Contest Time

As promised I posted a contest celebrating the end of my art series Hogwarts and Dante’s 9 Spheres of Paradiso. If you participate you can win Amazon gift certificates or original art by me. You can find everything about the art series and the contest here. And for your convenience I post the text of the contest here as well.

 

Through the Trapdoor

 

Are you ready? Wand in your pocket? Both buttocks still in place? Very well, then follow me onto the quest for the hidden truth.

 

Instructions:

 

I am looking for a word. It is Greek and has been decoded as meaning ‘creature with upturned eyes’. It has nine letters. As I don’t expect any of you to jump up and down with hand raised screaming ‘I know it, I know it’, I give you eight questions that guide you on your quest. The right answer to each question will give you at least one letter of the word I am looking for.

 

Once you found the word send it to me via email (avivavictoriab@aol.com). Members of HPN can also send me an owl to Nymphchild. The contest will end on August, 31^st 2008. The lot will decide on the winners.

 

Prizes:

1^st place: 20 Euro Amazon gift certificate (or as requested an original art work by me size up to 20×30 cm with a motif as wished for)

2^nd and 3^rd place: 15 Euro Amazon gift certificate (or art work as described above)

 

Good Luck!

 

1.)            

I warned you but you opened the door. Now, you face Fluffy. – The motif of a watchdog as guardian of the underworld is a familiar one. Just think of Cerberus, the three headed dog of Greek mythology. The animal is symbol for our instinctual side. And just like we who need to come to terms with our instinctual side in order to progress on our way to individuation the mythological heroes must pass the beasts without killing it. Orpheus lured Cerberus to sleep with his lyre. Aeneas was shepherded through Inferno by a Sibyl who put the dog to sleep with a cake seasoned with honey and poppies.

Apropos Aeneas, Dante’s beloved fellow author who was his guide in the Divine Comedy before Beatrice recounted the story of Aeneas trip from Troy that led to the founding of Rome in one of his books. What is the name of that book of Virgil?

The third letter of the name of the book is the second letter of the word I am looking for.

 

2.)            

You passed the dog. But the nice cushion you landed on emerged as a nasty plant. The Sibyl Cumaean wouldn’t have used its leaves to transcribe her prophecies on it. The leaves she used were fragile and left only room for a few words per leave. Tree leaves – book leaves; did you know that the English word ‘book’ comes from a tree? What part of a beech was used because it was good to write on?

The second letter of the part of the tree is the same like the first letter of the word I am looking for.

 

3.)            

A flock of flying keys and some brooms await you now. A good vision is needed to find the right one or the old and rusty keyhole. A fine eye is also needed to see the subtleties in art. One of my favourite painters is William Blake. In 1795 he painted a very famous English scientist who was also a well-known alchemist. With his picture he wanted to demonstrate his opposition to the single-vision of scientific materialism. Who was the famous English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist and theologian?

The fifth letter of the name of the scientist is also the sixth and eight letter of the word I am looking for.

 

4.)            

Do you have the nerve to use strategy faced with an army of life-sized chess figures? Pawns, knights, bishops and rooks originally represented the four divisions of the military, respectively infantry, cavalry, elephants and chariots. Yes, elephants as the game originated in India. And here my question: What was the name of the early Indian form of chess that translated as ‘four divisions of the military’?

The second letter of the name of the game is the same as the fourth letter of the word I am looking for.

 

5.)            

The Troll lies dead ahead of you. The seventh letter of the word I am looking for is a ‘P’.

 

6.)            

As the Potion Master Professor Snape asked for logic so do I.

5	3			7
6			1	9	5
	9	8					6
8				6				3
4			8		3			1
7				2				6
	6					2	8
			4	1	9			5
				8			7	9

 

What number belongs in the absolute middle of this Sudoku?
1 = t; 5 = r; 9 = s

The correct letter is the same as the fifth letter in the word I am looking for.

 

 

 

 

 

7.)            

Now look into the Mirror of Eriesed. What do you see? A stone like Harry? Then it could be that you look into one of the earliest mirrors. It was manufactured from pieces of a natural occurring volcanic glass. What is the name of this kind of stone?

The third letter of the stone is the same as the ninth letter of the word I am looking for.

 

8.)             And suddenly you are only one letter away from the goal of your quest. Today, the word I am looking for is used as the Greek word for man. The third letter of this word is also the third letter of the alchemical motto and the third letter of another name of Sulfuric Acid.

 

Congratulations! You made it. Now send me the word I am looking for via email or owl. Good Luck for everyone.

 

Tags: art, Contest, Dante, Divine Comedy, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, painting, Paradiso