Way Too Much Alchemical HP Symbolism

Damn. I do a little more digging around in alchemical texts and suddenly a deluge of relevant Potter imagery comes gushing forth. There's so much that seems to fit with my quintessential Potter theory (and don't even get me started on quintessence being the fifth Hermetic element) that I don't even know what to do with it. Except document it, I suppose, for now. Maybe I'll work up a more elaborate theory later. And if you haven't read the post below this one, you should do that first.

The final stages of inner alchemy and the animal symbolism relating thereto: white tincture (unicorn), red tincture (stag), final work (phoenix).

White tincture represents the feminine aspect of the soul. Sometimes symbolized by the unicorn, because the unicorn could only be tamed by the touch of a pure woman. Also pictured as a queen dressed in shining white robes appearing in the alchemist's flask.

I will add that lilies are also white and symbolize purity. (I wonder what happens when a queen sacrifices herself in wizard chess?)

Red tincture represents the masculine aspect of the soul. Sometimes symbolized by the stag bearing antlers, the stag being seen as a noble masculine animal. Also pictured as a red king or knight brandishing a sword in the alchemist's flask.

In some alchemical illustrations, such as that of the late 16th century Book of Lambspring, the Stag and Unicorn meet in the forest of the soul as part of the process of inner transformation. (I wonder if the forest in Albania is just the Forbidden Forest for grown-ups?)

The tinctures of alchemy relate also to the substances of the Mass — the red wine, the blood, and the white wafer, the body of Christ. Administration of the sacraments was seen as spiritualising the soul of the partaker, and the tinctures serve much the same purpose in alchemy but without a priest. Here alchemy apparently links directly with Grail stories, which use similar parallels between the Grail and the Sacraments. Now is probably not the time for me to delve into Arthurian Grail quest or the hallows (sacred objects of the inner quest) found along the way, or to try and relate these to the tarot.

Where was I? Oh yes, the Stag and Unicorn have met up, and now it's time for the final stage of the alchemist's work, symbolized by...

The Phoenix! Rising from the flames! Hey, maybe I should have invoked the Lightening Struck Tower tarot card. But in interior terms the phoenix marks the rebirth of the personality from out of the crucible of transformation. In other words, alchemists experienced an inner death and then rebirth in attaining the "Philosopher's Stone." For the record, I should probably note that I think Dumbledore is quite dead and that Harry is the metaphorical newborn phoenix who's going to rise from the ashes.

One symbol for the philosopher's stone was the ouroboros, the snake eating it's own tail. I'm sure I've already discussed somewhere below how this also signifies the dual nature of all things, the vicious cycle that begins anew as soon as it ends, immortality, the One who proceeds from the clash of opposites; and I think Carl Jung also said that the ouroboros simultaneously slays himself and brings himself to life. Which is so Voldemort & Harry.

Also uncovered some interesting but somewhat cryptic 14th century writings by Nicholas Flamel. There's a lot of snake imagery on his gravestone, including the ouroboros and the caduceus (two intertwined snakes, representing primal power to heal or harm, see chapters 21 & 22 of OotP), and he seemed to have a thing about helping orphans. I'm sure there's more, but I couldn't get myself to read it.

I suppose it's a good sign for a quintessential Harry Potter theory when not only all of what Jo has ever said in interviews but also ~2,500 years of Western philosophical tradition line up neatly behind it. Now if only I could find a way to make money off this....

ETA: Does it never end?? Add to list of important alchemical emblems the knight with sword fighting giant inner snake, the wild wolf and tame dog vying for supremacy at the edge of the forest, the king of the forest who does not have to fight the beasties in it, and the Stag and Unicorn turned to red and white birds fighting each other (one above and one below), before transforming into white doves and then becoming a phoenix (the polarities fight, absorb each other, and then are reborn in a new form).

Alchemy and the Key to Solving Harry Potter

In a recently archived interview from 1998, Jo said: "I've never wanted to be a witch, but an alchemist, now that's a different matter. To invent this wizard world, I've learned a ridiculous amount about alchemy. Perhaps much of it I'll never use in the books, but I have to know it detail what magic can and cannot do in order to set the parameters and establish the stories' internal logic."

My philosophy is that if Jo finds a subject very interesting, it's probably worth my while to learn a little bit about it. So I hurried off to the Wikipedia (my version of the Hogwarts library) to read up on alchemy. I already knew that the philosopher's stone was supposed to be able to transmute base metals into gold and prolong life indefinitely, but I learned also that, "The philosopher's stone was believed to mystically amplify the user's knowledge of alchemy so much that anything was attainable."

I really like this idea. Better yet:

"Both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea [Elixir of Life] symbolized evolution from an imperfect, diseased, corruptible and ephemeral state towards a perfect, healthy, incorruptible and everlasting state; and the philosopher's stone then represented some mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself, the twin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented some hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are written according to this view, the cryptic alchemical symbols, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemical works typically contain multiple layers of meanings, allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works; and must be laboriously 'decoded' in order to discover their true meaning."

*evil cackle*

I love codes and puzzles and ciphers, and generally finding hidden meanings. And if you visit Jo's website and start hunting around for the hidden content that goes in the scrapbook, I think you'll see that she does too.

I also like playing pretend. So let's pretend that the Harry Potter series is a "late alchemical work" and contains multiple layers of meaning and allegory that must be laboriously decoded in order to discover their true meaning. Let's also say that enlightenment here is knowledge of what is in that final chapter of book 7 that has been sitting in Jo's vault since circa 1990.

What we need now is a magical key, something that represents a hidden truth which can lead us to this goal. And since we still don't know very much about alchemy, it would be nice to have something to magically amplify our knowledge of it so much that anything is attainable. The answer should be obvious by now: go get your copy of Philosopher's Stone. (If you have the American version, do note the random golden key on the back cover.)

The gauntlet Harry runs in chapters 16 and 17 — the seven chambers leading up to the stone and Harry's final encounter with Voldemort — are the most heavily laden with cryptic symbolism and imagery. This is where you really have to use your imagination to put yourself in those chambers and think about what you would do if you were really there, if you were Harry. Look for patterns in what the trio have to do, and when you've found a good one, try projecting it onto the remaining six books in the series.

It's not easy, but I think after you've really worked your way through those seven chambers a few times, the truth of Harry's ultimate destiny might just fall into your head/pocket the same way Harry himself fell into Jo's. Just make it your heart's desire and use your eyes. :D

Fanfic: The Werewolf Prank

I finished my first HP fanfic! It was the third or fourth one I'd ever started, but the first that actually made it to the end. Probably it was having a co-author that made me disciplined enough not to go chasing after every other brilliant story idea that cropped up in my head midway through. I used to think I could keep multiple stories going at once, but that turned out not to be true at all. So thanks, Z!



Here's a banner I had made for it a while back. We tell the story of the Werewolf Prank from two different points of view, with zgirnius doing Severus Snape's side and me doing Sirius Black's side. The thing wound up being the size of a large novella, at about 37,848 words (a novel is 40,001 and up, according to Wikipedia). If nothing else, it might be the most thorough rendition of the Werewolf Prank out there.

Link to the story: http://www.cosforums.com/showthread.php?t=97160

Deep Thought of the Day

From an interview with Dan Radcliffe:

"And many of the actors I admire, like Gary Oldman, have gone naked."

I don't know why I find this so amusing, but I do. Maybe because I'm half-expecting Julie Walters (who plays Molly Weasley in the movies) to show up brandishing a ladle and telling Gary Oldman off for being a bad influence.

Well, she's doing that in my mind right now ... I won't tell you whether or not Mr. Oldman is naked....

Deathly Hallows Cover

I made this for the CoS Deathly Hallows cover contest a couple weeks ago. It didn't win, though I still don't think I'd change anything on it.

Harry is in some dark, obscure place near the end of his journey. That might be the veil in the background, or the entrance to a crypt. And he's discovering something powerful and mysterious and awesome, and I have no idea what that is.

It was done in Photoshop using a doctored Mary GrandPré calendar illustration and a random background photo, and I added lots of stuff with oil pastels in Corel Painter IX.

Teaching Mental Magic

I was delighted to stumble across some old quotes this morning in which Jo confirms a theory that I've had for the past few months:

"Look: I don't believe in witchcraft. Many of the terms for spells and charms and so on, I invented. Witchcraft is just a metaphor for this other world of possibilities, beyond convention, that the mind can reach." (link)

"She does not believe in magic, but she sees it 'as a beautiful metaphor for other things in life.'" (link)

It had been my suspicion that her physical magic was a metaphor for mental magic. To put it in bluntly scientific terms, if the book I'm currently reading* is not complete rubbish, humans undergo a second growth phase of the prefrontal cortex that is supposed to kick into gear around age 21, allowing us to become aware of our own consciousness and start to exert a bit of control over our other brain functions. Only in practice, this kicking into gear is exceedingly rare.

I've been poking around on Wikipedia and have got the sense that this rare ability is what mystics (Sufis, Quakers, Kabbalists, yogis, etc), major religious figures (Christ, Muhammed, the Buddha), certain heretical types (alchemists, Hermeticists, serious Tarot readers), stoic philosophers (Marcus Aurelius), psychologists (Carl Jung) and a host of other influential figures have been trying to understand and perpetuate down the ages. Obviously a hefty claim, so just consider it my idle speculation for now.

More quotes from Jo:

"That beautiful image in C.S. Lewis where there are the pools — the world between worlds — and you can jump into the different pools to access the different worlds. And that, for me, was always a metaphor for a library." (link)

"DR: When did you first come up with the idea of Harry Potter - and how?

JKR: It was 1990. I was traveling by train from Manchester to London in England. The train was delayed, as often happens in Britain. And, er... This, this idea just came out of nowhere.

DR: What do you mean "the idea"?

JKR: Erm... The basic idea... Harry, I saw Harry very very very clearly. Very vividly. And I knew he didn't know he was a wizard. So I see this skinny little boy with black hair, and green eyes, and glasses. And erm... Patched-up glasses, you know, that got scotch tape around them, holding them together. And I knew that he didn't know what he was. And so then I kind of worked backwards from that position to find out how that could be, that he wouldn't know what he was. And er... at the same time I'm thinking that he's gonna go to wizard's school. And that was when it really caught fire for me, I got really excited of the idea of what wizard's school would be like." (link)

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Jo was thinking of the seven-part series itself as a "wizard's school," figuratively speaking. I had proposed an idea a while ago that she might not end the series conclusively, but design it so that the last chapter acts like a "Portkey" or "Time Turner," kicking the reader back to the first book to run the gauntlet again and again until they finally look in the mirror and feel the stone drop into their pocket. I imagine this would induce a mild sense of vertigo — like being flipped out of a Penseive — but at the same time the conclusion would be completely unavoidable...

Like a giant in the doorway.

------

* The Biology of Transcendence, by Joseph Chilton Pearce

The Power the Dark Lords Knows Not

According to the Wikipedia, the Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent swallowing its own tail and forming a circle. It often represents self-reflexivity or cyclicality, especially in the sense of something constantly recreating itself, the eternal return, and other things perceived as cycles that begin anew as soon as they end (especially negative or "vicious" cycles). The symbol has appeared in many religions and cultures over the last ~3600 years of human history, and has a special significance in alchemy. Swiss psychologist Carl Jung writes:

"Ouroboros has been said to have a meaning of infinity or wholeness. In the age-old image of the ouroboros lies the thought of devouring oneself and turning oneself into a circulatory process.... The ouroboros is a dramatic symbol for the integration and assimilation of the opposite, i.e. of the shadow. This 'feedback' process is at the same time a symbol of immortality, since it is said of the ouroboros that he slays himself and brings himself to life.... He symbolizes the One, who proceeds from the clash of opposites...."

Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow in 1981 to kill the son of those who had thrice defied him, because it was foretold that this baby would one day have the power to vanquish him. However in doing so, he accidentally destroyed his own body while transferring some of his powers into another body; he replicated himself in baby Harry, to some extent.

This is not to suggest that I think Harry is a Horcrux. Harry was just an orphaned, dark-haired, half-blooded wizard boy who could speak to snakes. The cycle that began with the infant Tom Riddle was poised to begin anew with the infant Harry Potter. But Harry had the power the Dark Lord knew not: love. The fact that his mother died to save him, and not in spite of him, left him with a lingering protection in his blood.

Dumbledore decided that, since Lily Potter had invoked an ancient magic as Voldemort shed her blood (figuratively, since the Avada Kedavra doesn't usually make people bleed), the bond of blood was the strongest shield he could give Harry.

Now, what was noteworthy about Lily's blood? It was Muggle blood. Her Muggle blood, her sister Petunia, is what has saved Harry.

When Dumbledore went to the orphanage to collect Tom Riddle, he discovered the matron and the other children were all afraid of him, because strange things seemed to happen when he was around, especially if he was angry or upset. Riddle had developed a taste for instilling fear in people and manipulating them using his strange powers, and this was something he never grew out of.

Was Dumbledore to let Harry go to an orphanage? Aunt Marge announces in PoA that that's exactly where he would have gone if he'd been dumped on her doorstep. Luckily, Aunt Petunia was willing to take him. This meant that Harry grew up with adults who knew he was a wizard, and despised him for it. He was punished every time strange things happened around him, he was never given the opportunity to gain power over people and manipulate them by instilling fear.

What if Harry had gone to live with one of the many wizarding families who would have been honored and delighted to raise him as a son? What if he had grown up a pampered little prince, knowing he was famous? Would he have had the same drive to destroy Voldemort for having killed his parents? Would he have had the same sense of independence and ability to think for himself? Would he have had the same intuitive understanding of what it felt like to return to a loveless Muggle environment every summer, like Riddle had to?

Harry has walked in Voldemort's footsteps, entered Voldemort's mind, faced Voldemort repeatedly on his own. If Dumbledore had not let Harry do all this, even if he could have protected him for sixteen years, Harry would have been toast the moment he came of age.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Harry's ability to love is what has kept Voldemort from possessing his body and mind, together with the Muggle blood that kept him from turning into another Voldemort himself. He has spent his whole life preparing to meet his destiny. Dumbledore was thinking very long-term when he first arrived on Privet Drive; that must have been what the funny pocket watch with the planets was all about.

How Come I Never Thought of This Before?

One of the problems with being an obsessive Harry Potter fan is that you sometimes have wonderful flashes of insight that you just have to share with other obsessive Harry Potter fans. Mine are scattered about on forums, woven into fanfics, and recently I was even considering writing editorials for Mugglenet. Then I realized what I really wanted to do was just collect my thoughts in one place, write them down as they occurred to me, not worry about convincing a target audience or always adhering to forum etiquette. Just get it down so I can move on to the next exciting theory. I can't believe it took me this long to think of making a blog. Hopefully I'll stick to it and it'll be fun...