[HPforGrownups] Hatred of ancient Magic vs. HP Magic

[John Walton]

No: HPFGUIDX 27253

Just a reminder in my Mod hat before I take it off -- Religion discussion,
folks, is cool just as long as it pertains to Harry Potter. This includes
questions like "Does HP encourage Witchcraft and Satanism?" "Do we look at
the moral values of HP differently from our religious viewpoints?" "Does
Dumbledore resemble an Aslan-esque Christ figure?" and my personal favorite,
"Is Minerva McGonagall old enough to be the Roman Goddess Minerva?". Uncool
discussion (which is banned) makes no reference to the HP books. [And don't
even think about trying to make value judgements about religion. As the
woman says, "Don't Go There". :D]

I have tried to build a logical argument in this email as to why HP wizardry
is neither Satanism or Paganism, Wicca or Witchcraft as modern Witches know
it today.

Mindy C.L. wrote:

> The 'magic', 'witchcraft', and 'wizardry' that they are afraid of and
> condemn, all have to do with dark forces, with accessing Satanist forces.

I will just point out in a calm and rational way that Satanism does not
equal Paganism, and neither of them equal HP magic. In no way does any major
branch of Wicca or Paganism (hereafter "Pagans") involve Satanism. The words
'Wicca', 'Paganism' and 'Satanism' are different for a reason :D

::listens to jaws drop:: Okay, here's the deal from my point of view, from
the fairly wide range of Pagan, Wiccan and Witchcraft books that, as a
Wiccan Pagan, I've encountered. [Note: this is my point of view. Wicca,
Witchcraft and Paganism are not unified religions, do not have Supreme
Leaders, Chief Minions etc. and it is therefore possible that you may
encounter exceptions to the very broad brushstrokes I paint below: I
acknowledge this and point to similar discrepancies of view in other
religions as well.]

Firstly, Satan is a JudeoChristianIslamic concept. Not Pagan, no way, no
how. The JudeoChristianIslamic Satan is too negative for many Pagans to
worship/communicate with anyway (see point 3). Oh, and he doesn't appear
anywhere in the HP world.

Secondly, folks associate the pentagram, the five-pointed star (standing
upright, with one point at the top and not two) with Satanism, calling it a
Satanic symbol. Well, folks, with one point at the top it's no more a
Satanic symbol than the Christian cross. Turn the pentagram (or the cross)
upside down and *then* you have what Satanists use. Why? Because, for the
majority of Pagans, the Aether or Spirit World is represented by the top
point, above Earth, Fire, Water and Air. If you had two points at the top
this would be kinda tricky :D None of these symbols appear in the HP world.

Third, the vast majority of all magic worked by modern Witches, Wiccans and
Pagans is not what non-Pagans consider "dark" or "black" magic. Why? The
Wiccan (modern Witch) community and many Pagans believe in the laws of
three-fold or Karmic return. What's this? Well, at its essence, if you do
something Good then Goodness will return to you. If you do something Bad
then Badness will return to you. Using the powers of the dark, hexing or
cursing someone is therefore likely to bring similar spells back to you, and
let me tell you, protective magic is a pain in the athame to work and
maintain. (Plus, the ingredients *stink*!) No Wiccan or Pagan light or dark
magic, spells, charms, curses or hexes appear in their HP equivalents
(although I'd love to get my hands on a Leg-Locker hex for the next time I'm
trying to get around the supermarket!)

But wait! I hear you cry. Surely there are Dark Witches and Wizards about!
Well, sure, Pagans acknowledge the existence of darkness and light as we
acknowledge night and day, winter and summer, good and evil. They are
necessary, equal parts of a whole. (The Chinese yin-yang symbol is a good
visual idea of this, though is not a Pagan symbol.) This "two equal parts of
a whole" concept doesn't come into HP at all.

Pagans don't attribute good and evil to benign or malignant forces (like
some Christians believe that All Evil Everywhere is the work of Satan), and
certainly don't believe that Anything Bad That Happens is attributable to
one being or group of beings. Many Pagans take the view that to know things
that are good, you must know what evil looks like. This sense of
self-reliance and self-responsibility *does* come into HP a little bit, as
does the "to know good, you must know evil" view.

Lastly, the vast majority of Wiccans abide by the Wiccan Rede (and many
non-Wiccan Pagans have a similar version): "An it harm none, do what thou
will". Basically, "If it doesn't harm anybody, do as you like". I cannot
envisage that any religion can argue with those sentiments; however, I
cannot find any reference to the Rede in the HP books.

Okay, having pointed out what Paganism consists of, I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY
with Mindy -- the magic of HP has only MINISCULE similarities to Paganism --
we use broomsticks for ritually cleaning our altars, HP uses them for
flying. HP's Divination is nothing like the common use of Tarot decks or
Runes (Ancient Runes sounds more like a language than a foreseeing class).
Wands are generally less favored than the athame (ritual knife). We do have
familiars (animals in whose presence we work magic), but these are usually
cats, and the HP characters rarely appear to have their pets when working
spells. 

Basically, any similarities between HP Wizardry and Wicca, Witchcraft and
Paganism are also similar to the caricature societal view of witches, with
black cats, flying brooms, robes, cauldrons and wands. ::shrug::

If you're interested in researching this further, I'd suggest the excellent
witchvox.net and .com, wicca.org and wicca.net. "The Spiral Dance" by
Starhawk is an excellent introduction and is likely in your local library,
possibly hidden in the Feminism section :D

--John

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 "Do not thump the book of G'Quon.  It is disrespectful."
-- G'Kar, Babylon 5

John Walton -- john at walton.vu
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