Major Arcana: XIV Temperance

Major Arcana: XIV Temperance

My sketch on a science lab table

Meaning of the card facing you: balance, moderation, patience, purpose, meaning
Meaning of the card facing away from you: imbalance, excess, lack of long term vision

So I've been trying to figure out how to write why I think Dumbledore fits this Tarot card, and he does and I will explain it soon, but I just want to mention that I do not like Dumbledore. I wanted him to go with other cards, but honestly, other people fit them better and this was probably the best for him if I was going to have him in the deck at all. I haven't always not liked Dumbledore, in fact, he was one of my favorites, but after the fifth book I just couldn't. I started to see the way he treated Harry like a child and didn't let him know things that were important. The seventh book kind of solidified my dislike for him because we find out about how he treated Snape and led him and Harry on, how he never told whole truths and kept details that were essential to himself. I don't really want to go into detail about it because this card is not about lies and manipulation, but I just needed to say it. Now on with the show!

Dumbledore represents balance and moderation because he is level headed, makes good decisions, and understands what needs to be done, even if it's unpleasant. In the fifth book, he allows himself to be kicked out of Hogwarts because he knows Harry needs to stay there and not get in trouble with the ministry. He takes some pressure off of Harry's back, balancing out the anger that the minister has for him and takes it onto himself. Of course, Umbridge is still unbalanced and unfair towards Harry but Dumbledore takes the whole Dumbledore Army's thing away from Harry so that he doesn't get punished. Dumbledore also tries very hard to balance out the hate between Snape and Harry. When Harry comes and blames things on Snape, Dumbledore always gives him reasons why it is not. He tries to make him see that Snape is not as bad as Harry thinks he is. He is unsuccessful, but it is the thought that counts. Dumbledore has been a balance for Snape as well. He gave Snape a safe place to be- both at Hogwarts and with Voldemort. He helped Snape see all the things he could be doing for the order and still remain a spy- gaining Voldemort's respect along with the Order's.

Dumbledore can represent patience as well. Harry shouts at him for a long long time after the ordeal at the ministry in the fifth book and he just sits there and lets him. He already feels horrible and sad and guilty for everything that has happened, but he allows Harry to get everything he is feeling out in the open. In the fourth book he is the calm, patient one when Harry's name is pulled out of the goblet (though in the movie, he is IN A RAGE but in this case the movies don't count). He is patient and is able to calm the other school leaders down. In general Dumbledore is a pretty patient guy. He is very old (J.K.R. said he was 150 in an interview, though the dates she gives us in the books point to him being about 120 when he died) and has seen a lot-from Grindlewald and the Deathly Hallows to Harry pulling a sword out of the Sorting Hat. Not to mention a few crazy kids running around the school (the Marauders, the Weasley twins), incompetent ministers of magic, and Tom Riddle/Voldemort infecting the world with his hate.

Dumbledore gives meaning and purpose to a great many things. I think he helps give purpose and meaning to magic for Harry, Hagrid, Dobby and many other students and people who have found themselves in tough situations. He is trusting and kind and people respect him. He also give purpose and meaning to the books themselves. Even if I don't particularly like him, Dumbledore still holds a lot of meaning to me and I'm sure thousands of other people.

He could represent excess because his experience with the Deathly Hallows showed how he allowed the idea of the Greater Good to get to his head because he was able bodied and very smart- it was in excess as he was bored  until he found the DHs. He also experienced and excess amount of traumatizing experiences like watching his sister die possibly at his own magic, Voldemort, Grindelwald, and things we don't know about but can imagine.

Instead of representing a lack of long term vision, he is the opposite. He had a plan, possibly from the moment James and Lily died or when he heard the prophecy. He planned ahead for the horcruxes- destroying them and preparing Harry to destroy them as well- and the DHs and his own death. It is unclear exactly how much he knew would happen or that he planned out, but he seemed to know what he was doing and often found ways to make things better went they went a way he didn't exactly want them to (like Sirius' death). He had a lot of resources- spys, memories, knowledge, etc. and he made good use of all of them, even if it meant sacrificing a few people along the way.