The Spiritual Symbolism of HP (was: The Philosopher's Stome)

Tue Apr 22 20:08:49 UTC 2003

No: HPFGUIDX 55907

Bill wrote:

>I for one would *love* to hear more. I have always been interested in the symbolism behind the HP stories (having had an interest in mythology, Jungian psychology, alchemy, etc. for quite some time) and your point of view sounds quite different and interesting. 

My response:

My warmest thanks for your encouraging words. There have been several other welcome comments plus a private one so I’ll go ahead and present some more of my theories. Please treat them only as theories and forgive me if I make any comments which may seem to transgress your religious convictions. That would not be my intention.

First some replies to comments made by members:

Annemehr asked:

   Do you mean that your group could reasonably be called "The Order of the Phoenix" or that it actually sometimes *is* called such?

No it is not called that. The phoenix is a much loved symbol but it’s not part of the name.

And:

   How can it be the mark of Cain that Harry bears on his forehead? Cain carried that mark because he was a *murderer.*

Bill gave a beautiful answer:

   It seems to me that the *origin* of Cain's and Harry's marks are different (although they both involved attempted murder, and the 'death' of a rival), but their *effect* was to mark both of them out as unique among humans, the objects of fascination and distrust.

Thanks Bill!

My theory is:

Cain was given the mark not because he was a murderer, but to protect him against murderers. "And the Lord put a mark upon Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him". (Gen. 4:15)

Harry’s mark is the result of his mother’s protection against Voldemort. In Harry’s case the mark came after the protection of his mother’s love; in Cain’s case it was a protection against possible attacks. I see both Cain’s and Harry’s mark as symbolising God’s protective Love. It’s important not to take these allegories too literally. As Harry (in my theory) is the heir of the Potter of the Universe, in other words, every fallen child of the Creator, this means that everyone who has the Philosopher’s Stone also has the mark. In other words: that’s everyone who is wandering around in the land of Nod, east of Eden, having been driven out from the land of his birth. 

Actually there is a Cain-Abel situation in GoF. In a sense Harry and Cedric were brothers in that they were both students at Hogwarts in competition against the other schools. In a way Harry caused Cedric’s death – not by an act of murder, but by his very nobility.

Alison wrote:

   I've always felt that there was a great deal in these books that could be read as spiritual/religious symbolism but have met mostly with blank stares when I've mentioned this to people! I know that such topics can be problematic at times so I hope it can be discussed here and that it won't cause any problems. I'd also agree with Hans that this is only one way of reading the books, and that they work excellently on several different levels.

Thank you Alison, I couldn’t agree more.

And:

   I've recently read John Granger's book The Hidden key to HP and found it fascinating.

That’s wonderful. I was going to recommend this book as a matter of fact. It’s the best book (out of 19) that I’ve read about HP. There’s a whole chapter on alchemy and in a later chapter there’s a wonderful alchemical formula involving Snape, Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione as ingredients to produce "gold": Harry. 

I would now like to continue my theory about the story of HP showing the Path of human liberation.

Harry’s mother is "Lily". The lily is the symbol of purity. Harry’s father is a "stag", which is the symbol for the thirst for the Living Water. In the words of Psalm 42: "As a hart longs for flowing streams, so longs my soul for thee, O God."

These two live in Godric’s Hollow. This is the valley of the God: the human heart. When the heart is pure and longing for liberation, a son is born there. This is a nascent soul that is an innocent infant at first but grows to become a powerful "wizard" which can bring the human being to total liberation from earthly limitations, but within the Architect’s plan. This is exactly the same story as that of Moses and Jesus. Jesus lives in the manger, Harry in the cupboard under the stairs and Moses in the bulrushes. However the vested interests of this world see liberation as a threat to their existence and just as Jesus is threatened by Herod, so Harry is attacked by Voldemort.

The new immortal soul does not stay in the heart; it spreads throughout the body to carry out its alchemical work. It moves into the head where it meets Hermione.

Ron symbolises the mortal personality. In the chess game we see Ron being willing to sacrifice himself to let the immortal soul reach liberation.

At a certain stage the new soul moves into the spinal column. Harry climbs into a pipe that leads deep down under the castle. He goes totally without any means of defending himself. He meets the basilisk. Everyone of us has a basilisk at the bottom of the spine, in the plexus sacralis (NOTE: the SACRED plexus!). It’s called the serpent of the kundalini by people who are into Yoga and by Theosophists, among others. This serpent is the sum total of our karma; it represents all the mistakes we have made in numerous incarnations; it also represents our basic human drives that fetter us to the earth and hold us back from liberation. This force is therefore also behind our sex drive.

It is possible by occult exercises and intense concentration to force the serpent of the kundalini to slither upwards along the spinal column until it reaches the head. This is extremely dangerous, as anyone practising occultism or certain forms of Yoga will be able to tell you. Mistakes will lead to petrifaction or to death. However those who succeed will develop extremely great occult powers: the kinds of powers Voldemort has. And they will become rulers in "the other side". However this will be at the cost of their soul, because this process will unite them with Lucifer (Slytherin). 

However Harry rejects occult development and shows his loyalty to the Spirit of Liberation: Albus Dumbledore. This invokes the power of the resurrection: the phoenix. The phoenix helps Harry and of course gives him the sword with the word "God" hidden on it. The new soul, simply by being loyal to the Spirit, kills the serpent of the kundalini and so the human being is liberated from karma, or "sin". The soul rises up, back along the spinal column, triumphantly holding on to the phoenix.

If there is anything in the story of HP which indicates a complete rejection of black magic and occultism, it is this. To me this is the proof that Harry is indeed the son of God who is born within the heart of the mortal human being to lead Ron, Hermione and himself to Godric’s Kingdom. If by some miracle I could meet or send a message to Dr Rowling I would want to say "THANK YOU", with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my mind.

There is so much more to say on this, but I’ll wait for comments and questions. 

I want to finish by pointing out a curious little coincidence. As you are probably all aware one of the authors mentioned on Harry’s booklist in PoA is Cassandra Vablatsky. The name Vablatsky is obviously a spoonerisation of Mme Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society (still going strong today). Mme Blavatsky wrote an intensely spiritual booklet called "The Voice of the Silence". It just so happens that verse 11 of this booklet has the word "Potter" in it. Harry was 11 when he began his magical career. It’s also curious that Mme Blavatsky’s initials are

.

HP!

This stands for Helena Petrovna, which means: Light of the Stone.

"Before the soul can comprehend and may remember, she must unto the Silent Speaker be united just as the form to which the clay is modelled, is first united with the potter’s mind."

The Voice of the Silence, verse 11, by HP Blavatsky.

Hans

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