Luna's intuition (was Heliopaths)

[urghiggi]

No: HPFGUIDX 78841

>Jen wrote: I think that [Luna's inclusion in Ravenclaw] is our first evidence 
that JKR is 
> promoting intuition as equal to analytical abilities in the end. In 
> contrast to Trelawney, who is lampooned, Luna is truly able to rise 
> above the thoughts and opinions of others and be guided by internal 
> counsel.
[snip] <g> Luna  is a great character and adds much needed balance to the 
action-oriented trio.  


I'm with you Jen. I love Luna, batty as she seems to be. Those googly eyes of 
hers are a sign that she can see things her peers can't, and not just thestrals. 
(Aside to Ginger the FILKer -- I LOVE that "6 teen thestraled virgins" line from 
the "whiter shade of pale/fighter through the veil" FILK -- been laughing about 
for several days. Loved the whole FILK, in fact.....)

I think the crumple-horned snorkack is going to turn out to be real; I think ditto 
on the heliopaths (though I don't buy the theory that Fudge's got them locked 
up at the MoM). But I disagree with the previously posted idea that the reality 
of these creatures would make Luna's ability to discern life "beyond the veil" 
any less impressive.

Death and how to cope with its painful aftermath are very big themes in the 
world JKR has constructed. She herself has said in an interview that the death 
of her mother at a fairly young age, from MS, informed the writing of PS/SS -- 
particularly the Mirror of Erised scene. ("Harry's Hot," Newsweek magazine, 
July 17 2000.) She continues to say (same interview) ".... death and 
bereavement and what death means, I would say, is one of the central themes 
in all seven books."

If Luna's seemingly crazy ideas about unlikely corporeal beings (eg, 
snorkacks & heliopaths) turn out to be correct, it seems to me that JKR would 
be trying to imply that her seemingly crazy ideas about the soul's persistence 
after death are also correct. I agree that the fact that Luna's in Ravenclaw is 
meant to be significant: a signal that she is not stupid, however vague and 
gauzy and outlandish her notions appear. Thus I predict that at least some of 
Luna's crazy predictions will turn out to be true. 

Major religions differ on this point, but if JKR really believes in the tenets of 
her protestant faith, she likely would endorse the idea that the soul continues 
to exist after death somehow as a unique personality, not just part of the great 
life force (a la Buddhism) or even only as traits/qualities that live on and are 
revealed in our descendants (a la Harry's Patronus). The "persistence of 
souls" notion, I think, is one of JKR's proposed coping tools for the anguish of 
death. Certainly she is proposing it as a useful coping tool for Harry, in that 
pivotal "veil" discussion he has late in OoP with Luna. The hard cold truth 
about himself, which Harry's been seeking for so long, gives him no comfort 
even after he gets it. Only Luna's wacky idea gives him comfort in the face of 
his past losses and his seemingly bleak future. (Late in the book he also takes 
a bit of comfort in the solidarity of his friends/guides, which is another fine 
coping tool for grief, widely endorsed by the religious and nonreligious alike.)

Many themes of the Potterverse seem deliberately constructed to convince us 
that there's more to existence than meets the eye. This again gets into the 
previously discussed contrast between the symbolist worldview (transcendent 
existence is a real thing) vs the materialist worldview (we're all based on 
chemical reactions, and what we see and live in our short timespans is, really, 
all there is to existence). Luna to me seems to be created as a pointer toward 
the viability of the symbolist worldview. I'll be so interested to see where JKR 
goes with her. (And I'm not ready to rule out the possibility of an H/L SHIP, 
despite her apparent initial interest in the activities of Ron... :-)

Urghiggi, chgo