Hogwarts Professor

Outrageous_Tomato_71 was visiting the St John’s Church in Aylmerton, Norfolk, and decided to check out the parish visitor’s book. And there it is — J. K. Rowling’s autograph, Edinburgh, 18 May 2022. Tomato shared this fun find on the Cormoran Strike Running Grave Reddit page.

My first thought was, “Of course she signed the book!” In her ‘Year in the Life’ BBC video filmed in the madness surrounding the publication of Deathly Hallows, she visited the church next door to her childhood home. They filmed her looking through the parish visitor book to find where she had signed it back in the day, which she had.

So… we know that she visited Aylmerton. Has she been to Cromer? All we need now is a selfie of The Presence in the Lion’s Mouth. Hat doffed to Outrageous_Tomato_71 for this great catch!

The Two of Cups, the second or “crossing” card of the Talbot Celtic Cross tarot spread in the ‘True Book’ of Troubled Blood, is a big deal, both with respect to its placement and its stand-alone meaning. Having listed all the cards that appear in Strike5, at least in spreads, in search of any pattern in their appearances, it’s time to review what Crowley and Waite say about the Two of Cups as well as how it is most often read today, take a longish look at what the second card in a Celtic Cross spread means, before offering my conclusions about its importance.

If you need an incentive to join me for that discussion, I’ll remind you that the Two of Cups is the only card to appear three times in Troubled Blood: in the crucial point of the Celtic Cross spread and as the final card in both of Robin Ellacott’s readings. I think Rowling uses it to point simultaneously to the Whodunnit of Strike5 and to the nature of Cormoran and Robin’s relationship. Stay tuned! [Read more…]