2006-12-28 06:20:32 · 41 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm a Christian, orthodox, and I'm also a huge HP fan, but this has nothing to do with my beliefs regarding Harry Potter.
Before you start saying that HP is not related to witchcraft or religion at all, you'd better search for the deep symbolism of the story. And I say this to everyone. Harry Potter is a story based on the process of Alchemy, which is a science that has the purpose of turning impure metals into silver or gold. This science also implies religious and general spiritual symbolism. If you doubt that HP was created according to the main 7 stages of alchemy (that's why there are 7 books as well), just read the research posted on this site. http://www.harrypotterforseekers.com/......
The amount of proof they have is amazing. After you read that, you'll understand why Christians misunderstand the meaning of the story and make such harsh affirmations like supporting the idea that HP is devil's work. On the contrary.
IMPORTANT READ
Harry Potter: The road map to liberating alchemy
by Hans Andréa
How has Harry Potter, the young sorcerer’s apprentice, been able to capture the hearts of hundreds of millions of children and adults around the world? I believe it is due to the dual nature of the human being. I believe Harry Potter primarily addresses the remnant of the divine, immortal and perfect human being asleep in the heart of the ordinary mortal and flawed person.
Humanity as a whole is the original, only begotten son of God, and originally lived in paradise. Through a catastrophe millions of years ago, referred to as “the Fall”, part of humanity took to dwelling in this time-spatial universe. Today humanity has forgotten its divine origins, but in the collective unconscious live archetypes which remind us of the possibility of the return journey, which in effect is the reverse of the Fall.
Since the time of the Fall, there has been a brotherhood to help those who wish to go on the return journey. The members of this Brotherhood I refer to as “the Masters of Compassion”. They have been occupied for millions of years in teaching humanity about the way back to the perfect life in accordance with God’s plan for humanity.
One of their most powerful ways of affecting humanity is to hand down symbolic stories which resonate powerfully in the subconscious mind due to the archetypes in the collective unconscious. These stories have been adapted to the time and culture of the people they are told to, but the essence is always the same: a “special” person with a great potential for heroic, liberating deeds is hidden inside them. This hero is a prince, a king, or a magician who can save the world and lead the people to a better life.
The stories passed on by the Masters of Compassion are known today as “The Bible”, the Greek legends, the fairy tales of many nations, and the epics of a hundred heroes. We are privileged today to see a brand new hero’s tale being handed on to humanity. Harry Potter is the newest version of the ancient and timeless message from the Masters of Compassion who are calling us to awaken the inner hero capable of leading us back to the ineffable heights of eternal life in the Kingdom of the Father.
Since about the 14 th century the Path of Liberation has been called “alchemy”. In the beginning of the 17 th century the Masters of Compassion passed on to humanity a set of scriptures known as the Rosicrucian Manifestos. One of these was a symbolic story known as The Alchemical Wedding of Christian Rosycross, published in 1616. This very veiled and symbolic tale is a detailed and complete road map to liberation from this universe of death, suffering and the ceaseless battle between good and evil, and entrance into the Universe of Eternal Life, perfect happiness and the absolute unending Good of the Divine Plan.
Anyone who has read The Alchemical Wedding carefully will notice a remarkable number of similarities between this Rosicrucian Manifesto and Harry Potter. For example Harry Potter goes to an ancient castle for seven years; in The Alchemical Wedding, Christian Rosycross (CRC) goes to a castle for seven days. Both heroes are given a letter of invitation during a violent storm. To reach the castle, Harry travels across a lake with mermaids in it; to reach the Tower of Olympus , where the actual alchemy is performed, CRC travels across a sea with mermaids in it. Harry is faced with being sorted into one of four houses; CRC faces four paths to choose from at the beginning of his journey to the castle. Both books mention Paracelsus. A number of mystery animals are mentioned in both books, for example the phoenix, the unicorn and the griffin. In both the Tower of Olympus and Harry’s castle lives a very ancient man who is in control of the whole proceedings. In both stories the meals are served up by invisible servants in a hall lighted by floating candles. In both stories there is a funeral where a phoenix appears. There are many more similarities – too many to be co-incidence.
In part 5 of Harry Potter there are even more similarities than in the other parts. For example both Harry and CRC struggle with a dream of a door they can’t open, and in both stories a dream is mentioned in which scissors play a role. Harry dreams of his two friends, Hermione and Ronald, wearing crowns. CRC sees the young king and queen, who are later reborn after the alchemical process, with a crown hanging over their heads. But the most remarkable co-incidence of all is a secret room. In both stories there is a room that is always locked. In The Alchemical Wedding CRC is told that this is the sepulchre of (sleeping) Venus. In part 5 of Harry Potter we are told that There is a room[...]that[...]contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature.[...] It is the power held within that room that you possess in such quantities and which Voldemort has not at all. 1 This force is love, which is called Venus in The Alchemical Wedding.
Apart from the obvious references to Alchemy in Harry Potter, such as the Philospher’s Stone, Nicholas Flamel, and John Dee, there are numerous more hidden and symbolic parallels between the two stories.
The actual work of the alchemical processes in The Alchemical Wedding is carried out in the Tower of Olympus . This tower has seven levels (plus a secret eighth one), symbolizing the liberation of the entire human being with all his vehicles and on all planes of existence in the fallen world. They are:
1. the physical plane
2. the etheric plane
3. the astral plane
4. the mental plane
5. the plane of the mental ego
6. the plane of the emotional ego
7. the plane of the consciousness ego.
If we study Harry Potter closely we can clearly see that liberation takes place in parts 1-6 in the first 6 planes in the above order.
2006-12-29 01:38:14 · answer #1 · answered by Cheshire Riddle 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm not really religious in any way, (though I'm not athiest). I wasn't brought up in a religious way really, though I do believe in a superior being of some sort.
No, I do not believe the Harry Potter series is in any way evil. Come on, IT'S A BOOK. (or to be accurate 6 books so far). Personally, I don't think the books are evil, as they are simply Fiction and Fantasy. I don't see how they could influence you in any bad way or make you do anything wrong. And the books emphasize the GOOD. Right? Harry Potter is noble, strong, courageous and kind. Hermonie is dedicated and hardworking. And Ron...well he's wrong. Dumbledore is the essence of good. These people are the winners of the tale, the conquerors. Sure, Voldemort is evil, but notice he has been thwarted at every turn. The moral of the story is that Good will conquer evil in time, no matter how overpowering evil seems to be. How can that be evil?
Just my opinion, and I'd LOVE to hear from someone who believes them to be evil.
2006-12-28 06:25:43 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Are Harry Potter movies/books.merchandise evil? No. I think not. They allow children and adults alike a new way to loose themselves in literature. It opens doorways of opportunities to people around the world. It ENCOURAGES reading once more - back away from the TV set and open a book! No, nothing that works so hard for the good of literature and the imagination of the young can be evil. I love Harry Potter. My family loves Harry Potter - usually it is those ignorant souls who have never seen a movie or read a book that call it 'Evil'. I am a Presbyterian.
2006-12-28 06:23:04 · answer #3 · answered by The Pope 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Not at all, it's a complete work of fiction. I am Wiccan. I can also say, with much expertise, that Harry Potter is nothing like Wicca. JK Rowling is not Wiccan, her books don't have anything to do with Wicca, nor do they promote the use of real Witchcraft. And even if they did, there's nothing wrong with that. I have read many books that do promote Witchcraft and I wish that Christians would wake up and realize that the magick that Wiccans do, everyone does passively. For Christians reading this, I urge you to read Not in Kansas Anymore by Christine Wicker. She is a journalist writing about magick from a unbiased perspective. You'll see that the magick performed by Wiccans is very similar to Christian prayer.
How is that possible?? Well the Magick in Harry Potter is purely fictional. Wiccans practice a "Natural Magick" that is nothing like the cinematic fantasy magick in Harry Potter. I wish we could actually fly on broomsticks, but alas, we are bound by the same natural laws as you. What is Wiccan magick? It's the changing of Nature's course to your favor. For example, we can't just stick our wand in the air to make it rain, but we can direct our power to the air and use our higher state of consciousness to suggest rain. There are several types of Natural Magick where we work with the elements to achieve a higher state of consciousness. These elemental tools are called Keys.
I hope this clears that up for those few people who thought Harry Potter was real.
2006-12-28 06:55:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm a witch.
Harry Potter and similar fantasy literature is just that... fantasy. It in no way prepares one with the information necessary to practice witchcraft. Those that claim it is some sort of indoctrination are simply wrong. Potter doesn't indoctrinate into Paganism or Satanism anymore (and probably less) than C. S. Lewis' Chronicals of Narnia indoctrinates one into Christianity. (Actually Lewis used those books to tell a tale of Christianity through the use of fantasy).
The more dangerous books might be the "Left Behind" series which pose as fiction but are actually another method of demonstrating fear to induce adherence to Christianity.
2006-12-28 06:29:14 · answer #5 · answered by Deirdre H 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, he's not evil. I quite like the Harry Potter series. But then again I have a brain that I actually use and can separate fiction from reality. I'm not too big a fan of the franchise's merchandising, but that's mostly because I think it's overpriced garbage, not because I think the devil will contaminate my soul if I buy a Dumbledore figurine. And I'm Catholic.
2006-12-28 06:24:07 · answer #6 · answered by Rachel 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I find it amusing that fundies will bark about how evil the Harry Potter books are, then turn around and read their kids stories out of the Old Testament--most of which contain more death and violence than today's action and horror movies.
So no, the Harry Potter books are not evil. They are harmless fiction, nothing more, nothing less.
(seriously, can we all just lighten up a little?)
2006-12-28 06:32:20 · answer #7 · answered by I'm Still Here 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am a Christian, Bible student, specialize in prophecy studies....
Harry Potter stuff is not evil. It is entertainment, and well-written, I think.
Look, if someones beliefs are so fragile that they might be swayed by a book or a movie, that person needs to give some thought to how strong their beliefs really are. They are questionable, at best.
Nothing, and I mean nothing that man can do, write, sing, film or say can interfere with my relationship with God, cause me doubt or bring evil to my door. If it could, it would be saying that it had more power over me than the Living God. No way. I love my God, study His Word, and enjoys going to the movies.
2006-12-28 06:29:03 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
People and the deeds they do are evil. Books,movies, merchandise and the like are inanimate. The Harry Potter books are not going to harm you.
2006-12-28 06:23:11 · answer #9 · answered by iamnoone 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I am Wiccan, and no the HP books are not evil, nor do they accurately portray Witchcraft. They are fantasy stories. True Magick doesn't have flashes of light or puffs of smoke. They are lighthearted stories meant to entertain and if anything are actually a positive thing because the books have been read by so many kids that it is encouraging literacy.
BB )O(
2006-12-28 06:42:00 · answer #10 · answered by Stephen 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Harry Potter is a made up fun story for kids THAT'S IT-Sorry for capping but seriously Christians are always complaining about something and this just happens to be more whining Christian propaganda-And I'm Agnostic
2006-12-28 06:26:10 · answer #11 · answered by Art 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋