Harry Potter froze in terror as the hellish Dementors rushed to suck out\u00a0his godfather\u2019s soul.<\/p>\n
But he was not powerless, because he had learned the Patronus Charm for use\u00a0against the evil ones. So the boy wizard focused on a joyful memory and\u00a0shouted, \u201cExpecto Patronum!\u201d<\/p>\n
Salvation arrived in the form of a dazzling silver animal that defeated the\u00a0ghouls and then cantered across the surface of a lake to Harry. It was as\u00a0\u201cbright as a unicorn,\u201d but on second glance was not a unicorn. It was a\u00a0majestic stag that bowed its antlered head in salute and then vanished.<\/p>\n
If C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien had written this scene in \u201cThe Prisoner of\u00a0Azkaban,\u201d literary critics and Christian apologists would know how to break\u00a0the code, according to John Granger, author of \u201cThe Hidden Key to Harry\u00a0Potter.\u201d They would parse the Latin charm and study author J.K. Rowling\u2019s\u00a0delicate use of medieval symbolism.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe key is that stag, which is often a Christ symbol. But she is not\u00a0content to make it a stag. It\u2019s a stag that looks like a unicorn,\u201d said\u00a0Granger, who teaches Latin and Greek in Port Hadlock, Wash.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s saying to the reader, \u2018A stag may be a reach for you. So I\u2019ll have\u00a0it be a stag that looks like a unicorn, since that has been a universally\u00a0recognized Christ symbol for ages.\u2019 It\u2019s almost, \u2018Let me make this clear\u00a0for you.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
But these symbols have eluded most readers who have bought 192 million\u00a0copies of these novels in 55 languages. (Rowling requested Latin.)<\/p>\n
This\u00a0weekend bookstores are serving up the first 8.5 million copies of the\u00a0768-page fifth volume, \u201cHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.\u201d\u00a0The usual suspects will immediately say the usual things. Many Christians\u00a0will quote Bible verses condemning magic. Academics will call the book a\u00a0childish confection and analyze it as media myth and pop psychology.\u00a0Librarians will give thanks that children are reading \u2014 anything.<\/p>\n
Granger believes they are missing the obvious: Rowling has baptized her\u00a0work in medieval Christian symbols and themes that shape and define her\u00a0tales of good versus evil. Potter\u2019s creator, he noted, received a superior\u00a0education \u2014 with studies in French and classical languages at the\u00a0University of Exeter \u2014 and has a working knowledge of ancient and medieval\u00a0literature. She has made no effort to hide her admiration of great writers,\u00a0especially Jane Austen and Lewis.<\/p>\n
Granger has focused on her language and symbolism, in large part because of\u00a0his similar studies in \u201cGreat Books\u201d and ancient languages. He has also\u00a0attempted to predict how these themes will play out in Rowling\u2019s future\u00a0Potter novels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started reading the Potter books as an Orthodox Christian father who had\u00a0to explain to his oldest daughter why we don\u2019t read such trash,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cBut once I started turning the pages the University of Chicago side of me\u00a0kicked in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take that climactic scene in \u201cThe Prisoner of Azkaban,\u201d he said. The Latin\u00a0\u201cexpecto,\u201d as used in the Apostles\u2019 Creed, is best translated \u201cto look out\u00a0for\u201d or \u201cto long for expectantly.\u201d And \u201cpatronus\u201d means guardian, but can\u00a0also mean \u201cdeliverer\u201d or \u201csavior.\u201d So Potter cries \u201cI look for a savior\u201d\u00a0and a stag appears, one that looks mysteriously like a unicorn.<\/p>\n
In the Middle Ages, noted Granger, stags were Christ symbols, in part\u00a0because of the regeneration of their antlers as \u201cliving trees.\u201d A cross was\u00a0often pictured in the prongs. Lewis uses a white stag in this manner in\u00a0\u201cThe Chronicles of Narnia.\u201d Unicorns were also popular Christ symbols,\u00a0portraying purity and strength.<\/p>\n
Rowling repeatedly links Potter with creatures \u2014 a phoenix, griffins,\u00a0centaurs, hippogriffs, red lions \u2014 used by centuries of Christian artists.<\/p>\n
Her use of alchemy symbolism taps into medieval images of spiritual\u00a0purification, illumination and perfection.<\/p>\n
None of this is accidental, he said. Anyone who cares about Potter-mania\u00a0must take Rowling more seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we are seeing is a religious phenomenon taking place in a profoundly\u00a0secular, profane culture,\u201d said Granger. \u201cJ.K. Rowling is pouring living\u00a0water into a desert. \u2026 She is mounting a head-on attack on a\u00a0materialistic world that denies the existence of the supernatural and, so\u00a0far, she is getting away with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Harry Potter froze in terror as the hellish Dementors rushed to suck out\u00a0his godfather\u2019s soul. But he was not powerless, because he had learned the Patronus Charm for use\u00a0against the evil ones. So the boy wizard focused on a joyful memory and\u00a0shouted, \u201cExpecto Patronum!\u201d Salvation arrived in the form of a dazzling silver animal that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[80,149,416,511,870],"class_list":["post-1234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arts","tag-cs-lewis","tag-harry-potter","tag-literature","tag-tolkien"],"yoast_head":"\n