Book Covers

[Talisman]

No: HPFGUIDX 166725

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "houyhnhnm102" <celizwh at ...> 
wrote:
> yutu75es" <fridwulfa@> wrote:
> 
> > No one seems to have noticed the strange desing on 
> > the spine of the British cover, over the title. It 
> > seems like an arrow, a circle and a triangle. Any 
> > theories about what it might be/mean/represent??
> 
> houyhnhnm:
> I think it's supposed to look alchemical.  The symbols for the four 
> elements are all triangles.
>

Talisman:

I have always considered it most likely that Rowling is a delightful 
*heretic,* ergo her ability to claim to be Xian, but still indicate 
that she would have to explain more for anyone to use this 
information to predict her ending.  

Among the *heretical,* aka unorthodox,  Xian sects I have considered, 
Gnosticism--which argues an inner divinity--is high on my list of 
possibilities.

(This would be what is called *Optimistic* Gnosticism, not all that 
demi-urge stuff.) 

I recently watched a program that links the circle in a chevron/ 
circle in a pyramid/ all-seeing eye to Gnosticism , relevant to the 
*Jesus Family Tomb.* 

The  symbol itself is explored in more depth at this site:

http://www.jesusfamilytomb.com/forum/Naked_Archeologist-15-228-0-0/

In the links to the left, click on Chevron.  Watch the video and 
explore the other links, if you like.


The only other  discussion I've found, so far, relates to magic, see 
the illustration and explanation at:

http://www.thelemapedia.org/index.php/Goetia


I will note that the reverse of this image, the triangle in the 
circle, seems to have been used by Alcoholics Anonymous at one time. 

Apparently they stopped using it when they realized they couldn't 
trademark it, due to its roots in antiquity.

Hagrid would never stand for having his series push sobriety, but it 
may be that the underlying reason AA used the symbol (at least 
according to the sites I found) relates to it's more ancient usage 
(which I have not found in the *AA* reversed order) and to Rowling's 
purposes, albeit she uses it in the older, circle in triangle, form:

The triangle represents the union of body, mind, and spirit, the 
circle stands for the Divine. In ceremonial magick the spirit 
summoned by the magician is contained within this symbol. Thus this 
symbol is one of protection and power, as well as AA's purpose: the 
integration of personality.
http://www.markdefrates.com/pages/symbola.html

Union of body, mind and spirit (Ron, Hermione, and Harry), an 
interior divinity, and integration of personality (Cf. Hogwarts as a 
*body* in need of integration--which includes, psychologically, an 
acceptance of one's dark side) sounds very much like the point of 
Rowling's series.

Really, it could well be *all of the above.*

T