[HPforGrownups] Re: Alchemy revisited: OOP prediction confirmed

Sat Sep 6 13:24:13 UTC 2003

No: HPFGUIDX 80010

In message 71509 (Jul. 18) --- Arya wrote: 
>>I think that the fact that JKR seems to be following the true form and definition of an Epic with the septology means that there will be many classical "evolutions" or perhaps, milestones that will be found in the HP universe. 

>>Hans' theory is one of several that, I feel, may be superimposed to correlate with the past five books and to help predict the remaining two. Unfortunately, I have to say, that all of them that I have studied and compared to HP, seem to be leading towards the death of our beloved Boy Who Probably Will Not Live. :-( Personally, I sooooo, do not want this to be so. I love Harry like a true person and would mourn his death as surely as I would mourn a living breathing soul). 

>>However, we are repeatedly told by JKR in cannon that there is no coming back from the dead to return to life so I think that when he does die in Book 7, he will remain--Beyond the Veil.<< 

Hans responds:
If HP is a window on to the real Path of Liberation as taught by all the historical great spiritual leaders, and I think it is, then Harry's journey is exactly the opposite of what you state, and our beloved boy needs no mourning from us!

OK I agree there is no coming back from death, if we define death as the death of the ordinary natural human personality. In several messages I have mentioned the Gate of Saturn. I hope there are some classical scholars amongst us who can fill us in with all the interesting details. As I understand it Saturn was Chronos, old father time, the Grim Reaper, the man with the hourglass and the scythe (Saturn was the god of agriculture). Saturn is also linked to the metal lead. Anyway, the Gate of Saturn in alchemical traditions is a gate that we all pass through at the end of life. But we can pass through that gate in two ways: as a prisoner of the endless cycle of reincarnation OR as one liberated from that cycle. In the former case, it means the total death of the earthly personality as it prepares to wait for a new baby to be born with the appropriate opportunities to continue the karmic journey. In the latter case the earthly personality is no longer there, as it has already "died" in
 the alchemical process of changing the "lead" of the ordinary mortal personality into the "gold" of the eternal human being, the Son of the Original Spirit. And so the passage through the Gate of Saturn is the triumphal march of the prodigal son into the arms of the Father who forgives all.

We have all seen the many alchemical symbols and references in HP. The "Philosopher's Stone", John Dee, Nicholas Flamel, Paracelsus, and of course particularly the similarities to the 1616 Rosicrucian manifesto, "The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz". I'm not the only one to point these things out; John Granger in his book "The Hidden Key to Harry Potter" devotes a whole chapter to alchemy in HP. And we have seen a whole series of posts on the subject, "Harry IS the Philosopher's Stone". Too right he is! 

In view of all this it can't be a great surprise when I assert that the archway with the veil in OoP is the Gate of Saturn. How can it not be? We know Sirius went through there and that this meant his death.

In alchemical tradition the pilgrim passes through 4 initiations before passing through the Gate of Saturn. They are Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. Harry has passed through three of them. Mercury is his association with Hermione - the female form of Hermes, the Greek equivalent of Mercury. Mars is the will - Harry has pitted his will against Voldemort in GoF and won. His willpower is greater than Voldemort/Lucifer. Jupiter is the leader of the gods and the Jupiter initiation means the pilgrim has shown leadership on the path of liberation. Harry clearly shows great leadership potential in Dumbledore's army.

Just an aside here - the beauty and the elegance of HP is supreme in describing the formation of DA, as it conforms absolutely precisely to the classical conditions for accepting a leadership role in bringing liberation to others: there has to be that modesty and surprise and feeling of unworthiness that one is chosen for this role. "Who, me? I'm no better than anyone else. What do I know that can help others? I'm just lucky." That scene brings tears to my eyes. But I digress.

Then there is Venus. This is obviously Love. This is what Harry has so much of! And here I point once again to the amazing "coincidence" of the locked room in the MoM and the locked room (on the fifth day!) in the Alchemical Wedding of CRC, where "Lady Venus" lies asleep. Two locked rooms, two rooms where Love reigns. The difference is that CRC opens the door and actually sees Venus, but Harry doesn't; not yet. 

And so I say: so far HP conforms exactly to the ancient alchemical and Rosicrucian traditions. Why should it deviate in Books 6 and 7? I'll be shocked and heart-broken if it does. But I don't thinnk it will, and therefore I'm confident that Harry will somehow open that locked door, either physically or symbolically, and behold Venus. That will be the first four initiations successfully completed. And that will mean the Saturn initiation will come in the last book. Harry will pass through the Gate of Saturn. But, as Harry is the living Philosopher's Stone, this gate will not be the gate of everlasting death, but the Gate of Everlasting Life. 

The death referred to in the spiritual death of alchemy is the total neutralization of all aspects of the consciousness, followed by the awakening of a new consciousness that is all-embracing, omniscient, and divine. That consciousness is without an ego; it knows no self-interest. 

But here we come back to Venus. Once a pilgrim on this long path has seen Lady Venus in all her breathtaking beauty, he is seized by such an overwhelming compassion for fallen humanity that he will not and can not turn his back on humanity. He returns through the Gate of Saturn as one of the great brotherhood of the Teachers of Compassion, one of the Lohans as the Taoists call them, or the Boddhisatvas as the Buddhists call them. And the Christians call this group: Corpus Christi. 

Hence there is absolutely no need to feel sorry for "our beloved boy". "It will be a far, far better thing that he does, than he has ever done; it will be a far, far better rest that he goes to than he has ever known."*

Arya again:
>>We have been being trained for this since Book 1 when Dumbledore says, "Life is but the next great adventure." that helps us feel like Death of a person/character is not so much the end of living but the begining of liberation to *BE*.<<

Exactly!

Hans in Holland

* adaptation of the last line in Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities"; JKR's favourite last sentence.

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