thecosmicdance's Journal

Hallows, Not Horcruxes Revised Final Cut

He was born a pauper to a pawn on a Christmas day
When the New York Times said God is dead
And the war's begun

Calling the first book "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the US editions probably helped to sell the books (because underestimating American intelligence is apparently a marketing tool that works) but it also made the book a lot more controversial. People who wouldn't have noticed the book at all if it were called "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" decided they weren't going to stand for their children reading any books about sorcerers.

Christian fundamentalists accused the books of promoting witchcraft and Devil worship. Because the characters wore pointy black hats and waved wands around, they reacted more strongly to these books than they did to "His Dark Materials" which is far more critical of, and obnoxious toward, Christianity.

"His Dark Materials" would be more infamous if they'd changed the title of "Amber Spyglass" for American readers to "So Where's Your God Now, Suckers!"

Among conservative Christians, Harry Potter books were burned and banned and ranted against, accused of inducing demonic possession at worst, "encouraging interest in the occult" at best.

To people who are not conservative Christians, this sounds ridiculous, almost funny. But it's not nearly so funny if you've ever had to debate the issue with someone, or if you have to see the look on church people's faces when you tell them you're a Harry Potter fan.

As for its alleged bad influence on children, Harry Potter is far from a morally bankrupt series. The moral values encouraged in the stories are actually quite traditional. Be nice to people, killing people except in self defense is bad, don't pick on racial minorities, it’s important to study for school and make use of the library, and a successful adult life includes achieving a happy heterosexual marriage that results in children with the person you fell in love with in high school. Harry Potter is, at times, so traditional it's annoying.

If they'd bothered to read the books, they'd have noticed something. There was no religion mentioned at all for six books. It would appear JKR's magical world was one where religion and magic were not connected, magicalness was genetic, not spiritual.

The fact that Christianity makes no appearances in most of the books except for mentions of Christmas is a bit bizarre considering where this story takes place. It takes place in a traditionally Christian nation, with no real separation of church and state, a place steeped in Christian history. Yes, people in Europe and the UK are less likely to talk about stuff like that than Americans but good grief.

The way JKR’s magic seemed totally divorced from spirituality was actually one of the things conservative Christians who bothered to read it didn’t like about it. The ones who didn’t think it was Of the Devil didn’t approve because the books didn’t mention Jesus. They are the kind of people who really prefer that all entertainment worth experiencing should press home a message about God or Jesus. They worried that because the books didn’t guide children in the direction of Christianity, they’d eventually tempt the children away from Christianity.

They never really understood that just because it wasn’t being mentioned, that didn’t mean it wasn’t there. Because they don’t understand subtlety, metaphor or any way of talking about spirituality that doesn’t whack people over the head with it. JKR's Christianity is more traditionally English- seen as something cultural and as a social duty, not as something meant to consume your entire being twenty four seven. I get the feeling she wouldn't have much respect for people who obsess about it.

Christianity, you say? Where? But I thought these characters were pagans!

Wherever did you get that idea? It's true that some of the HP mythology is based on pagan things, and probably some Hogwarts students *are* pagans but the structure of the wizarding world is based on Ceremonial Magic/k which less of a religion and more of a method of doing things. It was and still is,heavily based on the Kabbalah and Christian Hermeticism and is the method most often chosen by magical types who belong to Abrahamic faiths. These aren't Wiccans-there is no Rede in Harry's world (clearly, everyone's stomping all over it if it exists there). Assuming that the characters are pagans just because they use magic is playing into the hands of fundamentalists. The wizarding world is really a Christo-pagan world, which I think is pretty awesome, being a Christo-pagan myself.

The International Statute of Secrecy was passed in 1689, not, unfortunately, the more romantic image of the wizards going into hiding upon the arrival of Christianity in Britain. But check out what was going on in 1689.

Bear in mind that these aren't "Christian books" they are books written by someone who was influenced by Christian mythology. The difference is simple, a "Christian book" is a book by an author who considers the most important part to be getting the message of Jesus through. This is an author who just happens to be working with a set of themes she's most familiar with. She's been very clear about allowing people to see the story through the lense of their own beliefs-I do not believe she intended for everyone to go "Harry Potter=Christian story!". Mostly what I'm saying here is that these books are not and never were, anti Christian.

Despite all the non religious flaws the books had, I’m happy to see someone once again writing fantasy inspired by Christian beliefs that does not make preaching Christianity the entire point. In fact, the Christianity is so vague you could easily insert another religion in its place. It’s just that this means, oh, this is wonderful, the fact that the author is Christian and included Christian beliefs and values means that people who claim it’s of the Devil don’t have a leg to stand on and now we have proof of how wrong they were.

JKR has said "anyone who knows my beliefs knows where the story is going." Although I've been told she's a Presbyterian, without guessing her beliefs, let's see where this story went.

Harry is a blatant messiah figure. The wizarding world certainly treats him like one. He's "The Boy Who Lived", the hoped for savior and chosen one of an oppressed people. As a baby, he survives an attempt on his life, the way Jesus did in the Christmas story. He is raised until age 11 in total obscurity. So far, though, we're basically still doing the typical fantasy hero background.
His last name is "Potter". "The Potter's Field" is a medieval English term for the place where Judas hung himself after betraying Jesus to his death (see the Ellis Peters novel of the same name) and Matthew 27:7 in the Bible. Harry's parents were betrayed by their own best friend, who then faked his own death and framed another friend for his murder.

There is also a famous verse, "I am the potter, and you are the clay" (meaning "I made you what you are and you are a work in progress"). I have heard God and/or Jesus referred to as "the potter".

Harry's parents died on Halloween, which is a very important day for Christianity (in spite of what certain people claim). It's Reformation Day for Protestants, celebrating Luther's official break from Catholicism. It's also All Saints Day/All Souls Night for Catholics and Anglicans, as well as the (European) pagan festival of the dead, when the veil is thinnest. Only evangelicals (especially American ones) see the three holidays as unable to coexist peacefully. Halloween was originally one of the great examples of the ability of Christians and pagans to learn to cooperate with each other, but later became a battleground between Protestants and Catholics.

Godric Gryffindor founded Gryffindor House, and "Godric" means "the power of God". Harry is from Gryffindor House, whose symbol is a lion. The Abrahamic god is usually portrayed as a lion or lion like. Slytherin, the house Voldemort comes from, uses the symbol of a snake. The snake is symbolic of the snake who tempted Eve in Eden (although lots of people believe the serpent was not such a bad guy after all). Nowhere does it say the serpent was actually the Devil, but they have come to be associated with each other.

Dumbledore's conflict first with Grindelwald then with Voldemort is classic God vs Devil.

The last book is called "Deathly Hallows". "Hallows" are an old word for saint's bones. Harry's owl is named after the patron saint of orphans. There is a scene in book 7 where Harry's friends drink a potion that contains parts of Harry. A sly allusion to the Eucharist/Last Supper? But I won't go so far as to claim Neville's head catching on fire is symbolic of Pentecost. Harry's first broomstick is called a "Nimbus 2000", a nimbus is an old word for the halos which saints have often been portrayed with.

In Matthew 7:7 it says
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door
will be opened to you..

When I was doing my Bible Study posts I actually paused after reading that and my first thought was "OMG Harry Potter!" Only...a completely obsessed fan would do that, I'm sure. But that's what happened. Harry is a "Seeker", which could have a double meaning (there is even a fan dicussion group called "Harry Potter for Seekers"). This verse is also a very pretty children's song which any good Protestant probably knows.

You've probably noticed by now that there's a recurring number theme in Harry Potter.

Harry turns 17 on the 7th day of the week in the 7th book in a book that was released in 2007. On that day, six of his friends drink the previously mentioned potion to alter their appearance so they look like him, making 7 Harry Potters. Students attend Hogwarts for 7 years. There are 7 Horcruxes and 7 secret entrances to Hogwarts.

Wizards are supposed to manifest magical ability by the age of 7,which is also "the age of reason" in Christianity. There are 7 members of a Quidditch team.

Seven is just about the holiest number in the Abrahamic tradition. Incidents involving the number 7 appear all throughout the Bible and various Kaballistic works. If you want to get really technical and grasping at strawsy, the book was released on a Saturday in the US, and Saturday is the 7th day of the week by the Jewish calender.

Is Snape the Paul of this story? He used to persecute people, and then saw the light and ended up being a tremendous force for good even though he was still kind of a jerk and nobody really liked him.

And if so, does that make Draco, Timothy?
I took advantage of this comparison in A Seal Upon Your Heart, my first post DH fan fic.

Or is Draco, Salome? He’s a spoiled teenager, as I say in
Candles in the Rain
, a “sad relic of a sad legacy” whose lust for power and attention is manipulated by the adults in his life, he is manipulated and coerced into causing the death of a beloved political figure (or so it seems to people on the outside). He is the darling prince of the Death Eaters, but has no actual power of his own (and Draco as a boy Lolita is very popular in the slash writing community). And in the end, Draco and his parents are left with nothing, they barely escape with their lives because they tried to play both sides.

The four houses can be compared to branches of Judaism in the first century-Slytherin are the Sadducees, Gryffindor are the Pharisees, Ravenclaw are the Essenes, and Hufflepuff are…I guess I’ll get back to you on that one.

Of course, in all of these scenarios the Death Eaters represent Rome, the Slytherins being the group desperate to cooperate with the conquerors, only to end up humiliated and used, with the rest of their community saying "WTF is wrong with you?, You ruined everything. "

Some have pointed out that "King's Cross" may be a reference to Jesus the King on a Cross, but that's kind of a shaky theory for most of the series, because there are two other reasons why she probably chose it as well. First, it is the reputed grave of Queen Boudicca (between platforms Nine and Ten), and JKR likes to incorporate a lot of British history into the books, and second, because it's just so cool looking. If you've been there, or seen the movies where it is featured briefly you know what I mean. Douglas Adams used it as a setting too, it just makes a great Portal to Another World. It's one of the most widely used stations in London, so why wouldn't the characters depart from there?

Harry is tortured by Voldemort in a graveyard (a place of the skull). He's tied to a gravestone and bled while Voldemort subjects him to the Cruciatus as his enemies look on and mock him.
In Order of the Phoenix, Harry and his friends go to the Ministry of Magic and have a battle with Death Eaters. Harry and his friends, while engaging in the fight, end up smashing the entire room of prophecy globes. Sirius falls through a veil in the Department of Mysteries, which is reminiscent of Jesus' prophecy that the Temple would fall and the curtain would split in two, and all previous prophecy would be null (hence the shattering).

This is also the book where the Death Eaters, working with clueless Ministry officials, put Harry on trial on a bunch of bizarre, trumped up charges.

There are allusions to Grail Quests and Arthurian Legends, but that also loops right around and brings up Christianity again.

All of this, all of this can be yours
Just give me what I want...and no one gets hurt!

There's another reason conservative and fundamentalist Christians don't like this series. They think its very presence in the world is an attack on them, and what if it is? Hear me out on this… These are people who are always complaining about something, but it often turns out that their complaints, while they were basically misguided, are not totally out of left field, even if they don't realize it because they're so focused on freaking out over stupid things.

In Christianity right now there is something going on that's very much like the growing problem of the Death Eaters in the earlier books. It's called The Shadow War. Some Christian leaders are still trying to pretend this isn't happening.

Check out this Christians United For Israel Tour vid. Otherwise known as Fake Christians United Against Israel

The Death Eaters taking over Hogwarts is very much like the Southern Baptist takeover of their theological seminaries. There are parallels in other religions but I don't want to say anything because I don't want to offend anyone. Anyway, the rise of the Death Eaters eerily parallels the rise of Dominionism in Christianity. They even use similar rhetoric at times and many Dominionist groups are known to be connected to white supremacist organizations.

In the GoF film the Death Eaters are dressed like KKK members (only in black). The KKK often uses the symbols of Christian nationalism, their new millennium version is even called "Christian Identity" and recruits through prisons.

Magic is Might after all.

Draco and the other Slytherins are classic conservative Christian/Dominionist kids (except conservative Christian kids are more cheerful in general-like the children of Death Eaters on Super Terrific Happy Pills!). I know these kids (yeah, I've said my denomination was not dominionist, but that never stopped anyone).

No, they weren't as bad as they could have been-there were no KKK style racists among them (but this was the extreme Northeast, where even if you are One of Those you do NOT advertise it) but there was a lot of casual anti Semitism/anti non Christian stuff. A lot of "we are better than everyone else"-ness. It was especially interesting among the core group of local pastor's kids, because we believed that the rules simply did not apply to us (remind me to tell the story about The Day We Learned to Shoplift). And deep down what a lot of us were was just plain terrified, struggling to be perfect and failing miserably- trying to lead lives that other people thought were weird and old fashioned and pressured into endorsing a lot of really hateful stuff that we didn't know was wrong because we trusted our parents.

The way she goes out of her way not to mention Christianity in books 1-6 is telling, since she's making all her points anyway without once bringing it up.

But suddenly, in Book 7, she is no longer pretending Christianity doesn't exist except for Christmas.
The scene where Harry, Ron and Hermione sneak into the bowels of the Ministry of Magic to free the imprisoned Muggleborns is very similar to the medieval legend of the "Harrowing of Hell". In this story, Jesus dies on the cross, and during the three days he is dead, he descends into Hell and frees the Jewish Patriarchs (Moses, Abraham, etc) and various other people who were considered great men but not Christians*. He then bravely fights his way back out so they can take their place in Heaven. There is a similar moment in the "Buffy" episode "Anne", and in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy.
There is a character called Pius Thicknesse who betrays the Order and then gets made Minister of Magic. Pius Thicknesse took over the government. Get it? Get it? It's a shout out to us Americans!

When Harry, Ron and Hermione visit the different wizard villages in Europe, they find that these villages often contain wizards and Muggles living peacefully together-buried in the same graveyards, working together, worshipping together, even the War Memorial in Godric's Hollow is for two wars. Christians and magical people are living together, some of the magical people are Christians. Sirius mentioned that he went to James house every week for "Sunday Dinner", something you don't tend to do if you're not at least a little bit Christian, and the characters get Christmas and Easter off, not Yule and Ostara.

It reminds me a bit of Salem, where there's an occult shop on every street, and they throw one of the biggest and most raucous Halloween street parties in three states, and have been know for decades as a Pagan Mecca, yet the churches are flourishing too and it's hard to believe that people don't make use of both.

What ravages of spirit
Conjured this temptuous rage
Created you a monster
Broken by the rule of love
And fate has led you through it
You do what you have to do.

In a beautiful scene in which Hermione and Harry visit a churchyard, one of the graves has a specific quote inscribed. "Where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also." The meaning of this saying should be obvious- It's a bit like the psychological test of asking a person what they would rescue from a burning house. What does your mind automatically go to when your life is threatened?
And in a less dramatic sense, whatever you value the most is what will drive every motivation you have. It can also be taken quite literally- the place where you keep your most important stuff is the place you'll try the hardest to protect. There are a great many "treasures" in Deathly Hallows that people are fighting over or trying to protect- Lord Voldemort literally put pieces of his own soul into his treasures and he accidentally put a part of his own soul in his worst enemy.
The phrase was a clue that Harry was the final Horcrux.

But this isn't just some old phrase.

This is a Bible verse. She doesn't attribute it in the book, so only someone who knows- really knows- their Bible will know where the quote comes from. But like I said in my original reaction to the book, when I saw those words I gasped and slammed the book shut.

Matthew 6:21 says "Where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also."

Another gravestone, in fact, it’s James and Lily’s grave says The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death which is from Corinthians 15:26.

While I'd had my suspicions for quite some time, I was shocked to see an actual, blatant reference to my faith in a book that people have frequently accused of being hostile to my faith or at least indifferent to it. To see evidence that supported my theory made me happy. It was cool to have an author slipping in a quote that you had to have special knowledge to pick up on, a reminder of being part of a club with its own specific codes.

My urge to punch the air and shout “YES!” is not about wanting to be smug towards people who aren’t Christians. It’s about conservative and fundamentalist Christians who spent the better part of a decade screaming about how these books were sent by the Devil Himself. They were so obsessed with proving how pious they were and trying to shut down anything that sounded like it might be heretical that they failed to recognize a true Christian message when it was right in front of them.
A Livejournal friend pointed out that the six Slytherin characters who manage to redeem themselves are like the six members of Lot's family in Sodom. They stand between the evil people and the heroes, even if it's in a somewhat passive way- Regulus switching the lockets, Narcissa and Draco pretending they don't recognize Harry, since the Death Eaters were relying on Draco to identify him, when Draco chooses to pretend he's never met Harry before, Draco essentially saves his life.

Later, Narcissa tells Voldemort Harry is dead, even when she knows he isn't.

Dumbledore is a sort of stand in for God. Many of the issues people have with him and the questions they have about him are similar to the ones addressed when it comes to God. If DumbleGod can see the future, why doesn't he do something about it? How much does DumbleGod actually know? Is he playing favorites and if so, why?

Is he dead or did he just abandon everyone? DumbleGod allows the characters, the author, and the readers to explore their issues with God without actually referencing God in any way.

He sees all and knows all but won't interfere because you have to figure it out for yourself. God has guided you and protected you and set you apart as special, but he's also manipulated you and seemingly abandoned you at times, and set you up to fail so that you could succeed.

People familiar with Christian theology may recognize DumbleGod's methods, which are finally revealed in Deathly Hallows. DumbleGod has put Harry under his personal protection for seventeen years so Harry will survive to fight Voldemort…and die doing it. One of them (Harry or Voldemort) must kill the other one in order to end this, and because Harry is the final Horcrux, the only true way Harry can defeat Voldemort is to allow Voldemort to kill him. His entire purpose on earth is to grow up to be murdered.

Many Christians don't like this theory when it concerns Jesus, and may be annoyed to see it popping up again in Harry Potter. A lot of people think DumbleGod could have handled things differently from the start. I think people have filled many hours and many books with arguing over this. Such views definitely illustrate ambivalent feelings about God.

So he has two choices. Die, or watch all his friends die. And Harry survives because he went to his death willingly. The point was ultimately not his death, but being willing to die. After his quasi death, Harry and Dumbledore have a trippy conversation in King's Cross station, which is really taking place on another plane as Harry hovers between life and death. I am very surprised he wasn't discovered resurrected by a weeping Ginny.

Greater love hath no man than he who would lay down his life for his friends. . John 15:13.

"I meant to, and that's what did it. Haven't you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can't torture them, you can't touch them"

Another important Christian theme. It's complicated, and people can't agree on it but... The sacrifice of the cross is supposed to mean that the Dark's power over us has been lifted and from that point on, Evil can't really hurt you.

As for those who may be curious about the Dark Mark or one of the primary final themes of the books, I’ll let King Solomon elaborate.

Set me as a seal upon your heart, a seal upon your arm, for love is as strong as death, passion as fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a raging flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If one offered love for all the wealth in his house it would be utterly scorned.

Harry ends up with a "seal upon his heart" due to the Horcrux he was wearing around his neck. The Death Eaters have a "seal upon their arms". And love *does* prove as strong as death.

Additional Information and reccommended posts:
JKR's Anger at God
"I think it was more savior/Christ-ish stuff though -- the 40 days in the desert -- and when he comes out he's become a man, ready to take on the final challenge. "
The mythological significance of Harry's wand. The Holly and the Ivy
This is also an amusing fact.
The resurrection symbolism of peacocks (apparently, Flannery O'Connor liked to use them for Christ symbolism too).
The Mercy of Albus Dumbledore
Other recommended reading:
"Looking for God in Harry Potter"
"The Gospel According to Harry Potter"
"God, the Devil, and Harry Potter"

**the Harrowing. Look, I didn't make it up, okay?