{"id":240,"date":"2011-07-17T18:46:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-17T18:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter\/"},"modified":"2011-07-17T18:46:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-17T18:46:00","slug":"harry-potter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html","title":{"rendered":"Harry Potter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
<\/a><\/div>\n

Seven books. Eight movies. Now it\u2019s over \u2013 now I\u2019ve read and seen them all. <\/p>\n

I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she was going to a release party for a children\u2019s book. The young woman was quite immature and totally unprepared for the business world \u2013 thankfully, she quit before I had to fire her. In my mind \u201cHarry Potter\u201d was associated with \u201cchildren\u2019s book\u201d and \u201csilly girl who needs to grow up\u201d \u2013 not a combination likely to get me to read it.<\/p>\n

Shortly after that, in the middle of 2001, I started hearing buzz about the upcoming movie Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\u2019s Stone<\/i>. All of the articles referred to the books, how good they were, and how they were inspiring children to read. I knew I was going to have to see the movie, and if I was going to see the movie I wanted to read the book first. <\/p>\n

If I didn\u2019t read Sorcerer\u2019s Stone<\/i> in one sitting it wasn\u2019t many more \u2013 if that was a children\u2019s book then it was the kind of book I liked to read as a child. The characters were real, the magic was believable (in the \u201csuspension of disbelief\u201d fictional sense), and the story had a lot I could relate to even as I was getting close to turning 40. I read Chamber of Secrets<\/i> and Prisoner of Azkaban<\/i> in the next couple of weeks, then Goblet of Fire <\/i>after I decided I wasn\u2019t waiting on the paperback. I was hooked.<\/p>\n

While waiting for the final three books I had a lot of discussions with other Harry Potter fans (and some enemies) about the books. Some thought they were Pagan, some thought they were Christian \u2013 I thought they represented a retelling of universal myths. I have to admit I was a little disappointed when Deathly Hallows<\/i> came out and it was clear that J.K. Rowling intended it as a Christian story. I wanted Harry for myself \u2013 I wanted him to be part of my universalist tribe. I had to be satisfied with the fact that the Christian elements in Harry Potter represented the best of Christianity: the power of love and the willingness to sacrifice for the greater good.<\/p>\n

The books weren\u2019t perfect. Subplots came and went (whatever happened to SPEW?), Harry\u2019s teenage angst in the first third of Order of the Phoenix<\/i> was painful to read, and the forest wanderings in the first part of Deathly Hallows<\/i> bordered on boring. But those were the exceptions.<\/p>\n

I chuckled when I read fundamentalist rants claiming that Harry Potter was going to spawn a generation of witches. I\u2019ve been involved in CUUPS for eight years now \u2013 I\u2019m still waiting for the first person to come to one of our circles or send me an e-mail and say \u201cI\u2019m here because of Harry Potter.\u201d I could tell the difference between fantasy and reality when I was a kid \u2013 I\u2019m pretty sure this generation can too.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve had ten years of wonderful entertainment and inspiration. I hate to see it come to an end, but all things do, eventually \u2013 and here\u2019s hoping J.K. Rowling has sense enough to leave near-perfection alone and NOT write any more. <\/p>\n

I want to end with my favorite quote from Deathly Hallows<\/i> \u2013 if you\u2019ve neither read the book nor seen the movie, you should stop reading here.<\/p>\n

From the chapter \u201cKing\u2019s Cross\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cTell me one last thing,\u201d said Harry. \u201cIs this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?\u201d
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry\u2019s ears even though the bright mist was descending again, obscuring his figure.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cOf course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s all been very real indeed.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seven books. Eight movies. Now it\u2019s over \u2013 now I\u2019ve read and seen them all. I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she was going to a release party for a children\u2019s book. The young woman was quite immature and totally unprepared for the business world \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHarry Potter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Seven books. Eight movies. Now it\u2019s over \u2013 now I\u2019ve read and seen them all. I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Harry Potter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Seven books. Eight movies. Now it\u2019s over \u2013 now I\u2019ve read and seen them all. I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-17T18:46:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-UV3hRIaPf64\/TiNz2LDcLjI\/AAAAAAAAAoU\/TtT-PNH910U\/s320\/deathly+hallows+dl_23.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html\",\"name\":\"Harry Potter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-07-17T18:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-07-17T18:46:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"Seven books. Eight movies. Now it\u2019s over \u2013 now I\u2019ve read and seen them all. I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Harry Potter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Harry Potter","description":"Seven books. Eight movies. Now it\u2019s over \u2013 now I\u2019ve read and seen them all. I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Harry Potter","og_description":"Seven books. Eight movies. Now it\u2019s over \u2013 now I\u2019ve read and seen them all. I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html","og_site_name":"John Beckett","article_published_time":"2011-07-17T18:46:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-UV3hRIaPf64\/TiNz2LDcLjI\/AAAAAAAAAoU\/TtT-PNH910U\/s320\/deathly+hallows+dl_23.jpg"}],"author":"John Beckett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Beckett","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html","name":"Harry Potter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-07-17T18:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2011-07-17T18:46:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad"},"description":"Seven books. Eight movies. Now it\u2019s over \u2013 now I\u2019ve read and seen them all. I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2011\/07\/harry-potter.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Harry Potter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/","name":"John Beckett","description":"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad","name":"John Beckett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Beckett"},"description":"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}