. “Whenever I pick the death card I always take it as then ending of something; perhaps a stage in life, or maybe just an end to a problem in my life. You know I never found the death card as a bad one to pull; its even refreshing in a way. It lets you know things are moving, changing, and its time to start anew.” Lenora said absentmindedly as she walked up to the front of the class, card in hand. She wasn’t sure she was heard though because some boy was, very rudely, speaking out of tongue at that moment. She did hope he would get an awful reproach from the Professor, a Ravenclaw should know better. Granted she was answering a question not directed at her either but she at least had been called upon. ((I really don’t know how to display this so I will just use numbers to show the order she placed the cards down in ok? Oh and the dashes are here because it won't let the numbers go in their correct places with just spaces  ))
--------------------------------------------------10
---------4-----------------------------------------9
5--------1 2((placed sideways))-----6-------8
----------3-----------------------------------------7
“This is how I always place them Professor; the first card for your present situation, second is the diminishing or enhancing issue, third is below because its you unconscious influences, fourth up top because it is the issues you are conscience of, fifth to the left because it is you past, sixth to the right because it is your new patterns, seventh is yourself, eighth is what’s coming at you from outside, ninth is your desires or the things you are denying, and finally the tenth is a possible outcome.” Lenora explained as she placed down each card in its place. When she finished Lenora walked back to her seat and hoped she had placed them the way she was expected. |
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Post by Professor Sybil Trelawney on Apr 24, 2005 23:14:52 GMT
Sybil watched as the Ravenclaw girl wispered something in her friends ear. Not very pleased with the girl's sarcasm, she was still satisfied with her answer. She walked up to the girl's table and took her hand. " Dear girl, your aura is very weak. You've always seemed to lack the requesite spirit that comes to most seers. However, this has ben the first time you've shown any inclination toward the gift." She walked down the steps toward the front of the room. " Five points to Raven-!"
Before she could get the information out of her mouth, a younger Ravenclaw boy spilled the answer to Dana's question out of his mouth. Sybil began to tap her foot on the ground underneath her dress. A little perturbed, Sybil waited a moment before addressing the boy. " Your eagerness is well received, Mr. Wardle. No matter how good an answer, you were not called upon. Five points from Ravenclaw."
Turning toward the front of the room, she was surprised to see that Ms. Byers had constructed a perfect Celtic Cross. Rushing to the board, she announced, " Excellant Ms. Byers. Ten points to Gryffindor!"
Not ready to begin the readings, she decided to ask a few more questions of the class. Pointing to Ms. Tunstall, " Please tell me the the names of the suits in the decks."
Surveying the room for her final question, she pointed to a Slytherin boy (Drake), "Please tell me the names of all the cards in the Major Arcana."
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Post by Ivy Tunstall on Apr 25, 2005 16:05:43 GMT
Ivy looked up in alarm as Professor Trelawney asked her a question. She hadn't even had her hand up! How was that fair? She had been paying attention, even if she didn't understand what was going on. And now she'd been asked a question. Well, she'd read the Divination book as best she could, although she never understood any of it and she always struggled. There had been a table about the suits though, and that was what Ivy was pretty sure the Divination Professor had just asked her about. Why she had picked on Ivy the poor Hufflepuff had no clue. It wasn't as if she had shown very much talent for Divination, so why the teacher thought she would be capable of answering the question... She found Divination seemed to be all casting around for things a bit. Which worked sometimes, but most of the time proved to be inaccurate.
However, Ivy had an inkling that Professor Trelawney had just started her off with the Major Arcana, so she looked up at the Professor, trying to avoid her gaze as she found it off putting.
"Um... there's the Major Arcana," she said, mumbling a bit. She thought for a while longer, pulling at a loose strand of hair as her mind fumbled with the facts and tried to use visual memory to remember what they were. One of them was water! Yes, that was one of them! Maybe it was the elements... that must be it. Slightly bemused at the idea she might be about to contribute something to a Divination lesson, Ivy started to speak again, still not articulating herself clearly as she didn't have the confidence in her answer to.
"And there's water, and other elements... um... fire... and... um..." Ivy put her head in her hands as she tried to remember the other element. How many elements were there? Three, was it? Everything seemed so confusing. What made something an element? Weren't they the things the muggles put in periodic tables. Ivy looked up again, a frown on her face. "Um... and earth." She shook her head. She was sure there was something she had missed, but she hadn't volunteered. So it would do.
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Post by laurap on Apr 26, 2005 16:16:35 GMT
Laura looked around the classroom and sighed quietly. There was almost no-one she knew in the class. She would most probably have to move to someone she didn’t know and ask to be partners. Hearing the trap-door open and close Laura glanced that way and grinned feeling almost gratefully seeing that Ivy had entered the classroom.
Returning Ivy’s smile Laura answered: “Divination isn’t that hard. And sure – I can try to help you if I can. And I’m glad I can partner with you.” Listening to Trelawney with one ear Laura thought about what she had said. Divination wasn’t hard for her. Sometimes – just sometimes there was a flicker of something in the corner of her eyes, even if only for the briefest of moments. But a second later it was gone and if Laura tried to see something on purpose, then it was never to be noticed. Laura wasn’t completely sure whether it meant she had some talent in telling the future or were her eyes just playing tricks on her. Or maybe it was some effects of magic? Laura didn’t know and she had never actually dared to ask or tell anyone either. Maybe it was something what her mother did. Her mother was an interior-decorator and she had once told Laura that she would talk to the owner of the house and then walk through the house and just try to picture it how it would look like once it was finished. And her mother had commented that she would sometimes imagine some certain couch or a table or a chair and later the room wouldn’t feel complete without it. Maybe that was some form of seeing ahead in time as well?
As professor Trelawney started the class Laura listened to everyones answer. That older Ravenclaw who seemed to be struggling with her answer, then the third year interrupting the class with his sudden burst-out. That blond girl, who Trelawney had talked to about her cat seemed to know awfully much about Tarot. And then Ivy was called upon.
Laura smiled at her friend reassuringly, even though the smile probably went unnoticed. Laura recalled some information about tarot cards, but even Ivy’s answer hadn’t been good enough for Trelawney - they were here because they were supposed to study not to already know all the answers by heart!
Laura smiled at Ivy gentling picking the Tarot cards up and starting to shuffle them.
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Post by drakeemerald on Apr 28, 2005 3:57:09 GMT
((Sorry Finals Week))
Drake shifted as the teacher pointed to him and asked him what the cards were in the Major Acana. He wasn't really a divination buff, but he did know the answer. He wanted to quickly rattle them off so he took a breath before he spoke.
"Well,” He said. "There is the fool, the magician, the high priestess, the empress, the emperor, the pope, lovers, chariot, justice hermit, fortune,"
Drake closed his eyes and took another breath. He was trying hard to remember all of them.
"Strength, the Hanged Man, death, temperance, devil, house of god, star, moon, sun, judgment, and finally world."
He sighed as he finished the last card. He opened his eyes and look for the approval of the teacher.
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Post by Desiray on Apr 28, 2005 23:54:23 GMT
Desiray yawned in boredom. Thsi class was a complete and utter joke! She couldn't understand why anyone would want to attend this thing. A complete waist of her time! She sighed and wished that she had never sat down. There was nothing to do. She wanted to raise her hand and say soemthing very nasty to that old bat, but decided against it. She didn't want another detention... or did she? Desiray sometimes enjoyed detention... If that thing of a teacher said anything to her, she would say something. But what?
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Post by Professor Sybil Trelawney on Apr 29, 2005 23:49:08 GMT
Sybill looked at Ivy as she gave the answer to the question. Raising her hands to stop the girl, " No, Ms. Tunstall. I'm afraid not. The card suits are not named after the elements. Would anyone else like to try the question?" Looking through her large glasses, she walked toward another Slytherin (Desiray). " Would you like to give it a try, my dear?"
Looking towards Drake, she smile at him genuinly. " Excellant answer. Five points to Slytherin." She walked back to the front of the class, her bangles jingling as she walked. She sat down in the wingback chair and waited for Desiray to give an answer.
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Post by Cassandra Blackfire G7 on May 1, 2005 13:12:09 GMT
Cass' Gryffindor pride soared as Lenora demonstrated a perfect Celtic Cross. She had to keep herself from cheering. She looked over at Pyro and smile meekly. He knew she was overexcited about the points. Gryffindor had behind in points for months now, and she knew there was no way they could catch up. However, any amount of points would help them along. She flashed a thumbs up to Lenora as she walked back to her table.
She watched Dana as she was asked a question, and nearly chuckled as Dana almost didn't come up with an answer. This was why Divination was so fun. Watching all the bored people struggling for answers they didn't know because they weren't listening. Most people considered Divination a cake class, but Cass didn't. She enjoyed the class, but couldn't take it seriously. She knew Divination was dodgy, and didn't want to trust in it. She looked over at Pyro as Trelawney continued around the room. She cocked her head to the left a bit and put an imaginary gun to her head. Pulling an imaginary trigger, she hung her head. God, she was bored.
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Post by Desiray on May 4, 2005 1:00:22 GMT
Desiray glared at Trelawney when she called on her. She did NOT want to answer any of this old bat's stupid meaningless questions. She was about to tell her so, but in shocking surprise, found that she knew the answer! She gulped and started to speak.
"Well," she said in her unrespectful tone that radiated all her hatred and disgust for this whole subject, "The 56 cards of the Minor Arcana are divided into four suits of 14 cards each," she was surprised at herself for how that came out. With renewed confidence, " Theres wands, batons, or clubs; hearts; swords or spades; and coins, pentacles, or disks well...diamonds. Each suit has four court cards- usually named king, queen, knight, and page- and 10 numbered cards," Desiray smiled cockingly to the idiotic professor and relaxed in her chair.
She turned to Ivy, "There isn't suites in the Minor Arcana. Early tarot decks were of several types, each varying in the number of cards. The standard modern tarot deck is based on the Venetian or Piedmontese tarot. It consists of 78 cards divided into two groups: the Major Arcana, which has 22 cards (also known as trumps), and the Minor Arcana, which has 56 cards. The cards of the Major Arcana have pictures representing various forces, characters, virtues, and vices. The 22 cards are numbered from I through XXI, with the Fool being unnumbered. No suites, dearie!" She smiled again and decided on saying everything she knew about tarot cards. Just to 'stun' the class.
"Also, The cards of the Major Arcana refer to spiritual matters and important trends in the questioner's life. In the Minor Arcana, wands deal mainly with business matters and career ambitions, cups with love, swords with conflict, and coins with money and material comfort," she paused before going on, "The tarot deck is shuffled by the questioner, and then the fortune-teller lays out a few of the cards -either selected at random by the questioner or dealt off the top of the shuffled deck- in a special pattern called a "spread." The meaning of any card is modified according to whether or not it is upside down, its position in the spread, and the meaning of adjacent cards," she relaxed more in her chair and looked up at Professor Trelawny.
Thinking, thank god I got bored and read all those books on Tarot cards.... Her smile then faded at the thought of her answer being wrong...
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Post by Professor Sybil Trelawney on May 4, 2005 2:01:47 GMT
Sybil's eyes raised her eyes in surprise as the girl answered the question correctly. Not in the way she expected, but still she answered it correctly. " Very good, dear. Five points to Slytherin!"
Still sitting in her wingback chair, she decided to announce the end of class. " Very good class. However, I must assign homework so you can continue to hone your skills. Please submit an essay on one of the many cards of the Major Arcana. Please make it betweeen fifty and one hundred words. It will be due on May 10. Now that you have your assignments, Class dismissed!"
((Thank you to everyone who attended! Just remember, points will be awarded to people who complete their homework assignments. This is one of your last chances to get house points since the year will probably end here soon. Please PM me your homework assignments by May 10. Once again, thanks for coming!))
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Post by dana on May 4, 2005 15:48:50 GMT
Dana felt as if the class would never end. And the smoke in the classroom seemed to have stopped exiting the classroom through the window as well. Throwing her things into her bag as quickly as humanly possible Dana jumped up.
Sending a brilliant grin towards Caiest Dana saluted: “Nothing personal but I have to get out of this place. Besides I have Potions next, so I get to stretch my legs a bit on the way.”<br>
Waving Dana practically flew to the trapdoor and rushed out first taking two or three steps at a time to get away as quickly as possible. Divination was finally over! Right now even the upcoming potions didn’t seem as dreadful as Dana rushed down the stairs with a grin widening on her face with every step she took. And people wondered how she could get to Potions so happily right now – after escaping Divination it would took a herd of trampling hippogryffs and dragons to get her to go back voluntarily until next week.
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Post by Ivy Tunstall on May 4, 2005 19:10:57 GMT
Ivy had a headache. She always got a headache when she came in here. She wished she could choose the option to study something else. But she doubted that whichever Professor was in charge of options would be particularly pleased if she were to ask to change. So... that was that. She would struggle on with the subject since she had no other choice. Try to get an OWL in it. Although that was probably an impossible task. Her dissatisfied mood, really rather out of character for someone who tended to accept life as it came most of the time, was giving her more of a headache. And the frown that was wrinkling her forehead wasn't helping much either. At least she hadn't volunteered to answer the question.
Things were being made worse by the fact they were being set homework which sounded rather impossible to do, and Ivy's mood was dropping below anything it usually got to. She had been depressed before, yes, and very upset. But not unaccepting of the way other people treated her. She had allowed those Slytherins, for example, to say what they liked and do what they liked with her. They had at least left her alone afterwards, although she had suffered. Before what they had done had upset her. At this moment in time, she was rather angry about it. Did they have the right to treat any other human being like that? Ivy certainly would have tried to stop them doing it to anyone other than herself. The other thing that was making her headache worse was the fact that a Slytherin was speaking to her right now. Ivy eyed her with dislike and before she knew what she was doing that dislike was being rather inadvisably voiced.
"There aren't any suites dearie, no, but suits there certainly are, as you just told the Professor, and as she herself asked me to name." she retorted. "I suggest you get a longer skirt before you expect me to take you seriously while you're contradicting yourself."
She didn't wait to see what effect the words would have on the girl, but instead picked up her bag and looked pointedly at Laura to try to get her to leave the classroom at the same time as her as she descended the ladder and was able to breathe some fresh air. Ivy didn't believe Professor Trelawney could take offense at her having voiced her opinion to the girl, but as soon as she left the protection of the classroom she could really do with the protection of a friend. At least, although her cheeks were slightly hot from having for once voiced her frustration, she didn't have to spend her time regretting not having said anything. Instead she could spend it regretting having said anything, and worrying that she shouldn't have done so. But if she could take that outlook on the Slytherins, perhaps she could stand up to them in the Quidditch match too. Perhaps.
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Post by Desiray on May 4, 2005 23:39:43 GMT
Desiray was rather proud of hersef for the answer she had just given. It was definatly the most effort she had ever put into a class. That proudness vanished when Trewlawny only awarded five points. FIVE POINTS?! After that answer? Desiray's mouth dropped and she gritted her teeth in anger. She grabbed her things and stuffed them into her bag.
That was when Ivy... little miss perfect... decided to walk up to her and insult Desiray's skirt length. Desiray ran her tongue over her teeth and looked Ivy up and down in complete and utter annoyance and growing anger.
"Oh you little-" but Ivy walked away before Desiray could finish her ultimation. That little... she had ABSOLUTELY NO RIGHT! How dare she! was all Desiray could think. Ivy left the room before Desiray had even finished packing the things in her bag. She growled and stomped out of the classroom.
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Post by drakeemerald on May 7, 2005 5:28:27 GMT
Drake was quick to pack his bag and leave his chair. It wasn't that he disliked the class, in fact he actually answered a question correctly, but he knew that he needed to hurry if he was going to make it to his Charms class on time. He bolted from the room, but not before he wrote down his assignment with his double tipped quill.
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))
