AN: Just something I really thought some of you might want to know. I don't mean to cause any controversy. I just read it myself and it caused myself to wake up. Just thought you guys might want to inform yourselves like I did.
6 Real Witchcraft
Next
point: Witchcraft. It's true, Rowling's series is filled with
fantastic things kids know don't exist, like fire-breathing
dragons, goblins, elves and even a sporting event called Quidditch
where wizard teams compete on flying broomsticks. Yet beyond the
obvious fantasy, Potter books are also jam-packed with mysterious
information about witches, warlocks, sorcerers, crystal balls,
spells, curses, potions, charms, numerology, divination, astrology,
palmistry, out-of-body travel, and communication with spiritsall
of which reflect actual beliefs and practices in the real world of
both ancient and modern occultism.
In fact, much of the occult information inside the Potter novels is so real that during one call-in radio interview Rowling was asked by an eager inquirer if she herself was a member of the "Craft." When she said no, the caller replied, "…you've done your homework quite well." This man then expressed his deep love for Harry Potter because it not only portrayed his own beliefs positively but also made his daughter more comfortable with his involvement in real witchcraft. 14
This cannot be overemphasized: Many of the occult practices so tantalizingly depicted in Harry Potter are actually performed by living members of the black arts throughout the world. Potter books are also speckled with the names of real historical people, like Nicholas Flamel,15 a French alchemist who lived in the 1300s,16 and Adalbert Waffling, whose book, Magical Theory , is on Harry's list of required reading at Hogwarts.17 Adalbert Waffling was a real person convicted of practicing real sorcery in A.D. 744-745 and was imprisoned in the monastery of Fulda.18 Thus Rowling, a graduate of mythology studies from Exeter University in England, is not only an imaginative writer, but a thorough researcher, with "an extremely well-developed and sophisticated knowledge of the occult world, its legends, history and nuances." 19 In another interview on The Diane Rehm Show, Rowling admitted that fully one-third of her material is based on actual occultism. 20
The most popular form of real occultism now spreading rapidly around the globe is Wicca witchcraft, or simply, the "Craft." Its adherents literally call themselves "wiccans," "witches," or "wizards." Countless books such as The Wicca Source Book: A Complete Guide for the Modern Witch by well-known witch Gerina Dunwich (1988), or Witchcraft: Exploring the World of Wicca by Craig Hawkins (1996), explain this mysterious, real-life, growing movement. In the U.S. alone, the sale of occult books (in bookstores or online) has become a multi-million dollar industry.
What makes real witchcraft so appealing
today especially to young people from broken homes who are
searching for guidanceis its claim to offer a degree of personal
power, strength-to-cope, adventure, and inner fulfillment not
accessible to the average Joe (the uninitiated). Wicca says all of
these perks come through accessvia occult techniquesto
supernatural powers which trained witches can "tap into." Such
power supposedly comes from three primary sources: From within
oneself, from nature, or from contact with the spirits of dead
people. That's what Harry Potter 's life is all about. He's a
young wizard-in-training studying occult techniques at Hogwarts who
becomes increasingly powerful through learning the arts of the
"Craft."