When it comes to Christians being rather suspicious of the Harry Potter stories, regarding the possibility of occultism there, it seemed they were onto something: the stories’ author JK Rowling was into a form or discipline of occultism called alchemy, which involved transmuting base elements into nobler ones like silver and gold. I remember asking somebody on a Facebook group I was part of regarding this and they said that it promotes witchcraft or something like that, which turned out to be true in a way that the stories do promote a form of witchcraft known as alchemy. The allusions to alchemy are there as well as the series depicting alchemy in practise to some extent, such as how the Invisibility Cloak relates to the mystical veil, which both act as a barrier between two worlds.
I believe if JK Rowling never got into alchemy in any way, but continued or went ahead with allusions to British folklore (Dobby the Elf is named after a folkloric character in some parts of Britain), kept many of the same characters and got into Christianity proper instead, Harry Potter would’ve been an entirely different series by then and far less controversial than it was when it first got published between the 1990s and 2000s. Considering that Rubeus Hagrid and Albus Dumbledore are named after the two colours representing certain things in alchemy, they’d be named differently if JK Rowling merely contented herself with British folklore and became a Christian in earnest. Even if JK Rowling kept many of the same characters here, they’d be presented quite differently if she never got into alchemy.
I have this nagging feeling that JK Rowling may’ve been more of a folklore nerd than a fantasy nerd, given how she seemed more interested in folklore than its fantasy literary permutation. But then again that’s also due to me being simply more into folklore than into fantasy fiction, so it’s not hard to see how the Harry Potter stories turned out this way due to somebody who’re more into folklore than fantasy fiction. It seems there are other interests and experiences that have a big bearing on the way stories are written and characters are portrayed, like if somebody was very into dog predation enough to read up on it a lot as to write about it in any capacity. JK Rowling’s prior interest in alchemy is no different, given it does have a bigger bearing on the Harry Potter canon than one realises.
Harry Potter really wouldn’t remain entirely the same had JK Rowling never got into alchemy, even if the use of boarding schools, folkloric creatures and the characters themselves remained. Considering that JK Rowling would eventually come to write crime fiction herself, the Harry Potter series would’ve leant more heavily towards a young boy merely solving mysteries concerning supernatural creatures. Basically it’d be like if Alexandra Trese was a British boarding school student, since she’s a Philippine detective solving mysteries concerning supernatural beings specific to Philippine culture. In terms of controversy, something else would’ve taken its place had JK Rowling never gotten into alchemy before writing Harry Potter. Her series would’ve been a more spiritually anodyne story by then.
Nothing too offensive for Christian tastes, since something else would’ve been the subject of their ire instead. A very different Harry Potter if you will, perhaps even more different had JK Rowling got into Christianity in earnest. To the point where it wouldn’t register as the same Harry Potter we know it to be. Though it does make one wonder if being into a certain discipline of occultism would be just as bad as being into the occult in general, where it does give you fame and fortune at first but also heartache. Especially as some of her readers come to learn of her stance on other things, as to turn against her eventually. Perhaps it’s not a good idea to turn to the world and evil spirits, as JK Rowling ended up doing. Though I said that she could be saved, this is the price of fame and worldliness.
Take no part in the world as to expose its darkness and evil, perhaps as God is out to judge California for condoning theme parks that indulge in these, there will come a time that the Harry Potter stories will be forgotten. It’s already being remembered with regret, though not for the reasons some people realise it to be, though it would be particularly horrifying if JK Rowling actually got into alchemy at some point when or even before writing the Harry Potter stories at all. Alchemical allusions do appear fairly often in the stories themselves, whether if it’s Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger being allusions to sulfur and mercury (Hermes in Greek), or even Harry Potter himself alluding to Lazy Henry. Perhaps these Christians were in the right to distrust Harry Potter, however amusing it appears to be on the surface.
Even if reading Harry Potter books wouldn’t necessarily make oneself get into the occult, these could lead somebody into doing other bad things, something like getting into trouble in school for reading HP slash being one of those things. Things like those would make somebody regret these kinds of things later on in life, should they admit this in time. Perhaps Harry Potter would be rightfully regarded as a regretful series, that some have disowned but not necessarily for the reasons they think it to be. This could be why Narnia and LOTR are preferred more by Christians, as they don’t have the alchemical baggage HP has. JK Rowling could still be saved, though it remains to be seen if this comes to pass at all.
fynm 