Wand woods (VERY LONG)

[Megan]

No: HPFGUIDX 30601

Hollydaze wrote:
(some really awesome stuff about wood & wands)

> OAK (Hagrid - before Snapped):
> The tree of truth. 
> It is ancient and wise and has an old spirit.
> Oak symbolises wisdom, strength, and endurance.
> Oak is extremely versatile and can be used in many areas of magic. 
> It can be used in spells for protection, strength, success and
stability. 
> 
> Does anyone else look at that list and find themselves thinking of
Dumbledore more than Hagrid?

I think Hagrid is wise in his own right.  He may not spew worth the
wisdom & famous quotables of Dumbledore, but Hagrid contains his own
practical smarts.  Hagrid is the one who confronts Run & Harry about
Hermione in POA--he recognizes the vast importance of friendship. 
Hagrid is first to befriend Harry, providing him with the important
counsel and comraderie to a very unsure boy.  Hagrid is perhaps the
most relaxed in GOF, saying perhaps one of my most favorite lines:
"What comes, will cime, and we'll meet it when it does."  Hagrid
endures a lifetime of being a mutant--half-giant expelled from
Hogwarts, "less than wizard" to many, I'm sure ("respected" only from
sheer size).  Hagrid is always honest...I don't think we've ever seen
him less than open with HRH about the important things.  He's
obviously strong & well-skilled at his work with animals and beings. 
He may not be adept at *magic* but he's quite good at other things.

Yes, I think oak works quite well for Hagrid.

> YEW (Voldemort) : 
> It symbolises transformation, great age, and reincarnation.
> Yew is a good shield for magical energies, any that directly hit the
wood are reflected.
> Symbol of the deities of death and rebirth. 
> All parts of the tree are poisonous. 
> Eternal life and immortality sums up the attributes of the Yew tree. 
> Signals a rebirth of the self. 
> Raising the Dead.
> The Yew is known as the death tree in all European countries. 

*shivers and wonders if JKR is also a closet arborist*

<snip>
> Holly (Harry) :  
> A symbol of the life force, vitality and immortality. 
> It wards off negative energies. 
> The shiny green leaves represent the vitality of life even in the
coldest of times.
> Symbolises combat, defence, and a "look but don't touch" beauty. 
> It is used as a life symbol. 
> The Holly eases thoughts of jealousy and mistrust while protecting
from evil spirits.
> The Holly will indicate a balance and strength needed to overcome
challenges.
> The knowledge of when to fight and when to defend.
> Protection, Anti Lightning, Luck, Dream Magic.
> Protection, prophecy.

I cannot express how awesome I find all this!  It's just amazing the
see these correlations.  It's like examining names & word entymology,
but on a much better level.

> 
> Lily's wand is made of willow, well the meaning of willow is to do
with dying young and she died pretty young if she was only a maximum
age of 23. The only problem here is that Ron's (new) wand is willow
too. Maybe we should be worried about Ron even after what JK said
about him not dying.

*getting a bit scared for Ron & the several "early death" prophecies
that keep popping up*  I just really really hope this is one time when
examining origins of names & devices is a red herring & means
absolutely nothing.  It seems to me that a death so important could
almost destroy Harry, thus destroying the series (not to mention
destroy the fans!).

-Megan