Sunday, July 17, 2005
From the mouth of someone much smarter than I:
"Harry Potter, Catholic Boy"
by John O'Callaghan
Scholastic Books, the American publisher of the Harry Potter novels, changed the title of the first book from its British title, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" - American readers apparently cannot be expected to buy a book with "philosopher" in the title. But this change misled many to think that the novels were fundamentally about sorcery, witches, and witchcraft. They're not. They are about philosophy, literally "the love of wisdom", the desire to understand better the highest causes of things, and they are about faith seeking understanding, "fides quaerens intellectum" in the lovely Latin phrase. These two themes are intertwined and have an ancient heritage in Western culture, from Plato and Aristotle through Augustine and Aquinas to J.K. Rowling, who gives narrative expression to them in a lively morality tale, pitting unfettered power and evil against the power of goodness and love, a culture of life versus a culture of death in search of the philosopher's treasure: wisdom.
Consider the rich religious symbols used throughout the novels. We have the characters of Lucius Malfoy - that is, Lucifer, surnamed "bad faith". We have his son, Draco, whose name is Latin for "snake".We have Slytherin House, again the snake. By contrast we have Gryffindor House, "griffin d'or" being French for "golden griffin" - a medieval symbol for Christ. We have, in the third novel, "The Prisoner of Azkaban", Lupin the wolf, symbol of poverty and of St. Francis (the association with St. Francis is apt when we think of Professor Lupin's ill health and the rags he wears for clothes), and Sirius Black the dog, who represents "watchfulness and fidelity," often used in religious art as a symbol of St. Dominic and associated with the Dominicans (who are known as the Blackfriars because of the black capes they wear over their white religious habits). And the villain of the third book is Peter Pettigrew, the rat, symbol of destruction and evil.
Most striking of images in the books is the deer or stag, who represents stag, religious aspiration, solitude, and purity of life. Unbeknownst to Harry, it is his faither in the form of a stag who appears when he utters the "Expecto patronum" spell in the third book. Recall that Harry is passing out, about to be overcome by the kiss of a Dementor (themselves unsubtle tributes to J.R.R. Tolkien's Ringwraiths). In Latin, "patronus" means "defender" or "advocate" and it etymologically linked with the Latin for "father". "Expecto" means "I await", a waiting that may be tinged with hope, as in the Nicene Creed's "Expecto resurrectionem". So the spell "Expecto patronum" means "I await a defender, an advocate". It turns out that the answer to Harry's prayer is the father whom he hopes for. The son is saved by his prayer and then sees himself standing next to the stage on the bank across the lake. Later the wise Dumbledore explains, "Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him..."
Perhaps the most dramatic and striking symbol in "The Philosopher's Stone", however, is the unicorn slaughtered by Voldemort. The unicorn in medieval art was a symbol of purity; legend had it that only a virgin could capture a unicorn. The unicorn would run to the virgin, lay its head in her lap, and fall asleep. For obvious reasons it was alsao personified as a symbol of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. When Hagrid and the children tell Ronan the centaur that a unicorn has been injured in the forest, Ronan responds by saying, "Always the innocent are the first victims...So it has been been for ages past, so it is now." Seen in a religious light and with the association with Mary and Jesus, these words remind the reader of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents at the hands of Herod.
Voldemort's name means "one who wills death". But he does not will death for himself; he wants the eternal life that he believes the Philosopher's Stone will grant him. No, he wills the death of others as the means to this eternal life. That is why he slaughtered the unicorn and tried to slaughter Harry. In the climactic scene he explains to Harry that ideas of good and evil are youthful and "ridiculous". He says, "There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it". For the attentive reader, this is a direct reference to Nietzsche, who argued that this will to power is at the heart of philosophy and is the secret desire of the modern quest for absolute autonomy. And yet the authentic love of his mother protects Harry and conquers this quest for unfettered power. Good, which is associated with love, triumphs over evil.
Finally, the mythic symbol of Dumbledore is the phoenix, another medieval symbol of Christ because of its ability to rise from the ashes on the third day after it has ben consumed in a holocaust. It is the phoenix that comes to Harry in the Chamber of Secrets when he recalls Dumbledore's promise to remain at Hogwarts as long as someone there thinks of him. The phoenix gives Harry the gift of the sword of Godric Gryffindor, with which he will slay the Basilisk. The name Godric is a pre-Norman Conquest English name that means "the power of God". So we have in the scene the association of two symbols of Christ, the phoenix and the griffin. And the gift the phoenix gives Harry is the power of God, the power of Christ, to slay the Basilisk, a symbol of Satan.
In short: Hogwarts is not a school of sorcery and the occult mastery of nature. It is a school of virtue, a community of inquiry in pursuit of wisdom, an academy of philosophy.
WOW!!!
How amazing is that? I mean, I always knew that Harry wasn't evil, and after reading the books I picked up on most of the things that are discussed in this article - however, it is great to see it reaffirmed and stated a little more eloquently (and authoritatively) than I am able. Hoorah.
The book is coming along wonderfully. I am just shy of page 200, and proud of it. I am not into the whole "read it in a day" thing. Mostly because I have a terrible memory and if I read it that quickly I will not remember the details, as I will not take them in from reading so quickly. Secondly, if I anticipated this book for as long as I did (which I did), then I want to savor it a little. I want to re-read passages and revel in the mystery and wonder of it all. I do not want to be the first completed with it without realizing what I've read. How sad that would be. And on a more practical note: I cannot read nearly that fast, nor am I able to read for hours on end without getting sleepy. Not because it's boring, but because my eyes get tired!! And so I have to alternate reading with other activities in order to keep my mind about me whilst reading. And so, I am taking my time, yet reading it quickly, as I do not want to find out the ending from some yo-yo who feels the need to share it with me against my wishes.
On another note, our second (my first) Theology on Tap is Tuesday night and I am very excited. The theme is the "Culture of Life" and a rock star priest is the one who will be speaking. He's wonderful, and the topic is tremendous, so it will undoubtedly be a wonderful session. And for all those wondering: there are three locations for Theology on Tap in my diocese, and this is a non-alcoholic one. Yes, I know I'm 20. Fear not, there is no alcohol on the premises. :) I will surely post about it after the event - God knows it'll be tremendous.
And on a completely different note: last night the local theatre group put on "Jesus Christ Superstar". I unsuspectingly bought 2 tickets, one for me, one for Elizabeth. We went out to see the show, aware that things might be somewhat fishy, but believing that it wouldn't be too "out there". However, IT WAS. After the first song, I was a little weirded out. Then it got worse, and worse, to the point when Mary Magdalene was cradling Jesus in her arm, caressing Him lovingly...and they walked off stage together HOLDING HANDS. I, in a loud whisper (I maintain it was a whisper, despite what the folks around me might attest to), started saying "HERETICS! HERETICS!" and Elizabeth tried to calm me. So then I put my head in my hands and started feeling really hot (like at the graduation speech this past spring...). Elizabeth was upset by it too, and looked at me and said "I don't know how much more I can take" and we decided to leave. I went over to my parents, who were sitting in our season ticket seats, and told them "I want to scream, I want to cry, and I just *yelled* heretic...I have to leave", and I left. So, yeah, that was my experience. The theology was deplorable. I understand that it's not supposed to be presented as a bona fide Bible study, necessarily, but still. I mean, I enjoy "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" for a reason. It's mostly factual, with a bit of fun and tomfoolery thrown in there. I can appreciate that. This was just "beyond the beyond" (to quote Sister Joseph Andrew). So Elizabeth and I came back and turned on EWTN and talked about Truth. :)
So that's what I have to say for now - I will get to posting more about Vocation Camp on Tuesday (at least, that's the plan as of now)...
Caritas et veritas.
I heart origami churches.
"Harry Potter, Catholic Boy"
by John O'Callaghan
Scholastic Books, the American publisher of the Harry Potter novels, changed the title of the first book from its British title, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" to "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" - American readers apparently cannot be expected to buy a book with "philosopher" in the title. But this change misled many to think that the novels were fundamentally about sorcery, witches, and witchcraft. They're not. They are about philosophy, literally "the love of wisdom", the desire to understand better the highest causes of things, and they are about faith seeking understanding, "fides quaerens intellectum" in the lovely Latin phrase. These two themes are intertwined and have an ancient heritage in Western culture, from Plato and Aristotle through Augustine and Aquinas to J.K. Rowling, who gives narrative expression to them in a lively morality tale, pitting unfettered power and evil against the power of goodness and love, a culture of life versus a culture of death in search of the philosopher's treasure: wisdom.
Consider the rich religious symbols used throughout the novels. We have the characters of Lucius Malfoy - that is, Lucifer, surnamed "bad faith". We have his son, Draco, whose name is Latin for "snake".We have Slytherin House, again the snake. By contrast we have Gryffindor House, "griffin d'or" being French for "golden griffin" - a medieval symbol for Christ. We have, in the third novel, "The Prisoner of Azkaban", Lupin the wolf, symbol of poverty and of St. Francis (the association with St. Francis is apt when we think of Professor Lupin's ill health and the rags he wears for clothes), and Sirius Black the dog, who represents "watchfulness and fidelity," often used in religious art as a symbol of St. Dominic and associated with the Dominicans (who are known as the Blackfriars because of the black capes they wear over their white religious habits). And the villain of the third book is Peter Pettigrew, the rat, symbol of destruction and evil.
Most striking of images in the books is the deer or stag, who represents stag, religious aspiration, solitude, and purity of life. Unbeknownst to Harry, it is his faither in the form of a stag who appears when he utters the "Expecto patronum" spell in the third book. Recall that Harry is passing out, about to be overcome by the kiss of a Dementor (themselves unsubtle tributes to J.R.R. Tolkien's Ringwraiths). In Latin, "patronus" means "defender" or "advocate" and it etymologically linked with the Latin for "father". "Expecto" means "I await", a waiting that may be tinged with hope, as in the Nicene Creed's "Expecto resurrectionem". So the spell "Expecto patronum" means "I await a defender, an advocate". It turns out that the answer to Harry's prayer is the father whom he hopes for. The son is saved by his prayer and then sees himself standing next to the stage on the bank across the lake. Later the wise Dumbledore explains, "Your father is alive in you, Harry, and shows himself most plainly when you have need of him..."
Perhaps the most dramatic and striking symbol in "The Philosopher's Stone", however, is the unicorn slaughtered by Voldemort. The unicorn in medieval art was a symbol of purity; legend had it that only a virgin could capture a unicorn. The unicorn would run to the virgin, lay its head in her lap, and fall asleep. For obvious reasons it was alsao personified as a symbol of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. When Hagrid and the children tell Ronan the centaur that a unicorn has been injured in the forest, Ronan responds by saying, "Always the innocent are the first victims...So it has been been for ages past, so it is now." Seen in a religious light and with the association with Mary and Jesus, these words remind the reader of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents at the hands of Herod.
Voldemort's name means "one who wills death". But he does not will death for himself; he wants the eternal life that he believes the Philosopher's Stone will grant him. No, he wills the death of others as the means to this eternal life. That is why he slaughtered the unicorn and tried to slaughter Harry. In the climactic scene he explains to Harry that ideas of good and evil are youthful and "ridiculous". He says, "There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it". For the attentive reader, this is a direct reference to Nietzsche, who argued that this will to power is at the heart of philosophy and is the secret desire of the modern quest for absolute autonomy. And yet the authentic love of his mother protects Harry and conquers this quest for unfettered power. Good, which is associated with love, triumphs over evil.
Finally, the mythic symbol of Dumbledore is the phoenix, another medieval symbol of Christ because of its ability to rise from the ashes on the third day after it has ben consumed in a holocaust. It is the phoenix that comes to Harry in the Chamber of Secrets when he recalls Dumbledore's promise to remain at Hogwarts as long as someone there thinks of him. The phoenix gives Harry the gift of the sword of Godric Gryffindor, with which he will slay the Basilisk. The name Godric is a pre-Norman Conquest English name that means "the power of God". So we have in the scene the association of two symbols of Christ, the phoenix and the griffin. And the gift the phoenix gives Harry is the power of God, the power of Christ, to slay the Basilisk, a symbol of Satan.
In short: Hogwarts is not a school of sorcery and the occult mastery of nature. It is a school of virtue, a community of inquiry in pursuit of wisdom, an academy of philosophy.
WOW!!!
How amazing is that? I mean, I always knew that Harry wasn't evil, and after reading the books I picked up on most of the things that are discussed in this article - however, it is great to see it reaffirmed and stated a little more eloquently (and authoritatively) than I am able. Hoorah.
The book is coming along wonderfully. I am just shy of page 200, and proud of it. I am not into the whole "read it in a day" thing. Mostly because I have a terrible memory and if I read it that quickly I will not remember the details, as I will not take them in from reading so quickly. Secondly, if I anticipated this book for as long as I did (which I did), then I want to savor it a little. I want to re-read passages and revel in the mystery and wonder of it all. I do not want to be the first completed with it without realizing what I've read. How sad that would be. And on a more practical note: I cannot read nearly that fast, nor am I able to read for hours on end without getting sleepy. Not because it's boring, but because my eyes get tired!! And so I have to alternate reading with other activities in order to keep my mind about me whilst reading. And so, I am taking my time, yet reading it quickly, as I do not want to find out the ending from some yo-yo who feels the need to share it with me against my wishes.
On another note, our second (my first) Theology on Tap is Tuesday night and I am very excited. The theme is the "Culture of Life" and a rock star priest is the one who will be speaking. He's wonderful, and the topic is tremendous, so it will undoubtedly be a wonderful session. And for all those wondering: there are three locations for Theology on Tap in my diocese, and this is a non-alcoholic one. Yes, I know I'm 20. Fear not, there is no alcohol on the premises. :) I will surely post about it after the event - God knows it'll be tremendous.
And on a completely different note: last night the local theatre group put on "Jesus Christ Superstar". I unsuspectingly bought 2 tickets, one for me, one for Elizabeth. We went out to see the show, aware that things might be somewhat fishy, but believing that it wouldn't be too "out there". However, IT WAS. After the first song, I was a little weirded out. Then it got worse, and worse, to the point when Mary Magdalene was cradling Jesus in her arm, caressing Him lovingly...and they walked off stage together HOLDING HANDS. I, in a loud whisper (I maintain it was a whisper, despite what the folks around me might attest to), started saying "HERETICS! HERETICS!" and Elizabeth tried to calm me. So then I put my head in my hands and started feeling really hot (like at the graduation speech this past spring...). Elizabeth was upset by it too, and looked at me and said "I don't know how much more I can take" and we decided to leave. I went over to my parents, who were sitting in our season ticket seats, and told them "I want to scream, I want to cry, and I just *yelled* heretic...I have to leave", and I left. So, yeah, that was my experience. The theology was deplorable. I understand that it's not supposed to be presented as a bona fide Bible study, necessarily, but still. I mean, I enjoy "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" for a reason. It's mostly factual, with a bit of fun and tomfoolery thrown in there. I can appreciate that. This was just "beyond the beyond" (to quote Sister Joseph Andrew). So Elizabeth and I came back and turned on EWTN and talked about Truth. :)
So that's what I have to say for now - I will get to posting more about Vocation Camp on Tuesday (at least, that's the plan as of now)...
Caritas et veritas.
I heart origami churches.
