[HPforGrownups] OotP

[Ebony Elizabeth Thomas]

No: HPFGUIDX 19218

Amber wrote:
> >Gah, I know it's crazy and a very, very, VERY long stretch. I mean, the> 
> >Phoenix *is* a positive symbol...

Dave wrote:
>On the other hand, the Phoenix is an animal that "dies", and then
>rises from its ashes... Isn't this in a sense what Voldy did?
>

Is the folkloric connotation of the phoenix generally positive or negative?

JKR's *Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them* has this to say:

"The phoenix is a gentle creature that has never been known to kill and eats 
only herbs."

"Phoenix song is magical; it is reputed to increase the courage of the pure 
of heart and to strike fear into the hearts of the impure."

Also of note--1) it is found in Egypt, India and China and 2) its tears heal 
(of course, we know this from CoS, right?).

Unless JKR is going for irony, it seems that the Order of the Phoenix will 
incorporate some of the properties of that creature.  She's often witty, but 
I'm not sure that she's a cynic.  JMHO.

--Ebony

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
Ebony AKA AngieJ
ebonyink at hotmail.com

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"Be not amazed, beloved, if sometimes my song grows dark...
Perhaps, beloved, I shall fall tomorrow on a restless earth
Lamenting your sinking eyes, and the dark tom-tom of the
    mortars below.
And you will weep for the twilight, for the glowing voice
That sang your black beauty."

--Leopold Sedar Senghor, Negritude movement, 1963

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