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It is possible the Harry Potter series will surpass Star Wars and James Bond and become the highest-grossing movie franchise in history by the end of the year. And Potter still has two more movies to go.
- Potter-related products likely in excess of $15 billion.
- Because of it’s success there has been an increase in the amount of books and programs that use the theme of witchcraft and magic
- Each trying to out do the other
- So does pop culture influence us?
- USA Today Wed 7/25/07 - The Walt Disney Co. will eliminate smoking from all its films released under the Disney label and will discourage smoking in films released its under Touchstone and Miramax brands.
Revisiting the Books
+ THE SORCERER’S STONE
> Sorcery
- Latin - sors - chance, sortis - by lots
> Sorcery is based on a belief of accessing and manipulating supernatural power through the help of witchcraft and spirits
- The stone is a occult practice that combined the exploration of minerals with Gnostic practices of sorcery seeking to turn base metal into gold, and through that, attain an inner spiritual transformation and gives Sorcery is nothing less than the attempt to replace God
Sorcery is nothing less than the attempt to replace God
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> Muggles
> Harry’s adoptive parents
> Non-witches - Portrayed negatively
> Idiots, clumsy people
>Wands
It chooses Harry (here a form of animism, objects have intelligence)
> Known as divining rods, focusing energy by controlling the spirits
> His Owl
- Used as a messenger
> Demons in the form of owls attend witches
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> Ghosts - Very evident in the first book
> Interacting with the dead
- Harry makes contact
> Strictly Forbidden in Scripture
>Le 19:31 NLT “Do not defile yourselves by turning to mediums or to those who consult the spirits of the dead. I am the Lord your God.
> Le 20:6 GNT “If anyone goes for advice to people who consult the spirits of the dead, I will turn against him and will no longer consider him one of my people.
> Is 8:19 MSS When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers. Consult the spiritualists. Why not tap into the spirit-world, get in touch with the dead?” 20 Is Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.” People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
+ THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS - 1999
> Themes of darkness, disobedience and the occult
- Harry sees the Hand of Glory in a shop (52).
- Used as a charm in black-magic spells
- It was a hand that was cut off from an executed criminal
> Talismans - Charms
- The students are scared so use these charms to protect themselves
> Objects that possess magical or supernatural power of their own and transmit them to the owner,
- The monster in the Chamber of Secrets speaks to Harry through the castle’s walls, saying, “Come ... come to me. ... Let me rip you. ... Let me tear you. ... Let me kill you.”
- Harry also finds out that he can talk to snakes.
> Lack of Morals
- Almost every adventure Harry has comes from lying or disobeying or stealing
- Lying is the way of life at Hogwarts
Harry and his friends choose to lie frequently. The lies produce no negative consequences and no guilt on the part of the "heroic" liars.
- The kids at Hogwarts steal. The stealing is cute, of course, and harmless. They steal food from the kitchen when they want to celebrate. It must be okay because Harry’s father, it turns out, stole food better than anyone else. So, big deal!
- Harry and his friends choose to take revenge on various people. Revenge and resentment are a major theme of the whole series, but it’s all done in a seductively cute and light-hearted manner.
+ THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN - 1999
> Azkaban - is the wizards prison - Undefinable Misery
- Extremely remote, uninhabited island, considered escape- proof.
- Garded by Dementors
> Darker and scarier then the 2nd book
- Many references to madness and death
> Dementors are introduced
> p. 187 - "They infest the darkest, filthiest places, they glory in decay and despair; they drain peace, hope, and happiness out of the air around them….If it can, the dementor will feed on you long enough to reduce you to something like itself…soul-less and evil,"
- Effected Harry p 83 - Harry’s eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn’t see. He was drowning in cold. …He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder…"
+ GOBLET OF FIRE
> Themes - Of the grotesque, the cruel, and Death
- Dubbed ’Scary Potter’ in the British press
- Takes the reader more deeply into dark imagery and practices
- At times repulsive
- Opens with a scary scene of murder that continues throughout
- Another scene p120 Obscene “…her nightdress fell down to reveal voluminous drawers and she struggled to cover herself up as the crowd below her screeched and hooted with glee,”
- Death - The ghost of Moaning Myrtle some one had found her body
- p465 ."And then she saw my body. . . ooooh, she didn’t forget it until her dying day, I made sure of that. . . followed her around and reminded her, I did,"
> Abracadabra
- Thought to be a hoaky chant made up by magicians pulling rabbits out of hats
> In reality called the "killing curse"
> Aramaic meaning "I create as I speak"
+ ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
> PIX
> The phoenix is a mythical sacred firebird in ancient Egyptian mythology longing for immortality
- At the end of its life-cycle the phoenix builds itself a nest of cinnamon twigs that it then ignites; both nest and bird burn fiercely and are reduced to ashes, from which a new, young phoenix arises.
The bird was also said to regenerate when hurt — a symbol of fire and divinity.
- Became a symbol of the early church a symbol of Christ representing his resurrection, immortality, and life-after-death
- “Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix” could be a parallel to an Inner Order of an Occult organization.
- Phoenix rising is the death, resurrection and ascension of man to god
- In the “Order of the Phoenix” Rowlings gives a true description of the training and work of an initiate in an occult order
> Harry is moody, depressive, angry and disrespectful, and events in this book make him feel even worse.
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE
> The most incomplete of the books making the reader to seek the last book
> Moving from children readers to adult readers
> The darkest of all the previous books starting with unexpected bleakness
- Harry finds an old book marked "This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince" and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort’s dark past.
- The Horcrux is unfolded here which is a receptacle in which a Dark wizard has hidden a part of his soul for the purposes of attaining immortality.
> No one and nothing is safe, including preconceived notions of good and evil and of right and wrong.
DEATHLY HOLLOWS
- Exactly as the title says
> Death is every where and others are wounded or tortured
> It is dark & bloody
- A NYT reviewer Michiko Kakutani says it is a somber book that moves Harry into the sadness of adulthood
+ Kids & Harry Potter
> "I was eager to get to Hogwarts first because I like what they learned there and I want to be a witch." Gioia Bishop, age 10.[1]
> "I like the third book because here [Harry] meets his godfather and Professor Lupin, a really cool guy [This really "cool guy" is a werewolf as well as wizard, and Harry’s godfather is a "shape shifter" who turns himself into a scary black dog]...." Harry Libarle, age 7.[2]
> ’I’m a fanatic,’’ announced 14-year-old Ashley, who apparently has read each of the first five books about five times each. "I love reading them. They get you hooked.’’ Her sister Lauren, 10, confirmed Ashley’s zeal. "She takes them everywhere,’’ she said.’’
> “The Order of the Phoenix” makes me feel as though I am Harry. Here I feel I am a student at Hogwarts." Greg Fitzgerald, 13
> A mother was asked, What do you think of the Harry Potter books? I love them," "I’ve read all of them twice to myself and once to my children." – When she started reading to her kids they were 6, 8, & 11
> "I couldn’t believe she killed off a character. I was so depressed.... I know I’m getting worked up over what’s fiction. My mom keeps reminding me of that. But I said, ’It’s all real in my mind.’" (Nancy Chen, 14, of Tulsa)
> A 27 yr-old South Londoner writing a review of the Harry Potter books speaks about herself before giving the review I am a real-life witch interested in chaos magick, tarot, kaballah and the Egyptian and Celtic deities. My father introduced me to the Harry Potter books not long after book four came out.
... The books are so thought out. You are not just drawn into the story but into that world. Then through talking about them with fans you fall further and further in love with the characters, you analyze them and worry about them until they feel real to you.
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VIDEO - How Harry Potter changed my life at age 14. Now 21
"Harry was the first fictional character I could relate to, which is why these books changed my life."
VIDEO - I believe in the Power of Potter - age 14
"If there is one reason I believe in the Power of Potter, it is for the uniting people”
+ The Spiral Decent
> 1. Love tempting alternatives rather than God. (1 Tim 6:9)
+ 2. Enjoy evil more than good. (Isaiah 5:20-21)
+3. Trust fantasy more than Truth. (Jeremiah 7:24)
+ 4. Reject God’s unchanging Truth for their own ideas. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
+ 5. Redefine Biblical words to support today’s thrills. (2 Pet 2:1, 18-19)
+ 6. Pleasure pleasing crowd seekers. (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
+ BUT Does Harry Potter Harm Us?
Children becoming emotionally involved with the characters they will not stop to ask, is there another and indeed better way.
> 1. Witchcraft is wrong
> Dt 18:9-12 NIV When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you.
> 2. Fantasies can exchange the imaginary into delights
> Je 7:24 KJV But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
+ Looking at Rowling’s Message
> 1. A better world can be found through pagan practices
> 2 . Rebellion is the mind set both at Hogwarts and at home
> 3. The occult is not all wrong
> 4. Paganism is just another lifestyle alternative
> 5. Mystical experiences can be exciting & fun
- Remember 1/3 to 2/3 of American children ages 6 to 16 HAVE ALREADY READ a Harry Potter book
- Use Harry Potter as a springboard to talk about Christ souls, eternal life, death and loss, coming of age, relationships, friendship, fears, school, war, tragedy
- Remember Daniel in the dark arts yet stood in the light
+ Apprehending Deception
> 1. Awareness of it
> Col 2:8 - Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world...
>2. Avoid it
Eph. 5:11 - Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness
>3 Avert It
>Remember & Affirm God’s Word
> Trust & Follow him
> Rom 8:37 - Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us,
