 Die alchemistische Theorie von John Granger für Band 7  |
Bernhard Nowak 
Schüler
Dabei seit: 26.08.2004
Alter: 60
Herkunft: Rödermark
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| Die alchemistische Theorie von John Granger für Band 7 |
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Hier nun die Alchemistische Theorie von John Granger. Auch sie ist interessant und leider nicht mehr auf seiner Homepage auffindbar. dieses Aufsatzes folgt anbei. Ich danke Berenice für die Zusendung dieses interessanten Aufsatzes. 
Wizardpupil und ich hatten Teile dieser Theorie im Thread: auf S. 10 dargestellt. Hier jedoch nochmals seine Sicht, die m.E. sehr interessant ist. Sie enthält Prognosen über den Ausgang von Band 7, den er "Harry Potter and the Alchemist`s Cell" nennt. Ich stelle diesen Aufsatz - genau wie den gestrigen über den "Halbblutprinzen" unter: und seine - aus dem Werk: "Looking for God in Harry Potter" (Saltriver, 2006) übernommene "Doppelgängertheorie" unter: hier hinein, weil er m.E. zu wertvoll und zu wichtig ist, um verloren zu gehen. Er soll Euch zur Verfügung gestellt werden und zur Diskussion anregen! 
My morning routine is not much different than most peopleâs I have to think, with one exception. When I finally get to the computer and look in my email âInbox,â there are on average three emails there with questions about Harry Potter.
This is unusual, I guess, but I canât complain. Itâs my fault and itâs all fun. The letters are the natural consequence of writing a book about Harry Potter, Looking for God in Harry Potter (Tyndale, 2004), in which I included my email address. I also have a web site, , which has a âContact Johnâ button. To my delight and no small relief, the great majority of these letter writers, agreeing or disagreeing with my arguments, are kind, polite, and have read the Harry Potter books. The very few unkind notes I receive arenât from the Harry Haters who burn the books before reading them (perhaps they imagine I am unreachableâ¦) but from fans whom I have offended by not supporting their favorite theories about these stories.
It has been over a month now since the Midnight Madness parties held worldwide to celebrate the advent of the penultimate chapter in this seven part series. Serious fans and intelligent readers, though, are still writing me every day to share their ideas about Half-Blood Prince and to ask my opinion. I'm sure Iâll feel lonely when the stream of notes and questions runs dry if I am at a loss now for time to answer the email as Iâd like!
These notes almost always include two questions: âWhat do you think of Half-Blood Prince?â and âHow do you think the story will end?â As my book was the first to explore the alchemical skeleton on which the books are hung, both questions in the letters I get usually are framed with a reference to literary alchemy. Because I was the guy who said Dumbledore had to die in Half-Blood Prince because it would be the âwhite stageâ in the alchemical work, I guess this makes sense.
I answered the âWhat do you think?â question at HogwartsProfessor.com in a series of posts on the meaning of Dumbledoreâs death, on âwhat really happenedâ in Book 6, and a draft of the Half-Blood Prince chapter that will appear in the soft cover edition of my book coming out in the fall. I hope to answer the âhow will the story endâ question here by putting together my thoughts on how literary alchemy throws light on certain points that may help those trying to figure out the ending before the last book is published. This will be a short course in alchemical arithmancy and specifically about the importance of the numbers 7, 4, 2, and 1 in these books.
Letâs start with why there are seven books and why Tom Riddle, Jr., thinks that seven Horcruxes are a sure pass to immortality. The answer to the seven question also explains why the Great Work of alchemy is often described as a seven stage process and even why there are seven days of the week and seven players on a Hogwarts Quidditch team. Seven, in brief, is the number of transcendence or divinization.
Every Harry Potter book is an alchemical drama and the whole series is, too. The alchemical work, though often represented by three colors as beginning-middle-and-end âstagesâ (black followed by white followed by red), is a seven part cycle of transformation. This is why there are seven Harry Potter novels. Even Lord Voldemort understands that seven is more than a symbol for a quantity greater than six but less than eight. As he says to Professor Slughorn in their first discussion of Horcruxes:
âYes, sir,â said Riddle. âWhat I donât understand, though - just out of curiosity - I mean, would one Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldnât it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces, I mean, for instance, isnât seven the most powerfully magic number, wouldnât seven -?â (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 23, Scholastic p 498)
Unfortunately, Professor Slughorn interrupts young Riddle at this point so we miss his lesson in demonically applied arithmancy. We can guess from context and traditional numerology, though, that Riddleâs unfinished question would end âwouldnât seven Horcruxes effectively make you immortal and God-like?â I have read just enough fandom âNew Ageâ alchemy speculations, nonsense about chakras, and even cut-and-paste layovers of western church sacraments to Harry Potter novels to realize that the meaning and symbolism of number fascinates people but largely escapes their understanding.
This is what one would have to expect in a historical period aptly described as âthe reign of quantityâ in which numbers are only understood as ciphers for specific quantities. Traditionally numbers represent qualities and relations primarily and quantities only incidentally. Here is a corrective âcrash courseâ in traditional numerology as it relates to the number seven from an essay by Martin Lings, a tutorial student and friend of C. S. Lewis, and brilliant poet, critic, and apologist for tradition in his own right. He explains why seven is the number representing the perfection of the human being as a microcosm of creation:
In the series of seven figure numbers there are two that stand out from the rest as having an essentially Divine significance, namely, one and seven; between them, as between alpha and omega, is enacted the whole drama of existence. One is the Creator; two signifies the Spirit [ in a footnote Lings, a Sufi by confession, explains âthe Spirit, in Islamic doctrine, is the summit and synthesis of all creation, opening to the Uncreated and therefore possessing implicitly, if not explicitly, the Uncreated Aspect that is none other than the Third Person of the Christian Trinityâ], three Heaven, four earth, and five man, whose place is as a quintessence at the centre of the four elements, the four points of the compass, and the four seasons of the year, which characterize the earthly state.
But man cannot fulfil his function as mediator between Heaven and earth without the transcendent dimension of depth and of height, the vertical axis that passes through the centre of all degrees of existence and is none other than the Tree of Life. This superhuman dimension is implicit in the central point of the quintessence but does not become explicit until the number five is transcended. It is through six that the centre becomes the axis, that the seed becomes the tree, and six is the number of primordial man in the state in which he was created on the sixth day. As universal mediator he measures out, with his six directions, the whole of existence, and beyond six lies that from which existence proceeds and to which it returns. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all his work (Genesis II:3).
Seven thus signifies repose in the Divine Center. From that point of view it is the symbol of Absolute Finality and Perfection, appearing in this world as a Divine Seal upon earthly things, as in the number of the days of the week, the planets, the sacraments of the [western] church, and many other septenaries, the mention of which would take us too far from our subject.
Martin Lings, âThe Seven Deadly Sins in the Light of the Symbolism of Number,â Symbol and Archetype: A Study in the Meaning of Existence, Quinta Essentia, pp 98-99)
One of the septenaries echoing the Genesis creation account that Lings, once Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts in the British Museum and the British Library, means here is the seven stage alchemical work. He quotes at length from Titus Burckhardtâs Alchemy in his magisterial The Secret of Shakespeare to reveal the alchemical structures and meaning of Anthony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet, and The Tempest, among others. Burchardtâs exposition of the meaning of alchemy, too, largely depends on the correspondence of the seven planets and metals within the rotation of the elements (see Alchemy, Penguin books, 1972, chapters 4 and 5).
Alchemy is a seven stage work because its aim is to restore the alchemist to the state of Adamic or primordial perfection (6) and transcend this for communion or apotheosis with God (7). This restorative labor in correspondence with the purification of metals requires seven turnings or stages in which all the imperfections and imbalances within the soul are resolved by reagents causing the psyche to expand and contract (the solve et coagula of alchemical formula).
I guess the easiest way to understand this or at least get a mental model for it is to think of the seven day week. Time per se, of course, isnât organized into hours, weeks, or months any more than space on a map is naturally organized into counties, states, or nations. Human beings create these mental categories into which we pack our conceptions of time and space. Time categories, unlike the political lines on a map, however, are not accidental or arbitrary. The seven day week is the least arbitrary, in fact; it resembles the lines representing natural features on a map such as rivers and mountains.
An historical aside is helpful here. The Soviet Communists in Russia tried on several occasions to destroy the seven day week. They replaced it once with a five day week and another time with a ten day week (this last in imitation of the French Revolutionary experiment in calendar reform, which attempt also failed spectacularly). The reason the Soviets and French revolutionaries attempted to âreformâ the week from seven days is also the reason they were unable to uproot this conception. It is tied to metaphysical numerancy that is as hard to deny or âthrow offâ as the sequence of day and night, perhaps even harder.
We order our lives around the seven day week whatever our specific âreligiousâ beliefs because the cycle represents the progression from one to seven described by Lings and common to the understanding of the revealed traditions of the world. Seven is the number of transcendence. We have seven days of âexpansion and contraction,â moonlight and sunlight, active and passive states, to move from spiritual lead to gold, i.e., from a fallen state to theosis, or repose in God. Sunday is the feast of the Resurrection and Godâs rest (the Russian word for Sunday is the word for âResurrection,â which probably inspired much of the Soviet desire to destroy the seven day week). We move each week from one resurrection to another return to and repose in the Divine Center.
This belief in a weekly cycle has historical and social reinforcements, of course, but that the Soviet and French failed in their attempts to eradicate it in their desire to âfreeâ their citizenry of such âsuperstitionsâ (and murdering millions in their rush to advance their ideological atheism), suggests at least that this unit of time could be part of the human hard wiring package. The seven day week may not be just a software program that can be switched out after formatting the cerebral hard drive. Human conceptions of time, unlike geographical conceptions that can be gerrymandered, seem to be linked to the nature of reality. We think of the week of seven days, perhaps, the same way we think of a day as a unit of daylight and darkness. Seven days is a cycle of change for us to realize or neglect as we choose but a cycle of change nonetheless.
Magical education is a seven year process, not seven days, but it, too, like the alchemical work and the metaphysical week, is about human transformation or âtransfiguration.â Ms. Rowling suggests this via the Wizard game, Quidditch, of seven players in which a Seeker flying above the fray for the most part seizes a Golden Snitch, an elusive golden ball with wings. This septenary of players is a pointer to Alchemy both in having the âseeking of goldâ (and not money, per se) as its end and in the description of the Golden Snitch. The popular edition of Burckhardtâs Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul (Penguin Books, 1972) has a Golden Snitch on its cover, believe it or not, in a reproduction of a Seventeenth century alchemical drawing (the âwinged sphereâ represents materia prima, p. 194; the flying golden ball appears frequently in other alchemy texts). Hogwarts, the magical academy, is an alchemical seven year work in its games and studies - and to be sure we get this point, we know the School is directed by Albus Dumbledore, who, his chocolate frog card tells us, is âparticularly famous⦠for his work in alchemyâ (Philosopherâs Stone, chapter 6, Scholastic sc pp 102-103).
Why does the young Tom Riddle, Jr., though, who understands that seven is âthe most powerfully magic number,â want to create seven Horcruxes to achieve immortality? Because he wishes to ape the âmagic of transcendenceâ by which immortality is rightly achieved by creating a path of ego that is the inversion of the traditional way of communion. Instead of resolving the contraries of hot & cold, dry & moist, that make up the four elements and four humors of the human person to become the Quintessence and then climb the Tree of Life to the Divine Center, Riddle wants to âhold onâ to his individual imbalances and imperfections. The Dark Lord wants his ego, the most ephemeral aspect of the human person with the closest ties to the body and the block to real immortality, to be eternal.
As the saying goes, however, if you want things to stay the same, everything will have to change. Riddleâs seven fold way to immortality instead of peaceful resolution of âothernessâ by love and a seeking of peace in balance is a way of asserting his being personally above any principle; in short, his way is the way of murder, materialism, and idolatry. He pours his soul into material objects representing the four elements (represented by the mythic four founders of Hogwarts) after asserting his greater right to life than others by acts of murder. Riddleâs seven staged path is a return and repose only in himself rather than in God - and, of course, this materialistic atheism makes him less human as he proceeds down the path (which Ms. Rowling represents via the changes in his physical appearance from something handsome and deiform to something demonic).
Harry in contrast, at the end of six cycles of purification, is described by the Headmaster Alchemist as being âpure in heartâ (cf., Matthew 5:8) and as having âa soul that is untarnished and wholeâ (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 23, Scholastic p 511). Harryâs job in defeating Voldemort now is to find and âdestroyâ the four founders idols Lord Voldemort has created out of the pieces of his own soul, unite the four houses and the four magical brethren, and resolve at last the remaining imperfections within himself to complete the Alchemical Workâs seventh stage.
Hey, thatâs a bunch of fours. I guess we need to talk now about the number four.
Ich bitte nun, dass jemand zwischenpostet, damit ich den Teil 2 hier hinein posten kann.
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King: You're a monster, Urquhart.
Urquhart:You might very well think that, Sir, but your opinion doesn't count for very much now, does it? Good day, Sir.
Ian Richardson in: "House of cards, Teil 2: To play the King"
Dieser Beitrag wurde 11 mal editiert, zum letzten Mal von Bernhard Nowak: 11.11.2006 21:27.
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11.11.2006 20:29 |
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Irbis
Schüler
Dabei seit: 20.07.2006
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ähm, es wäre womöglich ganz interessant zu lesen, nur ist er sehr lange und auch noch english^^
aber einfach mal ein zwischenpost... schaus später mal an
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11.11.2006 20:37 |
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Bernhard Nowak
Schüler
Dabei seit: 26.08.2004
Alter: 60
Herkunft: Rödermark
Themenstarter 
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Vielen Dank, Irbis
Anbei nun der dieses Aufsatzes von John Granger:
Four, as Lings mentioned, is the traditional number of âearthâ or âthe world of time and space.â History is understood by the ancients and by modern Traditionalists as being a cycle of four ages (we live now in the last or âage of leadâ). Matter is understood in terms of four qualities (hot, cold, wet, and dry) that combine in what are called the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Human beings have four humors, the balance or imbalance of which is the substance of our temperament, health, and vitality. Space is defined by the four cardinal points of the compass. Believe it or not, western buildings even have four walls because this was a representation of the world having descended from a circle (the meaning of domed buildings) or the polar Creative Word (pitched roofs).
This understanding of the world as âfourâ used to permeate Western culture. One of my favorite books, The Elizabethan World Picture, by E. M. W. Tillyard, written in 1943, has an apology in the preface for the author having to repeat what he assumes the reader already knows about the four humors; he says this quaternary must be familiar to readers, âeven to distress.â I had never heard of the four humors until I read Tillyardâs little book, though, and the situation hasnât improved much since my high school days. My students think Iâm trying to distinguish between types of comedy when I talk about the four humors. Iâm betting a lot of money the average Harry Potter reader didnât get the alchemical âhumor-ousâ reference to Fleur as âPhlegmâ beyond being a snot joke. An Elizabethan audience would have roared at the choleric womenâs discomfort with Billâs phlegmatic fiancee.
Seven the number we can appreciate because of the Genesis account of Creation and the seven day week we observe (if we never think about it consciously). The rotation of the four elements and their resolution into a quintessence takes a little more work for those of used to a huge chart of elements and atomic theory. Hereâs a quick introduction to the resolution of the four elements into a fifth element or quintessence.
Titus Burckhardt describes the quintessence as the hub of a four spoked wheel, the spokes being one of the four elements and the quadrants of the wheel being their respective natural qualities (e.g., the âfireâ spoke bisects the âHeatâ and âDrynessâ quarters, the next spoke, âEarth,â separates âDrynessâ and âCold,â etc.). He explains the âfifth essenceâ at the center this way:
Alchemically speaking, the hub of the wheel is the quinta essentia. By this is meant either the spiritual pole of all four elements or their common substantial ground, ether, in which they are all indivisibly contained. In order once again to attain to this centre, the disequilibrium of the differentiated elements must be repaired, water must become fiery, fire liquid, earth weightless, and air solid. Here, however, one leaves the plane of physical appearances and enters the realm of spiritual alchemy.
Synesios writes: âIt is thus clear what the philosophers mean when they describe the production of our stone as the alteration of natures and the rotation of elements. You now see that by âincorporationâ the wet becomes dry, the volatile stable, the spiritual embodied, the fluid solid, water fiery, and the air like earth. Thus all four elements renounce their own nature and, by rotation, transform themselves into one anotherâ¦. Just as in the beginning there was One, so also in this work everything comes from One and returns to One. This is what is meant by the retransformation of the elementsâ¦â
(Alchemy, Titus Burckhardt, Penguin, 1972, p. 96)
The seven stages return to the rest of One, the beginning of Creation, and the four elements are resolved in a single point where their qualities come to rest, the quintessence. Lyndy Abraham in The Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery explains how this is used in alchemical texts and literature:
During the opus the matter for the Stone must be dissolved and returned to its primal state before it can be recreated or coagulated into the new pure form of the philosopherâs stone. This cycle of solve et coagula or separation and union has to be reiterated many times throughout the opus. During this circulation, the elements earth, air, fire, and water are separated by distillation and converted into each other to form the perfect unity, the fifth element. This conversion takes place by unifying the qualities that each element has in common: earth which is cold and dry may be united with water through the common quality of coldness since water is cold and moist (or fluid), and air is united to fire through heat, since fire is hot and dry⦠In another alchemical metaphor, this process is described as the transformation of the square (four elements) into the circle (the united fifth element)â¦.
This process of transformation, of successfully converting the elements into each other, is often compared to the turning of a great wheel.⦠The contrary qualities of the four elements are likened to quarreling foes who must be reconciled or united in order for harmony to reign (see peace). The circulation of elements is identical with the process the alchemists describe as the conversion of body into spirit, and spirit into body, until each is able to mingle together, or unite in the chemical wedding to form a new perfect being, the philosopherâs stoneâ¦
(Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, Lyndy Abraham, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 137-138)
Maybe this sounds laughably inane to you but this ârotation of the elementsâ and the âresolution of contrariesâ is both effective medicine, believe it or not, and the heart of two movies youâve probably seen in the past year. Ayurvedic and Taoist medicine have a conceptual framework almost identical to Western four element theory. Acupuncture and shiatsu massage donât work except in resolving blockages on yin and yang meridians that are kyo or jitsu, tendencies and qualities that are described in elemental terms much like those we have from the Ancient Mediterranean.
The two movies? âThe Incrediblesâ and âThe Fantastic Four.â The cartoon âIncrediblesâ were a clear knock-off of the comic book âFantastic Fourâ so letâs look at them for a quintessenceâ¦
Story tellers like to use the four elements of fire, water, air, and earth to represent the power of harmony and peace and the madness of conflict and private understanding (idios in Greek). My favorite representation of this is The Fantastic Four comic books, first written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in the early 60âs, now a wonderful blockbuster movie (my kids and I loved it, at least!). I grew up reading these comic books and soon learned the formula (which is wonderfully preserved in the film). After the central conflict is identified, almost always against a super-powered baddie like Magneto or Dr. Doom, the team attacks him separately or disagrees about the best way to fight the baddie or offends one of the members of the team.
Which disharmony proves to be a disaster. A really good baddie, if you follow me past that contradiction, is a villain that sows discord in the Four Elements team. The formula ending, of course, is when each of the Good Guys acts in harmony with the others to overcome impossible odds and defeat the enemy. Really, watching Mr. Fantastic (water), the Invisible Girl (air), the Thing (earth), and the Human Torch (duh) thrash baddies is always an alchemical morality play about the revealing and resolution of contraries.
In the remaining Harry Potter story, we have three sets of four that will have to be alchemically resolved and united - (1) the four principal species of magical creatures depicted in the Fountain of Magical Brethren, (2) the four Horcruxes, which objects, as possessions of the four founders points to (3) the third set, the four Houses of Hogwarts. We know that these sets are story symbols for the Four Elements whose resolution in man are the Quintessence of alchemy because Ms. Rowling has quite generously (and uncharacteristically) made a point of telling us this. Not only does Harry read âQuintessence: A Questâ for Charms class in Half-Blood Prince (chapter 15, Scholastic p. 304) and is Fleur called âPhlegm,â the bodily humor corresponding to the water element, but in interviews Ms. Rowling spells out the four elements backdrop to the four Hogwarts Houses:
[In answer to a question about Death Eater children in the four Hogwarts Houses]
JKR: Probably. I hear you. It is the tradition to have four houses, but in this case, I wanted them to correspond roughly to the four elements. So Gryffindor is fire, Ravenclaw is air, Hufflepuff is earth, and Slytherin is water, hence the fact that their common room is under the lake. So, again it was this idea of harmony and balance, that you had four necessary components and by integrating them you would make a very strong place. But they remain fragmented, as we know.
[In answer to a question about why the Slytherins are allowed at Hogwarts]
JKR: But [the Sltherins are] not all bad. They literally are not all bad. [Pause] Well, the deeper answer, the non-flippant answer, would be that you have to embrace all of a person, you have to take them with their flaws, and everyoneâs got them. Itâs the same way with the student body. If only they could achieve perfect unity and wholeness that means that they keep that quarter of the school that maybe does not encapsulate the most generous and noble qualities, in the hope, in the very Dumbledore-esque hope that they will achieve harmony. Harmony is the word.
[MN/TLC interview 3, pp 9-10]
The Headmaster we know from his chocolate frog card is an accomplished alchemist who succeeded with Nicholas Flamel in creating a Philosopherâs Stone. It is as alchemist (and as Christ symbol, see âBut obviously Dumbledore is not Jesusâ at ) that âDumbledore hopesâ for a unification of the student body in its four houses and the purifications of its flaws rather than its dismemberment.
The Sorting Hatâs âNew Songâ in Order of the Phoenix tells the story of the initial unity of the Four Founders and how they âlike pillars fourâ had held up the school. This primordial unity, however, disintegrated into chaos like the formula failure of every Fantastic Four adventure:
The Houses, that like pillars four,
Had once held up our school,
Now turned upon each other and,
Divided, sought to rule.
And for a while it seemed the school Must meet an early end,
What with dueling and with fighting
And the clash of friend on friend
And at last there came a morning
When old Slytherin departed
And though the fighting then died out
He left us quite downhearted.
And since the founders four
Were whittled down to three
Have the Houses been united
As they once were meant to be.
(Order of the Phoenix, chapter 11, Scholastic hc p 206)
The Sorting Hat ends the song with a plea for unity, as Nearly Headless Nick says it always does âwhen it detects great danger for the school. And always, of course, its advice is the same: Stand together, be strong from withinâ (Phoenix, chapter 11, p 209).
The discordant element in the four founders and their houses, if there is only one, is obviously Slytherin whose departure sealed the initial rupture. The Heir of Slytherin is known for his ability âfor spreading discord and enmityâ (see Goblet of Fire, chapter 37, Scholastic hc, p 723) - and for his inability to understand love, the power of harmony and union. The death throes of the greatest wizard-alchemist on the Astronomy Tower in his words to Draco Malfoy, offering him a life after death (âthey cannot kill you if you are already deadâ) and sanctuary with a new identity are the last in a lifetime of alchemical efforts to reconcile Slytherin to its rightful quality within a harmonious Hogwarts.
However Christ-like these efforts, they fail - and the baton has been passed to Harry. He must find the four Horcruxes which Dumbledore believes are in objects or relics belonging to each of the four Hogwarts founders. No doubt this symbolic effort will require another set of trials like the Tri-Wizard Tournament and finding the Philosopherâs stone but this one linked to the four elements. Finding and destroying these four reservoirs of Voldemortâs fragmented soul must transform Harry into the Quintessence that, like Dumbledore, can sacrifice himself for Slytherinâs redemption and the return to the primordial unity.
I suspect that Harryâs success in destroying the Diary Horcrux in Chamber of Secrets and Dumbledoreâs spectacular difficulty in destroying the Ring Horcrux before the opening of action in Half-Blood Prince (about which see âWhy Half-Blood Prince is the Best Harry Potter Novelâ at ) points to Harryâs being uniquely qualified and capable in this task. Dumbledore learned the hard way that Harry has a special gift for Horcrux destruction which makes him âmore valuableâ than Dumbledore in the war against Voldemort. I suspect Harry has this ability for any one or all of the following three reasons:
(1) His seven fold path of purification and spiritual perfection is antithetical and correspondingly many times more powerful in comparison to the dark magic of Lord Thingyâs egotism (see above);
(2) Harryâs way is dependent on his love for others and specifically on the sacrificial love of his mother, which power is one of resolution (love resolves contraries rather than destroying one aspect of a polarity) rather than destruction. As Dumbledore repeatedly tells Harry, this is Voldemortâs undoing because he cannot understand or resist this power (witness his inability to possess Harry in the Ministry of Magic, Phoenix, chapter 36); and
(3) Harry is the Heir of Gryffindor - and, mirabile dictu, his scar is the Gryffindor Horcrux Lord Voldemort accidentally created in Godric Hollow the night of the Potter murders. Harry himself being himself the combination and resolution of the Gryffindor-Slytherin polarity is able to destroy or resolve the dark magic of the Horcruxes by absorbing the fragment of Voldemortâs soul each contains. His Gryffindor courage and impetus to loving sacrifice for others combined with his acquired Slytherin nature makes Horcrux destruction possible without harm. In fact, as one writer claims, it explains his ability to out battle the risen Voldemort at the end of Goblet of Fire ( ).
Beyond Horcrux destruction or absorption, Harry will also have to complete the alchemical work of uniting the four Hogwarts houses and the four species of magical creatures depicted in the Fountain of Magical Brethren. The four Houses will, I think, fall into line when the Gryffindor-Slytherin antipathy is loosened (about which more in a second). The harmony of elves, goblins, centaurs, and magical folk, on the other hand, seems a noble ambition that might take generations to realize.
The Fountain of Magical Brethren in the Ministry of Magic shows a token elf, goblin, and centaur in fawning submission to a grand wizard and witch. This statue is destroyed in the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort (in which battle the centaur, elf, and goblin do Dumbledore heroic service - and the elf and goblin applaud him later). Dumbledore explains to Harry later that this destruction was a good thing because there is no harmony among the Magical Brethren due to wizard âindifference and neglect.â
âIndifference and neglect often do more damage than outright dislikeâ¦.The fountain we destroyed tonight told a lie. We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and we are now reaping our rewardâ (Phoenix, chapter 37, Scholastic hc p. 834).
We know the goblins are in a state of semi-revolt, that the house elves are largely treated as disposable slaves, and that the centaurs are treated contemptuously by the Ministry (at least as represented by Delores Umbridge) who have only disdain for witches and wizards. The obedience and affection shown by the statueâs elf and goblin figures for Dumbledore (Phoenix, chapter 36, Scholastic hc p. 817), however, and the centaursâ tribute to Dumbledore at his funeral give us reason to hope that the Magical Brethren are capable of supporting and uniting behind a loving wizard free of prejudice.
But, as youâre no doubt noticing, alchemy isnât just about four elements being reconciled. Its action, the solve et coagula (âdissolve and rejoinâ) of alchemical purification and perfection, is about the reconciliation of contraries that are pairs. Letâs take a look at the number two.
As I explain at length in chapter two of Looking for God in Harry Potter, the cross generational rivalry that echoes through the years from Godric and Salazar to Harry and Draco is the Gryffindor/Slytherin enmity. We see the dueling and fighting between the champions of these houses and descendants of the feuding founders in âSnapeâs Worst Memoryâ (Phoenix, chapter 28) and in almost every exchange between Harry and Draco (see Chamber of Secrets, chapter 11, for an actual Potter-Malfoy duel).
But Gryffindor/Slytherin hostility isnât the only hostile pairing in the books. The whole world is a have/have not polarity between the Magic/Muggle peoples. Almost every individual, too (all except the Pure Blooded family members), has a twin aspect within them. We have Half-Bloods, a Half-Veela, a Half-Giant, a Werewolf, a Metamorphagus, and a host of magical folk that can transform themselves into animal, even insect alter egos called Animagi. The others create psychic ciphers from happy thoughts that are a signature of their character. These Patronuses are the best defense against the demon-like Dementors that Rowling has said are the story symbols of depression and despair.
There are also pairs of folk akin to Frankenstein and his monster, whose conflict will have to be resolved in the last book. Harry and Draco as the representatives of traditional Gryffindor/Slytherin conflict, of course, are obvious doppelgangers. Harry as the spitting image of his late father, James, is paired again with Professor Severus Snape, whose hatred for James seems to have been extended to the look-alike son with more than a hint of sadism.
All these contrary pairs and the over-arching polarity will have to be resolved in the last book, which promises to be a battle royal. Look for Hagrid to fight the Half-Giant Blonde Death Eater who came to Hogwarts through the Vanishing Cabinet at the end of Half-Blood Prince. Fenrir Greyback and Remus Lupin, too, will probably have a death match between good and bad werewolves. Fawkes and Nagini may even mix it up in a Basilisk-Phoenix re-match of sorts before the main event of Harry and Tom, the big Gryffindor-Slytherin steel-cage, no-prisoners-taken battle to the death.
But before all the polarities can be resolved in alchemical action with their contraries, in love or in battle, all the contraries need to be revealed, especially the internal ones. I think at least two Jekyll-Hyde characters have not shown their internal dichotomy and maybe even a third. Letâs take this in order of surprise value, with the most obvious going first. Phlegm, I mean, Fleur? You first.
Fleur is More Veela than You Think
Fleur Delacour, TriWizard Tournament champion of Beauxbatons Academy, has long been rumored to be half-Veela. Veela, we learned at the Quidditch World Cup in Goblet of Fire, are beautiful Sirens that bewitch the male mind with song and feminine beauty. When enraged, however, they reveal the vulture-back to their hypnotic front.
Watching through his Omnioculars, Harry saw that [the Veela from Bulgaria] didnât look remotely beautiful now. On the contrary, their faces were elongating into sharp, cruel-beaked bird heads, and long scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders -
âAnd that, boys,â yelled Mr. Weasley over the tumult of the crowd below, âis why you should never go for looks alone!â (Goblet, chapter 8, Scholastic hc p.111-12)
But Bill Weasley is enamored with the part-Veela Delacour and Harry finds out in Half-Blood Prince that this is not a match that delights the Weasley women or Hermione. Only her rage with Mrs. Weasley after Bill is attacked by Fenrir Greyback and her evident love for him however badly his face may have been mauled turn their hearts to her.
Should they have been surprised that she could love Bill the monster? As a half-Veela, this isnât surprising. She knows there is a monster within her, too, waiting to surface - and must wonder what they will think of her should she take on a âcruel-beaked bird headâ and âlong scaly wingsâ as she has undoubtedly seen her relatives do at Thanksgiving parties.
I suspect weâll see this changeover, in fact, in the finale, especially if Bill decides to try his luck with Greyback again - and fails. Ms. Rowling says the ending of the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, in which Buckbeak battles with Lupin the werewolf, impressed her with the producerâs understanding of the books. I think she was startled that he had come so close to portraying a Veela-Werewolf throw-down.
Draco Really Does Deserve Your Pity, Myrtle
The great thing about being a moderator in a Barnes and Noble University.com Discussion Room about Harry Potter is that it is inevitable that you will be compelled by the several hundred serious readers in the room to consider at least one idea every day about the books that you would never have thought of in a kazillion years. Some are these ideas, of course, are just mistakes or the products of staying up to late reading the books for the seventeenth time (âHey, Snape is a Vampire!â). A good number of the ideas will just knock you off your feet, though.
One such turn-your-thinking-upside-down post came from Mary Ailes, whose idea was supported immediately by Laura Lavrov (who had been working on parallel tracks simultaneously). Their theory is that the secret Moaning Myrtle wonât tell Ron and Harry about Draco isnât his secret mission to kill Dumbledore or that he is a closet Death Eater. The secret she cannot tell them is that Draco is a werewolf.
Now, before you run from Myrtleâs bathroom hooting, run this scene through your mindâs eye again. Weâre on the Astronomy Tower under the invisibility cloak and immobilized with Harry. Fenrir Greyback appears and the nasty man-wolf is picking Bill Weasleyâs flesh out of his teeth. Dumbledore is disgusted that Greyback is eating human meat out of his season, tells him so, and adds, tellingly:
âAnd, yes, I am a little shocked that Draco here invited you, of all people, into the school where his friends liveâ¦.â
âI didnât,â breathed Malfoy. He was not looking at Fenrir; he did not seem to want to even glance at him. âI didnât know he was going to come -â (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 27, Scholastic p. 594)
Step back for a moment (watch the Tower edgeâ¦). Draco Malfoy has been working all year to kill Dumbledore with a certain disregard for the lives of anyone and everyone who might get in the way of his âHail, Maryâ shots at the greatest wizard living. Dumbledore knows this and does not confront Draco only because he fears Dracoâs Occlumency is not good enough to shield himself from Lord Voldemortâs penetration.
Knowing that Malfoy is acting with bizarre disregard for the lives of his friends in the erratic attempts on Dumbledoreâs life, why is the Headmaster âshockedâ that Draco invited a werewolf into Hogwarts? I think the reasonable answer is the âDraco Wolfboyâ theory, that Dumbledore knows Draco is a werewolf and that Fenrir Greyback bit him on the arm on the Dark Lordâs orders to punish his parents. Dumbledore had to make the arrangements with the Potions master to make the Wolfsbane Potion Draco would need to get through the year (a thought that Draco or Horace perhaps does not guard at the Christmas Party, which explains the look of fear on Severus the Legilimensâ face there).
The evidence put forth by Mary Ailes and Laura Lavrov is compelling. You have multiple descriptions of Draco in Lupinesque condition, pale, haggard, sunken eyes (apparently this Wolfsbane Potion must be a little like chemotherapyâ¦). He is constantly disappearing and in ill health. There is also the encounter in Diagon Alley in the robes shop and the overheard conversation in Borgin and Burkeâs. Harry, of course, assumes the arm wound is the fresh tattoo of a Death Eater. Hermione is very skeptical throughout the book about Draco as Death Eater. When in doubt, whom do you trust? Hermione or Harry?
I, of course, trust the Granger over a Potter every time. Itâs a werewolf bite - and it scares Mr. Borgin, especially when Draco says Greyback is âa family friend. Heâll be dropping in to see you from time to time to make sure youâre giving the problem your full attentionâ (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 6, p.125).
Mr. Borgin probably knows, as Lupin tells us, that Greyback is, âperhaps, the most savage werewolf alive todayâ who âregards it as his mission in life to bite and contaminate as many people as possibleâ and that âat the full moon, he positions himself close to victims, ensuring that he is near enough to strike. He plans it all. And this is the man Voldemort is using to marshal the werewolvesâ (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 16, Scholastic, pp. 334-335). Looking at Dracoâs bite probably has at least the effect of seeing the Dark Mark tattoo Harry imagines is on Dracoâs arm.
But what is the meaning of Dracoâs being made a werewolf? What does it contribute to the story? It is, after all, not even mentioned in the Half-Blood Prince story-line. âDraco Wolf-boyâ simultaneously reveals the consequences of evil and makes the evil-doer more an object of pity than hatred or judgment.
The Malfoys are horrible people, to cut to the quick, who are Pure-Blood Nazis and Death Eaters of the worst kind. They despise both Muggles and the âMudbloodâ wizards born from this breeding stock, they treat their house-elves cruelly, and they conspire for the return and triumph of the Dark Lord in the hope that they will share in his power. Unfortunately, for them, Lucius failed the Dark Lord, who visited the failings of the father on the son to torture the whole family. Draco is sent onto a suicide mission and made into a werewolf besides to show to the Death Eaters in the inner circle how severe the consequences of failure really are.
When I first wrote about Draco four years ago, I said his name reminded me of Eustace Scrubb, a dreadful, spoiled boy from a âmodern familyâ (vegetarians!) in C. S. Lewisâ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Eustace runs away from a work party and finds a cave. Long story short, he becomes a dragon (draco in Latin) as ugly on the outside as he had been monstrous only in soul and from lack of character before (Voyage, chapters 6 & 7).
This change, curiously enough, makes Eustace a much better person (âIt was, however, clear to everyone that Eustaceâs character had been rather improved by becoming a dragonâ). He is stripped of his dragon outerwear by Aslan a few days later and baptized on a mountaintop.
I thought Dracoâs name was a tip of the hat to Lewisâ dreadful boy who is transformed and redeemed. We had a hint of the redemption on the Astronomy Tower and an echo of the Dragon conversion experience; Dumbledoreâs talk to him about âdyingâ so that no one can âkill youâ is a fairly transparent story version of dying to be born again âwhere moth and rust doth not corruptâ nor Death Eaters break in to murder). The theory of âDraco Wolf-Boyâ provides the transformation that breaks his pride, makes him at once more pitiable and pliable, and an opening for Harry to see his own prejudice and transcend it. How can he hate a boy in Malfoyâs position?
âDraco Wolf-Boyâ is revelation of Dracoâs bestial nature and the sins of his father for Draco and the world to see. If it humbles Draco (as it seems to have done) and if it creates an opening for Harry to forgive, even to accept his Slytherin enemy as a fellow victim of Lord Voldemortâs evil, the much hoped-for Gryffindor-Slytherin bridge and Hogwarts house unity could be achieved. Hereâs hoping the werewolf Fleur fights isnât âDraco Wolf-Boyâ!
Of course, the greater obstacle to Gryffindor-Slytherin reconciliation and resolution of contraries isnât Harryâs hatred for Draco Malfoy, as visceral and heart felt as this passion is. The object and focus of Harry Potterâs hatred and prejudice, his heroic flaw and blind-spot, if you will, is his former Potions Master and forever nemesis, Severus Snape. The deposed Head of Slytherin House and seeming murderer of Albus Dumbledore is the internal roadblock to Harryâs defeating Voldemort with his love. Until Harry gets over his âKill-Snape-thingâ as Hermione might put it, his efforts to destroy the four Horcruxes, unite the houses, and join the Magical Brethren into an alliance are senseless.
I think there are two things that can happen to cause Harry to see Severus as a hero rather than a villian. The first way, the quick one, is if Fawkes the Phoenix, who only comes to aid those who are loyal to Dumbledore, is seen with Severus Snape or if the Phoenix fights for him. This, I have to think, would be a witness even Harry could not discount. Thatâs the easy way.
The second event that might spin Harry Potterâs prejudice into admiration would be the revelation of why Albus Dumbledore trusted his Potions Master without reservation. I think Harry will probably only learn this from Snape as he dies. There are at least two reasons, speculative, of course, but probable nonetheless, for Dumbledoreâs trust beyond what we have been told (repentance for unknowingly having betrayed the Potters to their death).
The first reason is Cathy Liesnerâs âStoppered Deathâ theory that I have explored at some length in âWhy Half-Blood Prince is the Best Harry Potter Novelâ (posted at ). âStoppered Deathâ posits that Dumbledore dies when he attempts to destroy the Ring Horcrux but that Severus âstoppersâ this death as he explained to Harryâs first year Potions class he was able to do - a class referred to seven times, believe it or not, directly or indirectly, in the sixth book. When Professor Snape asks his Defense Against the Dark Arts class what the difference is between an Inferius and a ghost, the answer is Albus Dumbledore, a Headmaster in suspended de-animation.
This is a pretty good reason for believing the Potions genius is on your side! Dumbledore could not share this with Harry, of course, because Harryâs inability to shield his thoughts would put Severusâ life and mission at risk. But I think there is even a better reason for trusting Severus Snape and it reinforces the reason Dumbledore gave Harry. Why did Dumbledore believe the Death Eater repentant when he knew, as Lupin said, that Snape hated James Potter?
Dumbledore believed it because he knew the Snape family secret and the life debt Severus Snape owed Lily Potter.
The Snape family secret is a consequence of Eileen Princeâs having married a Muggle named Tobias Snape - a Muggle with a âblood disease.â Nothing venereal or cancerous; no, Tobias Snape was a vampire. Severus Snape was born a half-vampire, a half-âBlood Prince,â much like Hagrid was a half-giant. They are both more wizard than monster and rarely if ever show the qualities that make the magical and Muggle worlds fear giants and vampires. Severus had the advantage of growing up with a loving mother who obviously taught the young wizard everything she knew of Potions and the magical arts before he went to Hogwarts.
I suspect Severus was quite a bit like Hagrid and Remus and Harry (and Draco this past year) in being special projects of the Headmaster who were admitted to Hogwarts with his awareness of their double nature and special needs. If the Snape family condition left Severus only âvampiricâ but not a vampire dangerous to other students, what debt could the Half-Blood Prince owe to Lily?
My bet is not romance or love-from-afar, if those possibilities are not risible (if I confess to dreading another shipping debate in fandomâ¦). I think Lily Potter was Severusâ lab partner in N.E.W.T.s level Potions with Professor Slughorn and that they were both capable of the remarkable annotations and improvements written in the textbook that Harry was given in his sixth year. Lily Evans appreciated Severus Snapeâs genius in the Potions laboratory and he admired her for skills and insights in a field at which he imagined he was the lonely high-bar standard. I think they were friends, the way only gifted, different people with a shared passion for a subject can be friends.
This alone would be sufficient reason for Severus to be destroyed or psychically broken by Voldemortâs decision to kill the Potters, besides the possibility that he only learned it was the Potters at the last minute and tried to get Lily to move aside from the death curse. But I think there may have been another reason.
Severus the half-vampire evidently shared his family secret with Lily Evans or she figured out the meaning of âHalf-Blood Princeâ on her own (what Slytherin student in his right mind is calling himself a âhalf-bloodâ anything!). Besides keeping his secret and further cementing their friendship, Severusâ first and last friendship with an age peer perhaps, maybe Lily Evans was sufficiently gifted to help Snape or his family with their problem.
Ms. Rowling says nothing in her Fantastic Beasts books on Veela or Vampires and she has been positively vehement in recent interviews in her denials that Professor Snape is a vampire. This lack of information and truthful misdirection, of course, protects her story line, which she admits is her second priority in life after caring for her young family. With little information, however, about vampires, half-vampires, or the Tobias Snape family, we can only assume that Potions can do for this condition what it has done for werewolves and for Headmasters cursed to death, namely, reverse or stabilize the condition miraculously.
I suggest this is what Lily Evans did for the Snape family, either with Severusâs help or on her own. She developed an edible potion, say, one that could be spread on a cracker, that would make the blood lust and passions of a vampire subside. Count Sanguini is forced by his agent to eat such a treat at the Slughorn Christmas party. No doubt Severus Snape had some of these pasties on hand or knew the potion preparation well (one he taught to mom years agoâ¦).
And then Severus gave the Dark Lord the information that pointed to the Potters as his greatest enemies. Worse, perhaps circumstances were such that he had to watch her sacrificial death for her baby boy, a son who is James Potterâs spitting image and who could not be worthy of her or of her sacrifice. Harry would, of course, always be a living reminder of this agony.
I suggest that Dumbledore knew all about the Snape family secret and Lilyâs part in ending the curse. Further, I think this is why the Headmaster found Severus Snapeâs repentance and emotional/mental breakdown after the Potter murders to be sincere and believable. Severus was probably one of Dumbledoreâs few friends because Dumbledore is a genius for appreciating the hidden gem in his fellows, much like the candies he enjoys whose treat is hidden inside a âhard sucker.â
If the Draco and Severus secrets are revealed, the Gryffindor-Slytherin gorge is half-bridged. At least, Harry will have reason to pity his worst enemies as he has before (Severus after seeing Snapeâs humiliating fifth year memory, Draco after the Tower breakdown). But will Harry be able to see past his Pride and Prejudice and love them? Thatâs a stretch - but it does point out the final polarity to be revealed and resolved.
For Harry to be perfected, the âpure heartâ and âwhole soulâ that Dumbledore says he is (at least in comparison with Lord Voldemort), which is to say, for Harry to be the Quintessence that harmonizes the various quaternaries in the story and defeat the Dark Lord, his own internal doppelganger will have to be revealed and resolved. Harryâs problem is his prejudice.
Austenâs novel Pride and Prejudice was originally titled First Impressions (see Rodney Delasantaâs âHume, Austen, and First Impressionsâ in the June/July 2003 issue of First Things magazine). The novel, believe it or not, is largely an argument with philosopher David Hume contra empiricism or the trusting of judgment exclusively derived from sensory impressions and physical measurement. Ms. Rowling, a devout Austen reader and admirer, is writing her books in the same vein. Her arguments against personal judgments based on anything but love and discernment of character, in brief, against pride and prejudice, are a large part of the moral virtues these books are teaching.
Harry, alas, is not immune to the failings of pride and prejudice. The revelation of how jaundiced his view is will be the most important moment of the last book I think. If he realizes that he is not a Dumbledore man, âthrough and through,â because his âage old prejudiceâ against Slytherins Snape and Malfoy disables his judgment and ability to love, then he will be able to love them as they are and as a Dumbledore man would.
His pride, however, is the chief obstacle to this realization and the key support of his prejudice. Harry believes to his core that hating Slytherins is not a blinding prejudice that incapacitates his love but that it is evidence of his righteousness and virtue. Besides a vision of Fawkes at home in the apartment on Spinnerâs End, the only way I can see Harryâs pride as a Serpent Slayer being broken is for his own Slytherin nature to be revealed.
Harry is a snake pit internally, if the narrative is to be trusted. Harry speaks easily to serpents as a Parselmouth, of course, and even was in the snake that attacked Mr. Weasley in the Department of Mysteries, courtesy of his mind-link with Lord Voldemort. Beyond speaking with and co-habitating with snakes, though, Harry also has a snake that in Phoenix rises up from within him to attack the Headmaster. If you dismiss that as a Voldemort inspired nasty, then should we credit the Dark Lord for the serpent that rears his head within Harry as love for Ginny (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 14, Scholastic p. 286).
I expect Harry will be forced to come to terms with his resemblance to his serpentine enemies, the object of his disdain and prejudice, when he realizes his Orestian scar is a Horcrux, specifically, the Gryffindor Horcrux. When Harry is forced into seeing that the serpent within him and the powers he enjoys courtesy of the Horcrux make him at least as Slytherin-esque as those he hates self-righteously and from prejudice, his pride may break. In humility, he will be able to transcend his prejudice and embrace his enemies because he will understand how his pride and prejudice have, in large part, made them his enemies.
Why will humility break this six year old mental habit? Because pride and prejudice are, alchemically speaking, isolating and separations of the world into âselfâ and âotherâ with the elevation of self over others. Even if the prejudice is only against those who are prejudiced, the poison of pride creates a polarity - not to mention the self contradiction (as you see every day in your friends who brag about their inability to tolerate the intolerant, only hating hatred, etc.)! Only discernment of prejudice from love, as we see from Dumbledore, love for both the prejudiced and object of prejudice, is a liberating discernment.
BÃtte nochmals für Teil 3 zwischenposten! Vielen Dank!
__________________
King: You're a monster, Urquhart.
Urquhart:You might very well think that, Sir, but your opinion doesn't count for very much now, does it? Good day, Sir.
Ian Richardson in: "House of cards, Teil 2: To play the King"
Dieser Beitrag wurde 5 mal editiert, zum letzten Mal von Bernhard Nowak: 12.11.2006 09:28.
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11.11.2006 20:42 |
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Irbis
Schüler
Dabei seit: 20.07.2006
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uff, da brauch ich ja ein jahr! 
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11.11.2006 20:45 |
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Bernhard Nowak
Schüler
Dabei seit: 26.08.2004
Alter: 60
Herkunft: Rödermark
Themenstarter
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Irbis: Nochmals vielen Dank!
Hier nun der dieses äuÃerst interessanten Aufsatzes von John Granger.
Legend has it that Ms. Rowling spent seven years plotting and planning these books and filled boxes with notebooks of back-story before she sat down to write Philosopherâs Stone. This is a legend I have no trouble believing. The weave and woof of this magic carpet are so tightly and intricately woven that the authorâs care and design are visible everywhere in it.
I have tried to explain in âWhy Half-Blood Prince is the Best Harry Potter Novelâ why the sixth book was the most difficult book to write in this seven part mystery series. In brief, Ms. Rowling has to lay out all the clues we need to solve the mystery now and do so in such a way that it is highly improbable that we will figure it out. I explain in that article how her use of narrative misdirection, used in Half-Blood Prince something like a judo move, has helped her accomplish this very difficult task. Every reader I know wants to trust Harry at bookâs end (a first because in every other book it is at the end we learn how undependable the view over Harryâs shoulder is) but has the nagging suspicion that we missed something important.
What I have been getting at or âcounting down toâ in this review of the alchemically meaningful numbers in the Harry Potter books is that what we are missing is the seventh and concluding part of the alchemical work. This last book will be the end and sum of the seven books, the resolution of the four into the center, and the extinguishing of polarity. It is into the number One that all these other numbers are resolved. Letâs took a look at what we might expect from the One book remaining if it is the alchemical sum, resolution, and finale of the previous books as I suspect.
Each of Harryâs first six years has been a full alchemical cycle in itself as well as a part of the seven stage Great Work. The ending of each book, consequently, should be reflected in the summary ending of the last cycle. Look for an element from each of the last six books in the seventh. Here is a quick list of obvious points from the endings of the six books we have in hand in reverse order:
My gut feeling is that it will be Severus Snape, having been cut down by Peter Pettigrew.
· Look for a secret, too, from the Department of Mysteries (the light behind the door, the Veil, the golden Fountain of Magical Brethrenâ¦) and a âVoldemort within Harryâ moment from Phoenix.
. Look for it in Kingâs Cross Station this time, if not âmiles beneath Hogwarts,â because of the meaningful name and it being an intersection with the Muggle world. Harry having to rescue the Dursleys? Sounds cathartic to me.
The first time you re-read Half-Blood Prince you are struck by all the perumbration in the first chapters. Itâs hard to miss the second time through all the telescopes folks are carrying, which are pointers to the climax of the book on the Astronomy Tower. Mary Ailes, a Barnes and Noble University.com Discussion Room member pointed out to me, too, that Dumbledoreâs position in the cavern and on the ground beneath the Astronomy Tower (glasses askew, mouth open) is the way Harry is described at the beginning of chapter 3.
Foreshadowing in picture and theme is a favorite Rowling tool, then, one she pulls from her classical training in which âthe beginning is half the end.â I expect to be startled, nonetheless, even though Iâm looking for a finish with all the previous endings included, at how deftly she manages it (and how she invites us to go back and find all the pointers to the storyâs resolution in the first six books).
it is frequently described as a three phase work, each of which phase is assigned a color (think beginning-middle-end spread out over seven turnings of a wheel).
(featuring heroic Hagrid the Red, of course).
So much for predictions made according to formula! Phoenix turned out to be the nigredo climax in which Sirius Black died and Harry was broken down to nothing but the essential prophecy. The book was laden with nigredo imagery from the tradition of literary alchemy which I explained in the chapter on Phoenix in my updated book (see ). I also made a point of predicting the next book would open in a cold rain and that Dumbledore would certainly die in Half-Blood Prince, which I said would be as âwhiteâ and âplegmaticâ (cold/wet) as Phoenix had been âblackâ and âcholericâ (hot/dry). Fortunately, Ms. Rowling this time made me look smart, if a few wags were heard to say that a broken clock is right twice a day, too. (For a look at Half-Blood Prince as albedo go to ).
I think this book will be the rubedo of the alchemical work because, well, after a black stage novel and a white stage book, the red stage is all thatâs left. What do the various dictionaries and guides to alchemy, literary and traditional, say we can expect from the final stage in this work? The nine I have looked at describe the rubedo as the stage in which:
Letâs take a look at what these three things could mean in the Harry Potter finale.
The sun in Phoenix was a blistering hot agent of drought. The sun will return to the magical world in the rubedo final chapter but a sun less of burning away formal attachments than of the sun in âsunshineâ laws. The sun in Alchemistâs Cell will be the light of dawn that reveals what has been hidden in darkness and makes the world seem golden. The close of Half-Blood Prince is a hint of the weather ahead (if weâll pass through some storms on the way to our destination, no doubt!). âHarry felt his heart lift at the thought that there was still one last golden day of peace left to enjoy with Ron and Hermioneâ (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 30, Scholastic p. 652).
There were a host of symbols and signs of the black and white stages employed in literary alchemy and the red stage has its markers and metaphors as well. The Stone the rubedo produces, for example is known by a variety of names:
The Stone is endowed with many names, some of which are: elixir, tincture, medicine, panacea, balsame, arcanum, quintessence, tree, rose, lily, hyacinth, east, morning, living fountain, white stone, red stone, ruby, crystal, diamond, sapphire, Adam, paradise, Sophia, hermaphrodite, man, red king, red lion, microcosm, salvator, servator, filius macrocosmi, homunculus, sun, son, daughter, orphan, bird, Hermes bird and phoenix.
Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, Lyndy Abraham, p. 147
Of these, I think Ms. Rowling has already cued us to look for quintessence, red king, red lion, the orphan, and the phoenix. And we have quite a few âredsâ on hand to make things interesting in the red stage.
First, we have the red-headed Weasleys. These âBurrowâ residents (outside the village of Ottery St. Catchpole) are not pest weasels but the heroic vermin killers famous for their loyalty to the death and for their courage in attacking beasties many times their size to protect or avenge their loved ones. Weasels have even been considered symbols of Christ because they are in legend the only animals able to kill the dreaded Basilisk/cockatrice - and to defeat this satanic animal they must sacrifice themselves (see if you think Iâm making this up). Ms. Rowling is said to be a great admirer of weasels. Go figure.
The Weasleys are a large part of the Arthurian romance in Harry Potter, too, especially now that Merlin/Dumbledore is departed. All the boys have the names of kings and knights, Arthur, Percy, and Ron being direct connections to Camelot (Ron was the name of Arthurâs lance), and Ginnyâs real name is Ginevra (a name we recognize as an alternate spelling of âGuinevereâ). Harry Potter readers, I think, would be surprised if Bill is the last combat casualty from this clan of warriors; between Mollyâs vision before the boggart in 12 Grimmauld Place and the choleric passion to mix it up even Arthur displays, few of us will be surprised if Fred and George die heroically and fewer will weep if Percy falls (unless, of course, he returns to the fold before dying!).
Next we have Rufus Scrimgeour whose first name means âred manâ and whose last name is an antiquated spelling for âscrimmagerâ or âbattler.â He seems to have more steel in his spine than Fudge, but so does the average lap dog. His only actions in Half-Blood Prince were to arrest the innocent (Stan Shunpike - Death Eater!) and put up posters about how best to protect yourselves, posters people are too frightened to stand and read. Perhaps in the rubedo his fiery nature and combative spirit will show itself to be more than the superficial concerns of a law and order politician.
He doesnât have to die, though. Unlike Black and Albus, whose stages had to end to get through the alchemical work, Rubeus as the physical embodiment of the third and last stage is the destination. And, on top of that, Ms. Rowling is anything but mechanical in her use of alchemical imagery and is not bound to kill off characters because of their names. Janet Batchler of likes to remind me that Ms. Rowling has a contract with her readers not to kill certain characters and I never knowingly disagree with my favorite screen writer (in public!). But with the death of Albus Dumbledore, weâre all left thinking anybody and every body could die in Alchemistâs Cell. If Dumbyâs dead, nobodyâs safe⦠That doesnât mean Ms. Rowling has all the beloved characters on a âhit list,â though, just that weâd believe anything is possible.
Hagridâs child-like innocence, his unconditional, sacrificial love for those despised by the world, and the symmetry of his death ending Tom Riddleâs nightmare existence (by destroying the trophy Horcrux Riddle was given for âsavingâ Hogwarts from Hagridâs pet?)⦠these things, as much as his name, make me worry for poor Hagrid.
More signs? Well, look for septenary deadlines - seven months, seven days, or seven hours counting down as the seven year Great Work comes to a conclusion. I also suspect we might see a snake like Nagini eating its tail (the uroboros is a symbol of the rotation of the elements), a man or a man and woman suspended on a wheel as a four spoke axis (the turning of the great wheel), and a square resolved into a circle (the preferred image for this four element into quintessence formula being a house described in these geometric terms - a domed building?).
These are rather esoteric possibilities of seven counting down to one, four being reduced to quintessential unity, and black and white becoming red and ending. The more to be expected possibilities of contraries being revealed and resolved and couples joining for death and birth are plot points we read about in Half-Blood Prince.
In addition to the several revelations Iâve discussed above of secret Jekyll-Hyde like doppelgangers, the rubedo must resolve the contraries of the central Gryffindor/Slytherin conflict in three generational rounds: Harry/Draco, Harry/Severus, and Harry/Tom Riddle, Jr. Harry must also either overcome his internal âothernessâ or prejudice before or during this work so he can absorb or destroy the soul fragments in the four remaining Horcruxes, rally the four groups comprising the Magical Brethren, and unite the four Hogwarts Houses for the battle with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. If Harry successfully resolves these quaternaries, he will have become the quintessence himself, a synonym in many alchemical texts for the Philosopherâs Stone.
Curiously, the Philosopherâs Stone is supposed to emerge during the rubedo from the white stone that appears at the end of the white work. A phoenix also to appears at the beginning of the rubedo (A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, p. 152). Assuming that Dumbledore himself does not rise on the third day from the White Tomb that appears magically at his funeral (the Half-Blood Prince story closes two days after his fall from the Tower), it seems Ms. Rowling is pointing to Harry as the successor to Dumbledore and probable âred stone.â The repeated âI am with youâ phrase and Harryâs confessions to Scrimgeour of being a âDumbledore manâ signal, I think, along with the Phoenix Harry sees rising from the White Tomb, that Harry will be the completion of Albusâ work. Look for Fawkes to appear early in Alchemistâs Cell.
Harry Potter fandom is a spectrum of opinions, all, in my experience, opinions that are passionately defended or disparaged (as a rule, consequently, I run from fan web sites and engagement with fandom controversies). As you would expect, then, the idea of literary alchemy as a skeleton for these books has been met with derision and dismissive contempt () and been praised as important for having a full appreciation of the artistry of the books ().
Those who think it a lark or silly usually are unaware of the depth of the literary alchemy tradition in English fiction - poems, plays, and novels - or are ignorant of the specific images, outside of, perhaps, the Philosopherâs Stone. I cannot say I enjoy or appreciate their scorn - but thatâs fandom!
I have to wonder, though, if even the alchemy nay-sayers will be able to ignore and neglect the Chemical Wedding announcements we were all sent in Half-Blood Prince. Remember the wedding mentioned above in connection with the rotation and resolution of the four elements?
The contrary qualities of the four elements are likened to quarreling foes who must be reconciled or united in order for harmony to reign (see peace). The circulation of elements is identical with the process the alchemists describe as the conversion of body into spirit, and spirit into body, until each is able to mingle together, or unite in the chemical wedding to form a new perfect being, the philosopherâs stoneâ¦
(Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, Lyndy Abraham, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p.138)
The rubedo as the final stage of the Great Work features the wedding of the Red King and White Woman, their copulation and death, and the birth of the orphan (âthe Philosophical Childâ). Burckhardt calls the chemical marriage the âcentral symbol of alchemyâ (Alchemy, p. 149) and it has been the subject of literature from Shakespeareâs Romeo and Juliet (1595), John Donneâs Extasie (1607?) and The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (1616) to Blakeâs Jerusalem (1804-1820), C. S. Lewisâ Perelandra (1944) and That Hideous Strength (1946) and Lindsay Clarkeâs The Chemical Wedding (1990). You will forgive me, I hope, if I spell out how Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour conform to the Red Man and White Woman of alchemy and what their wedding may mean in Alchemistâs Cell.
Letâs review the unfolding of the Bill-Fleur romance before tracing their likenesses as Sol and Luna, the betrothed couple for the alchemical wedding.
Fleurâs first sighting of Bill is before the third TriWizard task (the labyrinth, which image is, yes, used in alchemical texts as a symbol of the Great Work: Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, p. 113) when Bill and Mrs. Weasley stand in for Harryâs family at âthe morning greeting.â Fleur the Beauxbatonâs champion, is immediately smitten with the handsome Bill.
Fleur Delacour, Harry noticed, was eyeing Bill with great interest over her motherâs shoulder. Harry could tell she had no objection whatsoever to long hair or earrings with fangs on them (Goblet of Fire, chapter 31, p. 616).
Her interest in the dashing Gringotts Curse Breaker grows in the next year when we learn that Bill, too, is smitten. When Harry arrives at 12 Grimmauld Place, the House of Black, he asks about Bill.
âIs Bill here?â he asked. âI thought he was working in Egypt.â
âHe applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order,â said Fred. âHe says he misses the tombs, but,â he smirked, âthere are compensationsâ¦.â
âWhat dâyou mean?â
âRemember old Fleur Delacour?â said George. âSheâs got a job at Gringotts to eemprove âer Eeenglish - â
â - and Billâs been giving her a lot of private lessons,â sniggered Fred.
(Phoenix, chapter 4, p 70)
These lessons have led to an engagement Fleur tells Harry at the Burrow in chapter 5 of Half-Blood Prince. Alas, it seems that Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny all despise her and hope very much that the wedding, planned for the next summer, falls through.
At bookâs end, however, Bill is mauled by Fenrir Greyback in the battle between the Order of the Phoenix and the Death Eaters at the stairs below the Astronomy Tower. Greyback was not a transformed Werewolf at the time, so, though the cursed wounds are incurable and largely untreatable, there was some question in the hospital wing about what would happen to him.
It turns out he will only be the long-haired man with fang earrings instead of the longhaired man with fangs. But in the moment of shock over the extent of his wounds, Mrs. Weasley suggests, not too delicately, that the wedding is off (she says he âwas going to be marriedâ) in front of Fleur. Fleur erupts in anger, Mrs. Weasley yields in respect and repentance, and both women collapse in each otherâs arms in tears. The wedding is on. (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 29, p 623)
So what?
Well, the alchemy here is not unlike that of the Ron/Hermione couple acting as the alchemical reagents sulphur and quicksilver (mercury) on Harry throughout the books. This explains, I think, Ronâs fascination with Fleur and in watching Fleur and Bill to pick up âsnoggingâ pointers (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 16, p 330). In terms of the four humors, the Weasleys are all choleric, which is to say, âhot and dryâ like fire. Fleur, as youâd guess from Ginnyâs nickname for her, is phlegmatic or âcold and moistâ like water.
Both Bill and Fleur are cartoons or caricatures of the archetypal studly man and drop-dead beautiful woman. When Bill is bit by a werewolf, he risks becoming in fact only the macho image he has projected to the world for some time (I mean, fang earrings?). Fleurâs hypnotic beauty and her enchanting kisses both are signs that she is almost an allegorical figure for feminine allure and magic. Bill is a machismo kind of guy with a werewolf lurking below the surface (one step up from the already fiery weasel!) and Fleur is the fashion model, wild white woman whose talons, cruel beak, and scaly wings are just below the horizon.
Ginny is right on, too, I think, when she says that Bill is interested in Fleur because he âlikes a bit of adventureâ (Half-Blood Prince, chapter 5, p. 93). Fire and water are opposites that attract, if they are a combination that resolve the qualities of both. Fleur, the silver-haired super feminine and Gaullic beauty featured in Half-Blood Prince, is a cold and wet sign of the white work that features the water element and cogulation after the torching experience of Phoenix. When we see Fleur become angry and aggressive over the passive body of Bill who was bested by Greyback, however, at the end of Half-Blood Prince, we know that she has become sufficiently masculine or choleric to move the choleric Mrs. Weasley to a more feminine and passive state. The chemical wedding at the end of the rotation of the elements, when water becomes fiery and fire liquid or passive, is in full progress.
As any student of Romeo and Juliet (or West Side Story) will tell you, however, that, while the Chemical Wedding of opposites may mean great things for the citizens of Verona because the Capulets and Montague reconcile over the dead bodies of the honeymooners, itâs not a wedding or marriage that parents hope for their children. Why the new king and queen spouses or at least archetypes of masculine fire and feminine water die soon after their marriage reflects the end and goal of the alchemical work. Lyndy Abraham explains:
Alchemy is based on the Hermetic view that man had become divided within himself, separated into two sexes, at the fall in the Garden of Eden and could only regain his integral Adamic state when the opposing forces within him were reconciled. The union of these universal male and female forces produced that third substance or efect which could heal not only the diseases of the physical world but also the affliction of the separated soul.
Metaphysically, the chemical wedding is the perfect union of creative will or power (male) with wisdom (female) to produce pure love (the child, the Stone). The creation of this Stone always involves some kind of sacrifice or death. Thus emblems of the chemical wedding almost always include emblems of death which overshadow the conjunctioâ¦.
The death at the wedding symbolizes the extinction of the earlier differentiated state before union, and also powerfully conveys the alacrity with which the festive moment of the coagula or wedding is transformed into the lamentation of the solve or death. Many texts say that the solve and coagula are simultaneous.
Alchemical theory stated that generation could not take place unless there had first been a death. In Christian mysticism the same idea occurs with the parable of the grain of wheat which must first die in the earth before it can bring forth fruit (John 12:24-25), a parable which the alchemists often cite. The philosopherâs stone cannot be generated until the lovers have died and their bodies putrefied in the mercurial watersâ¦.
The bodies of the lovers (the red man and the white woman) lying dead in the grave symbolize the death which frees the soul to be released and rise to the top of the alembic. (Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, p. 36-37, emphasis added)
I imagine this sounds perfectly dreadful to you, especially if youâre thinking it means Bill and Fleurâs wedding day will be a blood bath. It neednât be (Iâll explain why in a minute), but, even if it is, these deaths - be they literal or figurative experiences - bring forth life.
Closely related to the symbolism of marriage is that of death, According to some representations of the âchemical marriageâ the king and queen, on marriage, are killed and buried together, only to rise again rejuvenated. That this connection between marriage and death is in the nature of things, is indicated by the fact that, according to ancient experience, a marriage in a dream means a death, and a death in a dream means a marriage.
This correspondence is explained by the fact that any given union presupposes an extinction of the earlier, still differentiated, state. In the marriage of man and woman, each gives up part of his or her independence, whereas the other way round, death (which is in the first instance a separation) is followed by the union of the body with the earth and of soul with its original essence.
On âchemical marriageâ Quicksilver takes unto itself Sulphur, and Sulphur, Quicksilver. Both forces âdie,â as foes and lovers. Then the changing and reflective moon of the soul unites with the immutable sun of the spirit so that it is extinguished, and yet illumined, at one and the same time. (Alchemy, pp 155-156)
The child born of the coition of this death to self and opening to the spirit is the âphilosophical childâ or âphilosopherâs stone,â also known, for obvious reasons, I guess, as âthe orphan.â Ms. Rowling, by making mom here a mercurial bird- woman, paints a detailed alchemical picture, because, as Abraham tells us, âthe birth of the philosopherâs stone from the union of male and female substances at the chemical wedding is frequently compared to the birth of a bird,â specifically, the âBird of Hermesâ (Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery, p. 25).
I have to think the first question Iâll be asked after I post this is, âSo, youâre saying Bill and Fleur will die at their wedding or soon after and that a child will be born miraculously from their brief marriage and that this bird-child will be the answer to Death or at least Lord Voldemort? What do you take me for?â Thatâs what I would be asking if I read this.
Let me say again that literary alchemy doesnât force plot turns. The real master alchemist, Ms. Rowling, is obeying the rules of alchemical drama certainly but she does so in conformity to the tradition of telling the tale as it needs to be told.
What I mean by this is that Bill and Fleur donât have to die physical deaths. The couples joined by chemical marriages in Lewisâ Ransom Trilogy, for instance, donât die except in the Elizabethan usage of that term for congress. The death Bill and Fleur die is in the âextinction of their earlier, still differentiated stateâ of fire and water. This rotation of the elements can be a physical death, of course, but it is the death to self, in Fleurâs case phlegmatic excess and selfishness (seen in righteous anger with her mother-in-law to be) and in the Weasleyâs case to choleric British pride and machismo (seen in Billâs passivity in the hospital bed and Mollyâs surrender to and embracing her daughter in law with the offer of a family heirloom to highlight her silver hair). This death has already happened and is the accomplishment of the alchemical wedding - which death and wedding promises a new life to celebrate at bookâs end.
The production of the philosopherâs stone, then, is well under way by the end of Half-Blood Prince. We have seen the preface to the Chemical wedding and we have been shown the various quaternaries and contraries that need to be revealed and resolved in this finale to the seven stage alchemical work. - will come into the light of day and find resolution and peace.
, but I beg you to note I am not married or even very closely attached to the various plot event theories I put forth above or in other posts. Stoppered Death, Evil Slughorn, Draco Wolf-boy, and Half-Vampire Severus, frankly, are as inconsequential as the shipping debates and other Fandom squabbles. The necessary thing when talking about Harry Potter is getting at what makes these books so good, why we like them so much. Fighting about plot points wonât get us to that answer.
Examining the tradition of English literature for an appreciation of Rowlingâs artistry and the meaning carried by her stories that so stir our hearts and engage our minds - this, I think, is the road to travel to get at what Harry Potter is about. Literary alchemy is dreadfully important in this understanding because it is the radical and traditional worldview of strength coming from a self-denying harmony, from a sacrificial love that conquers death, that informs and drives these stories. Alchemy as metaphor for our resolution of the bonds of âIâ to transcend ourselves and our individual egos, to open ourselves to spirit and love and life, is the language and heart of Harry Potter. Potter mania is what it is because this language speaks to the human heart, a heart designed and longing for this message of powerful love and true peace.
__________________
King: You're a monster, Urquhart.
Urquhart:You might very well think that, Sir, but your opinion doesn't count for very much now, does it? Good day, Sir.
Ian Richardson in: "House of cards, Teil 2: To play the King"
Dieser Beitrag wurde 7 mal editiert, zum letzten Mal von Bernhard Nowak: 12.11.2006 09:40.
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11.11.2006 20:47 |
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Gibts diesen und den anderen Aufsatz von John Granger (den Thread von gestern) auch als Buch im Handel auf Deutsch? Sind da noch mehr so Artikel über HP drin oder sind das die einzigen?
Und wenn nicht können ein paar gute Englischleser die Artikel auf Deutsch übersetzten? Mein Englisch reicht nur für die Bücher von HP aus, nicht für die Artikel dazu; brauch einfach zu lang dafür. 
Lg
Desp
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11.11.2006 21:05 |
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Bernhard Nowak
Schüler
Dabei seit: 26.08.2004
Alter: 60
Herkunft: Rödermark
Themenstarter
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@Desparado:
Auf John Grangers Website: findest Du seine Publikationen und Artikel.
Bei Amazon.de ist sein aktualisiertes Werk: "Looking for God in Harry Potter" (2nd rev. ed.). Saltriver: Tyndale, 2006 noch lieferbar.
Neben Michael Maars Publikation: "Warum Nabokov Harry Potter gemocht hätte" für mich das Beste, was zu Harry Potter geschrieben worden ist.
Auf seiner Website hat John Granger diese beiden Aufsätze, die ich gestern und heute hier hineinstellte, wieder gelöscht. John Granger schrieb mir (ich hatte ihn angemailt), dass er die Aufsätze in erweiterter Form in einem neuen Buch veröffentlichen wollte. Ich sollte regelmäÃig auf seine Homepage schauen. Bislang liegt leider keine diesbezügliche Publikation vor und die Aufsätze selbst sind länger als die entsprechenden Teilabschnitte in: "Looking for God in Harry Potter." Das bereits 2002 veröffentlichte Erstlingswerk von ihm: The hidden key to Harry Potter" kenne ich (noch) nicht, ich werde es mir aber besorgen.
Einen dritten Aufsatz über Snape auf seiner Website gibt es dort auf seiner Website noch: 'Good Snape' is not a 'Square Circle' . Er stammt von B. Ketchum. Ich werde diesen Aufsatz bei Gelegenheit auch hier hineinposten.
Eine Ãbersetzung ist mir hier zu langwierig. Dies müssten wir vielleicht einmal mit mehreren Leuten in Gemeinschaftsarbeit von XPerts versuchen. Wenn jeder einen Abschnitt übersetzt, müsste es zu schaffen sein.
__________________
King: You're a monster, Urquhart.
Urquhart:You might very well think that, Sir, but your opinion doesn't count for very much now, does it? Good day, Sir.
Ian Richardson in: "House of cards, Teil 2: To play the King"
Dieser Beitrag wurde 2 mal editiert, zum letzten Mal von Bernhard Nowak: 11.11.2006 21:16.
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11.11.2006 21:12 |
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Morgana
Schülerin
Dabei seit: 22.12.2003
Alter: 53
Herkunft: Avalon
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Super, dass du das Thema eröffnet hast. 
, @Bernhard Nowak. Ich werde mich so schnell wie möglich einlesen.
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12.11.2006 09:31 |
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Bernhard Nowak
Schüler
Dabei seit: 26.08.2004
Alter: 60
Herkunft: Rödermark
Themenstarter
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@Morgana: Vielen Dank!
Doch auch diese Theorie gilt es, kritisch zu lesen. So sehr ich diese Theorie mag, der Auffassung, Snape sei ein Halb-Vampir und der Name "Halbblutprinz" beruhe auf diesem Geheimnis seiner Herkunft (ein Geheimnis, welches Dumbledore nach John Granger kennt) (JKR hat dies ja auch dementiert), kann ich mich nicht anschlieÃen.
John Granger hatte diese alchemistische Theorie - kurz - auch auf S. 205-208 seines oben zitierten Werkes: "Looking for God in Harry Potter" (Saltriver, 2006) dargestellt. Im Thread: hatte ich Kernteile dieses Aufsatzes, der ja auch hier angesprochen wird, übersetzt (dort auf S. 10). Dort findet sich auch Wizardpupils Zusammenfassung dieser Theorie von Mugglenet.com.
Anbei nochmals meine Ãbersetzung aus dem Thread:
Nun kommt die versprochene Ãbersetzung - allerdings sehr frei und sinngemäà den Text erfassend.
"Ich werde das letzte Buch, dessen Titel zur Zeit dieses Beitrages noch nicht bekannt gegeben worden ist, nennen und dies aus zwei Gründen. Zum einen hat die Firma Warner Brothers auf diesen Titel das Copyright zum Gebrauch für zukünftige Filme und Computerspiele erworben und zum zweiten möchte ich die Funktion der Alchemie [der alchemistischen Theorie, B.N.] in diesem finalen Band herausstellen. Harry Potter und der Kernpunkt der alchemistischen Theorie ist durch einen Prozess gekennzeichnet, der aus sieben Stadien besteht. Am Ende sollten wir ein "philosophisches Kind" oder einen "Stein der Weisen" erhalten, falls diese Entwicklung erfolgreich abgeschlossen wurde.
Der "Orden des Phoenix" beinhaltete das negride oder das schwarze Stadium des alchemistischen Prozesses und der Halbblutprinz zeigte die albinitische oder weiÃe Etappe dieser Entwicklung. Der Endpunkt dieses Prozesses sollte die rubinartige oder rote Stufe darstellen, falls dieses Muster, wie wir erwarten sollten, bis zum Ende durchgehalten wird. Es gibt drei Dinge, die wir in diesem "roten Stadium" erwarten können: die Auflösung von Gegensätzen, die chemische Hochzeit und die Produktion des Steins [der Weisen]. Rowling hat uns vorsichtig auf alle diese Entwicklungen im "Halbblutprinzen" vorbereitet.
Weil Sirius Black am Ende des schwarzen Stadiums gestorben ist und Albus Dumbledore am Ende der weiÃen Etappe starb, verbleibt die groÃe Frage: Wird Hagrid, dessen Name "rot" bedeutet (Sirius Black bedeutet schwarz, und Albus Dumbledore weiÃ) am Ende des roten Stadiums sterben müssen? Es muss nicht unbedingt sein, dass er stirbt, sicherlich, aber ich würde nicht dagegen wetten. Andere mutmaÃliche Kandidaten schlieÃen Rufus Scrimegour ein, dessen Name "der rote Mann Scrimmager" bedeutet, und alle die rothaarigen Weasleys. [...]
Mehr Anzeichen dafür? Betrachten wir die "Siebener"-Kreisläufe: sieben Monate, sieben Tage oder sieben Stunden: alles Zeichen dafür, dass der alchemistische Prozess, der aus sieben Stadien besteht, zu einem Abschluss kommt. Ich glaube auch, dass wir eine Schlange sehen könnten, die ihren eigenen Schwanz friÃt (der [Wurm, B.N.] Ouroboros [Titel eines Fantasy-Klassikers von E.R. Eddison, von dem Rowling auch beeinflusst worden sein dürfte, B.N.] als Symbol für die Bewegung der Elemente]. [Der Autor nennt dann weitere Beispiele für den Siebener-Kreislauf und erwähnt das Rad mit seiner Axe als Symbol für die Ziffer 4, B.N.] [...] Dieses sind ziemlich esoterisch anmutende Möglichkeiten, einen siebenstufigen Prozess zu einem Einzigen zu vereinen oder vier zu einer Quintessenz zusammenzufassen. Auch schwarz und weià können sich am Ende dieses Prozesses zu rot vereinigen. Die weiteren erwarteten Möglichkeiten, Gegensätze zu offenbaren und aufzulösen sowie die Paare, die gemeinsam sterben oder überleben, sind Handlungselemente, über die wir im Halbblutprinzen informiert werden.
Der siebte Band "Alchemist`s Cell" muss die Vielzahl an offenen Fragen, die sich am Ende des Halbblutprinzen ergeben, aufklären. Ich erwarte eine Menge von Offenbarungen von Geheimnissen und "doppelten Identitäten" im Sinne von Charakteren, die sich wie Doppelgänger im Sinne von Jekyll und Hyde herausstellen werden. Dies beginnt damit, dass Snape ein Anhänger Dumbledores ist (der Alchemist im Titel) und sich auÃerdem als Halb-Vampir entpuppt [dies glaube ich nicht, B.N.]. Draco dürfte ein Werwolf sein, Horace Slughorn ein Todesser. AuÃerdem dürfte Snape mit Hilfe eines Zaubertrankes Albus`Dumbledores "Tod verkorkt" haben, so dass es möglich war, ihn für ein letztes Jahr in Hogwarts zu erleben ("Stoppered Death"-Theorie, B.N.]. .
Merkwürdigerweise soll der Stein der Weisen während des "roten" Prozesses auftauchen und zwar aus dem weiÃen Stein, welcher am Ende des weiÃen Stadiums erscheint. Ein Phoenix sollte auch am Beginn der "roten Phase" erscheinen.
Ende der [gewiss sehr freien und nicht perfekten] Ãbersetzung. Puh!
Quelle: "Looking for God in Harry Potter." Saltriver: Tyndale, 2006, S. 205-208. Diese Aussagen finden sich auch im oben zitierten Aufsatz im Kern wieder.
Die Userin Ravenna hat auf die Theorie vertreten, auch Cedriks Tod sei mit dieser alchemistischen Theorie erklärbar. Zu Beginn des Prozesses müsse die Stufe "gelb" durchschritten werden und die Hausfarben von Hufflepuff seien schwarz-gelb. Ravenna hat selber diese Theorie vertreten.
Quelle:
__________________
King: You're a monster, Urquhart.
Urquhart:You might very well think that, Sir, but your opinion doesn't count for very much now, does it? Good day, Sir.
Ian Richardson in: "House of cards, Teil 2: To play the King"
Dieser Beitrag wurde 7 mal editiert, zum letzten Mal von Bernhard Nowak: 12.11.2006 10:01.
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12.11.2006 09:49 |
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Wizardpupil
Xperts Fanfiction Wettbewerb Gold-Award-Winner
Dabei seit: 18.04.2004
Alter: 31
Herkunft: Wr.Neustadt (in Ãsterreich)
Pottermore-Name: WormwoodEcho24723
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@Bernhard: Danke, dass du die Theorie gepostet hast!
Auch wenn ich ja schon einiges zum Thema der Alchemie und ihrer Auswirkung auf Harry Potter gelesen habe, bietet dieser Text doch noch einige nutzvolle Ergänzungen.
Im Gegensatz zu John Grangers Darstellung, warum Band 6 der beste der Reihe ist, habe ich allerdings an dieser Theorie ein paar, besser gesagt einen groÃen Schwachpunkt entdeckt, den du ja bereits angesprochen hast.
Ich bezweifle, dass sie uns damit in die Irre führen will. Natürlich könnte es sein (und der Fakt, dass ihr Zauberer des Monats im November 2006 ein Teil- oder gar Halbvampir ist (auf der englischen Seite steht wörtlich "part vampire", während auf der deutschen Seite "vampirischer Abstammung" übersetzt wurde), ist überhaupt ziemlich interesssant), aber dennoch bin ich eher der Meinung, obriges Zitat zeigt, dass Snape nichts mit Vampiren zu tun hat ... oder doch? Ich muss wirklich zugeben, ich schwanke hier ein wenig, schon allein deshalb, weil es innerhalb der Bücher doch einige Hinweise auf "Snape the Vampire" (oder jetzt eben "Snape the Half-Vampire") gibt - kurzer Verweis auf seinen Namen: Snape. Nimm das "S" weg und du erhältst "nape" - "Nacken". Nimm das "e" am Ende weg und du erhälts "snap" - "schnappen". Hihi, das find ich lustig; ich habe gerade meine Liebe zu Namen neu entdeckt.
Den Rest der Theorie mag ich sehr gerne. "Draco Wolfboy" ist zB ein sehr interessanter Gedanke, ich werde ihn demnächst mit dem sechsten Band vergleichen und, wenn mir die Theorie dann immer noch gefällt, etwas ausschmücken, um den Draco Malfoy-Thread im Charakter-Forum hier mal etwas aufzumischen. 
Und zu den alchemistischen Stadien und diesem groÃen Prozess brauch ich ja gar nichts mehr zu sagen - fantastisch, die gesamte Alchemie-Theorie. Vor allem gibt es ja mindestens (!) drei Versionen davon (bzw. zwei und eine, die die von John Granger etwas ausführlicher in diesen farbigen Stadien erklärt), wenn man diese drei übereinander legt, erhält man ein perfektes Bild für den Aufbau des siebten Bandes - es fehlt nur noch ein Titel und die dazu gehörige Handlung, sowie das Wissen darüber, was und wo die Horkruxe sind. Dass der Titel NICHT "Harry Potter and the Alchemist's Cell" lautet, davon bin ich - so leid es mir tut - überzeugt.
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Dieser Beitrag wurde 1 mal editiert, zum letzten Mal von Wizardpupil: 10.12.2006 10:54.
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12.11.2006 10:39 |
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Aurora
Lehrerin im Ruhestand
Dabei seit: 12.04.2004
Alter: 55
Herkunft: aus der Kammer der Geheimnisse
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| RE: Die alchemistische Theorie von John Granger für Band 7 |
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@Bernhard Nowak:
Danke auch für diesen Aufsatz.
Ich habe ihn jetzt zu Ende gelesen und finde ihn gut, allerdings hat er mich etwas weniger beeindruckt, als die beiden anderen (den von J. Granger über Buch 6 und jenen über S. Snape)
Mir ist natürlich bewusst, dass gerade in diesem Aufsatz extrem viel ausführliche Hintergrundrecherche steckt, aber trotzdem (oder gerade deswegen) bin ich an manchen Stellen mit meinen Gedanken abgeschweift, weil es mir ein wenig zu âabgehobenâ war 
.
Mit einigen Schlussfolgerungen Grangers kann ich mich vollkommen identifizieren. Dabei handelt es sich hauptsächlich um jene, die sich bereits aus den Büchern selbst ableiten lieÃen, ohne dass man über ein annähernd so fundiertes Hintergrundwissen über den alchemistischen Prozess verfügt:
Es handelt sich dabei um Harrys vermutete Aufgaben in Buch 7, wie die â wie Granger es nennt - (Gryffindor/Slytherin und alle darauffolgenden Gegensatzpaare bis hin zu Harry/Draco), die (4 Häuser Hogwarts und Geschöpfe des magischen Brunnens) wobei letzteres als ein etwas zu ambitioniertes Projekt für Harry allein erscheint, aber das erwähnt der Autor ja auch selbst, wenn ich mich nicht irre).
Weiters muss Harry auch noch die Unvollkommenheiten in sich selbst überwinden, welche Granger so treffend mit betitelt.
An anderer Stelle konnte ich nur bedingt folgen, was seine Schlussfolgerungen aus dem vermuteten alchemistischen Prozess betraf. So messe ich der Hochzeit Bill-Fleur nicht DIE groÃe Bedeutung zu, obwohl mir die Ausführungen über Fleurs Hinwendung zu dem entstellten Bill als eine Symbolik für ihre eigene innere âHässlichkeitâ (die weniger anziehende Seite der Veelas) durchaus sehr gut gefallen haben.
Ãberhaupt scheint mir, dass bisherige Versuche dieses Konzept der âChemischen Hochzeitâ in die Harry Potter Bücher einzubringen, eher erfolglos waren. (Wenn ich mich nicht täusche wurde selbiges auch einmal für das Paar Harry/Hermine versucht.)
Aber das ist nur meine bescheidene Meinung. Ich ziehe durchaus in Betracht, dass ich es nur ganz einfach nicht richtig âkapiertâ habe.
(Den Teil mit der Gegensätzlichkeit zwischen der Weasley Familie und Fleur/Phlegm habe ich definitiv nicht kapiert. 
Vielleicht lese ich es bei Gelegenheit nochmal)
Was die âRote Phaseâ des Prozesses im Allgemein betrifft, so bin ich mir ebenfalls nicht sicher, was ich daraus schlieÃen soll. Mag sein, dass man daraus eine Vorahnung auf den Tod/Opferung von Rubeus Hagrid ableiten kann, jedoch â wie der Autor ja einräumt - kommt die Farbe rot ja durchaus noch an mehreren anderen Stellen vor.
Aber nun zu den etwas konkreteren
âVorhersagenâ J. Grangers:
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Ich vermute fast, dass sich das als richtig erweisen wird, denn andernfalls kann ich mir im Moment nicht vorstellen, wie Harry dies auch nur annähernd überleben könnte. Leider bin ich kein groÃer Anhänger von âHarry ist ein Horkruxâ, ich räume aber ein, dass dies möglich wäre.
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Als ich das vor kurzem schon einmal las (damals aber ohne nähere Begründung) dachte ich spontan: So ein Humbug!
Jetzt muss ich das aber revidieren. Es finden sich sehr wohl Hinweise in Buch 6, die eine solche These stützen könnten, wie etwa
Dracos offenbare Schmerzen im linken Arm, die Harry (und auch wir) für das dunkle Mal hält (misleading?)
Was ist es genau, was Draco Mr. Borgin in dem Laden zeigt? Das dunkle Mal oder ein âZeichenâ von Fenrir Grayback, einem âFreund der Familieâ?
Sein mitgenommenes Erscheinungsbild, welches durchaus mit jenem Lupins verglichen werden kann, was Harry sich nicht erklären kann, was jedoch als ein Zeichen des besonderen Stresses, unter dem Draco im 6. Schuljahr steht interpretieren (misleading, die 2.?)
Die Konversation zwischen ihm und Dumbledore am Turm über die Tatsache, dass Draco ausgerechnet den blutrünstigen Werwolf in die Schule (in welcher seine Freunde sind) gelassen hat, wo doch Draco das ganze Schuljahr über eignehändig Schulkollegen in tödliche Gefahr gebracht hatte. (misleading, die 3.?)
Zudem würde Draco, wäre er tatsächlich vor dem 6. Schuljahr als Strafe für die Verfehlungen von Lucius von Fenrir gebissen worden, somit zu einem tragischen âOpfer Voldemortsâ werden, mit welchen Harry sehr wohl Mitgefühl haben könnte und sollte 
(ein Schritt in der Vereinigung der Gegensätze)
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Also nein , dies hat mich wiederum gar nicht überzeugt, denn im Gegensatz zu Draco finden sich hier nicht die mindesten Hinweise in den Büchern und darüber hinaus, wurde eine âVerbindungâ Snapes zu Vampiren mE von der Autorin bereits ausreichend dementiert. Die Theorie einer Lily, in deren Schuld Severus stand, weil sie einen Trank (ähnlich dem Wolfsbann-Trank) erfunden hat, welche ihm ein normales Leben ohne Blutgier ermöglicht, ist zwar reizvoll aber entbehrt mE jeder Grundlage in den Büchern.
AbschlieÃend will ich nochmal betonen, dass dies mit Sicherheit eine hervorragend fundierte Arbeit J.Grangers ist, auch wenn ich persönlich daraus nicht so viel herausholen konnte, wie vielleicht andere Leser.
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Dieser Beitrag wurde 3 mal editiert, zum letzten Mal von Aurora: 13.11.2006 13:59.
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13.11.2006 13:55 |
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Morgana
Schülerin
Dabei seit: 22.12.2003
Alter: 53
Herkunft: Avalon
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Ich bin noch nicht dazu gekommen die Aufsätze zu lesen. Da sie englisch sind werde ich dafür einiges an Zeit brauchen und die habe ich zur Zeit einfach nicht. Aber ich werde es nachholen.
Trotzdem möchte ich nur zu diesem kleinen Teil 'Draco der Werwolf' sagen, dass ich diese Auffassung nicht teile. Was sollte Draco da Bogin gezeigt haben? Das war das Mal der Todesser, nicht ein Biss in den Arm vom Werwolf. Also ich kann nicht finden, dass irgendetwas darauf hindeuten würde, dass schlüssiger wäre wie 'Snape ist ein Vampir, weil Ron immer sagt er sei eine übergroÃe Fledermaus'. Ich halte beides für Nonsens. Allerdings kann ich meine Ansicht ebenso wenig belegen, wie z.B. John Granger die seine.
Damit will ich auf keinen Fall die Aufsätze nieder machen, schon gar nicht, da ich sie noch nicht gelesen habe. Aber man muss ja nicht alles teilen, was darin steht. Und ich teile die Ansicht Draco sei ein Werwolf definitiv nicht - im Moment jedenfalls.
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13.11.2006 15:16 |
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Mumu
Schülerin
Dabei seit: 05.08.2006
Alter: 46
Herkunft: Andernach, RHLP
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oh mein Gott, das nimmt ja überhaupt kein Ende mehr
.... aber das trainiert mein Englisch
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13.11.2006 20:07 |
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pink-patronus
unregistriert
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Ich habe die Alchemie-Theorie in der Ausführlichkeit nun das erste mal gelesen - und muà sagen: Sehr überzeugend! - Zumindest in der Aufstellung!
Nur die Details sind interpretationsfähig! - Zunächst finde ich, das die rote Phase mit Hagrids Tod überein gebracht wird ziemlich einseitig spekuliert!
(Aber wenn man das so betrachtet ist es fast schon "um die Ecke" gedacht!)
Da gibt es noch andere Varianten:
1. Rot ist die Farbe von Gryffindor - also könnte man daraus auch den Tod von Harry (als "echter" Gryffindor - wie wir seit Buch 2 wissen) schlieÃen!
2. Rot-Haarig sind alle Weasleys - und alle waren in Gryffindor! Die Farbe steht deutlich für diese Familie... Kombiniert man die Ãberlegungen mit der Schachspieltheorie (die ich nach wie vor ebenso überzeugend finde), - könnte man klar daraus schlieÃen das ein Weasley das zeitliche segnet - ak: RON!
Dramaturgisch würde das auch Sinn machen - denn er ist als bester Freund von Harry, eine ihn beeinflussende Person! Harry muà am Ende alleine Voldemort gegenübertreten --- Ich denke davon sind die meisten hier überzeugt...
Den Teil mit der finde ich etwas krampfig! Marke: Was nicht paÃt wird passend gemacht! Die Hochzeit von Fleur und Bill wird, meiner Meinung nach, bestimmt nicht mit dem "Happy-together" enden - dafür wurde bis zum Ende von Buch 6 in Sub-Plots zuviel darauf hinausgearbeitet - irendwas wird passieren! Aber ich messe den beiden keine so groÃe Bedeutung zu, als das sie charakterebestimmt so stark in den Gesamtplot verwoben sind!
Ich denke eher das durch ein Desaster bei der Hochzeit der Schrecken von Voldemorts Herrschaft verdeutlicht werden wird!
Wie soll JKR es sonst verdeutlichen? --- Eine Kriegszene gespickt mit Zauberblitzen - Tote Muggle - Tote Zauberer - ... --- das erwarten wir doch alle!
Aber Tote und Verletzte bei einem als "glückseelig" erwarteten Moment --- ein Eingreifen Voldemorts in den "LETZTEN" glücklichen Tag (siehe Buch 6) würde zeigen, das Harry nicht davor flüchten kann! V ist präsent - und noch viel schlimmer: MaÃgebend! - Harry ist machtlos dagegen! Er muà handeln, oder alle die er liebt werden sterben!
Die Alternative wäre, das mit der Hochzeit Harry und Voldemort selbst gemeint sind! Das ist allerdings nur plausibel, wenn Harry wirklich ein Horcrux ist! Ich persönlich bin zwar davon überzeugt, denn nur so machen die Geschehnisse in Godrics Hollow und der "Harry hat eine Verbindung mit Voldemort"-Kram wirklich Sinn! --- aber da hat die Autorin wohl ganz bewuÃt noch andere Möglichkeiten offen gelassen, damit so Schlauköpfe wie wir nicht schon das 7.Buch selber schreiben können...
Was den Teil mit Draco als Werwolfund Snape als Halbvampir angeht: Naja - darüber kann ich nur ebenso schmunzeln! Wenn Draco ein Werwolf wäre, hätte ihn seine Familie als "unreines Sonstwas" sofort verstoÃen -- wir wissen doch wie die ticken!
Und Snape? - Ich denke das Snape noch genug wichtig wird in Buch 7 - und bisher als Chara schon genug Tiefe in die Bücher gebracht hat! Bisher haben sich die Hintergründe um Snape immer nur dramaturgisch gesteigert --- wenn er in Buch 7 nun als Halbvampir geoutet wird, und damit sein Verhalten im Ansatz erklärt werden soll: GUTE NACHT! Dann würde mir ab dem Moment nicht mehr ganz klar sein was JKR in den Jahren gemacht hat - in denen sie angeblich den Plot vorbereitet hat!
Interessant finde ich an der ganzen Theory, das es so gut übereinpaÃt mit so vielen anderen... Schachspiel... Flaschenrätsel... etc
Mir scheint es, als hätte JKR mehrere dramaturgische Symboliken und Generalplots übereinandergelegt um Hinweise zu verstecken... Ziemlich clever!
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16.11.2006 15:27 |
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