Still Against Fiction

Christian book-burners are at it again. Do they ever stop? For a little while there it seemed like the more dramatic stunts had dropped off, even if schools were still receiving plenty of requests to have books removed from libraries by a lot of the same folks. But controversial Tennessee pastor Greg Locke held a book-burning event just last week, in an effort to save his religious beliefs from the scourge of fictional magick.

Greg Locke, head pastor at Global Vision Bible Church, held a book burning event Wednesday night, and urged followers to burn “evil garbage” like young adult fantasy books, tarot cards, “voodoo dolls and crystals.”

“Bring all your Harry Potter stuff. Laugh all you want haters. I don’t care. IT’S WITCHCRAFT 100 PERCENT,” Locke said in an Instagram post Monday. “All you ‘Twilight’ books and movies. That mess is full of spells, demonism, shape-shifting and occultism.”

In a video livestreamed on Facebook, churchgoers hurl books and other items deemed associated with “witchcraft” into a massive bonfire on the church’s parking lot in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. The burning begins about an hour into the livestream. At least one counterprotester claimed to throw a Bible into the flames, Nashville Scene reported.

“We have a constitutional right and a Biblical right to do what we’re going to do tonight,” Locke said in the livestreamed video. “We have a burn permit, but even without one a church has a religious right to burn occultic materials that they deem are a threat to their religious rights and freedoms and belief systems.”

Now J. K. Rowling has shown herself to be problematic of late, and Twilight is just plain bad. Still, I'm absolutely and unswervingly opposed to book burning regardless of content, and as a practicing worker of magick I can also assure everyone out there that both the Harry Potter and Twilight series are fiction. The "spells, demonism, shape-shifting, and occultism" portrayed in those books has nothing to do with magick in the real world.

And these folks honestly have to know that the magick in these books is actually 100% fake and poses no real occult threat. The reason they persist in this nonsense is that to some kinds of Christians - to be clear, the wrong kind - there's nothing more dangerous than imagination. It's no wonder that so many young people who grow up in those churches leave. I have trouble contemplating an existence in which no one is safe even in their own thoughts, and can think of few things more existentially depressing.

Obviously, a belief system that awful is under threat from anything fun. It's not just fantasy fiction, which remains popular because people like it, but anything at all enjoyable. As I see it, joy and spirituality should go hand in hand, and any belief system that can be destroyed by something as trivial as fantasy fiction should just be destroyed and get it over with.

Real Harry Potter Spells?

From the "Are you even remotely serious?" department comes this gem, which I thought was over and done with five years ago or so. But I guess not. A Catholic school recently removed the Harry Potter series of books from their library because they contain "real spells" that "risk conjuring evil spirits." That's sure news to us actual conjurers!

St. Edward Catholic School opened a new library for the 2019-2020 school year, The Tennessean reported. The books were removed when the school moved from the old library to the new library.

In an email to parents, Rev. Dan Reehill, the pastor of the church associated with the school said, “These books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.”

Reehill said in the email that he consulted with several exorcists who recommended removing the books. The process of removing them started after an inquiry from a parent, according to the Catholic Diocese of Nashville.

I understand that the Roman Catholic Church teaches that any magical operation (besides their own operations, like the Tridentine Mass and Rite of Exorcism) is evil, and however dumb that position might be, if they are uncomfortable with a book featuring a wizard hero in their library I suppose they have every right to remove it. But believing that these fictional books contain "real spells" is a level of stupidity that I thought died out a while ago.

Atheists Aren't That Weird

Towards the end of the Republican primary race, Ohio Governor John Kasich basically looked like the last normal person standing. Largely, this was because of the contrast between him and the other two remaining candidates - Donald Trump, who needs no explanation, and Ted Cruz, a flat-out Christian Reconstructionist theocrat. Kasich, though, is apparently not nearly as reasonable as that comparison made him seem.

Last week, while stumping for Chris Sununu, a New Hampshire Republican, Kasich couldn't help running his mouth when he noticed the Harry Potter series on the shelf at a bookstore. For some reason that was never explained, he wondered aloud about Daniel Radcliffe's religion, or more to the point the actor's lack thereof. Radcliffe identies as an atheist, which Kasich seemed to have difficulty comprehending.

John Kasich’s reputation as the “normal” Republican comes, in large part, from a lack of serious media scrutiny. But over the weekend, one intrepid reporter, Allie Morris of the Concord Monitor, captured a telling Kasich moment as the Ohio governor stumped for Chris Sununu, a Republican running for governor of New Hampshire.

“Inside a bookstore he didn’t much discuss Sununu’s candidacy,” Morris wrote. “Instead he looked at the latest Harry Potter book and pondered why British actor Daniel Radcliffe is an atheist.”

Morris continued:

“You know that Daniel Radcliffe has declared himself an atheist?” Kasich said to no one in particular. “I’m serious. What a weird thing. Why would a guy who has had all that success just, I mean, what the hell is wrong with him?”

It is true that Radcliffe gave an interview in 2009, at age 19, when he said, “I’m an atheist, but I’m very relaxed about it. I don’t preach my atheism, but I have a huge amount of respect for people like Richard Dawkins who do.” Further research revealed that Radcliffe was not kidding about the “relaxed” part, as he has hardly ever spoken publicly about his unbelief in a deity.

J. K. Rowling on Wands

Today the Guardian is reporting that J. K. Rowling has commented on an article from the Independent that claimed Richard Carter, the owner of a shop that sells wands for use in real magical rituals, said that he would refuse to sell wands to Harry Potter fans because his wands were not toys. Her response suggests that although she's made a fortune writing about magick, she doesn't have much respect for real magical spirituality.

As I mentioned in my post on the original article, I think it's a bit extreme to ban fans of certain books from your shop. But the thing is, that's apparently not what Carter said. He was misquoted, and was explaining that there's a difference between wands meant for magical practice and toys, and if a child wanted a toy, that's what he or she should buy.

On the other hand, it sounds like Rowling doesn't see the difference, because I guess she thinks magick - a discipline that I have dedicated the last thirty years of my life to practicing - is all made up.

The novelist tweeted a link to a story in the Independent about Richard Carter, owner of the shop Mystical Moments in Huddersfield. Carter, who supplies handmade wands, was quoted as saying that “Harry Potter is for children”, and that “if I had someone come in wanting a wand just because they liked Harry Potter I would not sell them one, no matter how much they were offering”.

“You wouldn’t believe how many real witches and wizards there are knocking about. You would be amazed,” he said. “They know they can come here and reveal themselves without people thinking they’re mental. I don’t have customers who have been Harry Potterfied.”

Rowling tweeted in response on Sunday: “Oh yeah? Well, I don’t think they’re real wands.” Her comment was liked by more than 15,000 people, but some criticised her on Twitter for making fun of pagan religions.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling)
August 14, 2016

Oh yeah? Well, I don't think they're real wands. https://t.co/CkiavJyDLu

The Sun reported he had banned Potter fans from his shop, but Carter told the Huddersfield Daily Examiner that his comments had been taken out of context.

“I said that if Harry Potter fans wanted a wand they should go on eBay because what they’re basically after is a toy. But I have not banned them from the shop,” he told the local paper. “I have nothing against Harry Potter and actually liked the films. The wands I make, though, whether you believe it or not, are real and spiritual. If a Harry Potter fan came to the shop, whether they would be able to buy a wand would depend on why they want one. If for a toy, then no, but if they had watched Harry Potter and been inspired to start their own spiritual journey, then yes.”

No Wands for You!

A British witchcraft shop that sells magical wands has announced that it will not sell wands to Harry Potter fans, because they are for real magical practitioners and not fantasy enthusiasts. The owner of the shop, Richard Carter, creates each wand by hand and makes little money on them because he wants them to be available to spiritual seekers.

But Richard says he only wants to attract true believers in magic and can detect Hogwarts fans wanting his wands for their collections of memorabilia by their aura. He said: "JK Rowling has obviously done her research but Harry Potter is for children. It has done nothing for business.

"You wouldn't believe how many real witches and wizards there are knocking about. You would be amazed. They know they can come here in reveal themselves without people thinking they're mental.

"I don't have customers who have been Harry Potterfied. If I had someone come in wanting a wand just because they liked Harry Potter I would not sell them one, not matter how much money they were offering.

"I can tell what people are like when they walk in by their aura." He would also spot dark wizards and witches the same way and will not sell wands to those wanting to hex other people or perform curses.

Former textile worker Mr Carter, opened the shop in April with partner and fellow spiritualist Jackie Restall, 43. He claims he does not make a penny out the wants, costing £15 to £25, which he uses to spread the spiritual message.

While I sympathize with Carter to the extent that people who conflate Harry Potter with real magick are pretty annoying, it seems to me that there are a number of other ways he could go about this which would work out better in the long run and spare him a lot of bad press.

Is Trump Voldemort?

Tonight Donald Trump will be giving his big speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, accepting his party's presidential nomination. The convention is packed with his supporters, who booed Ted Cruz off the stage last night after the Texas senator refused to endorse Trump. But there's another group out there that is particularly down on The Donald's candidacy - Harry Potter fans.

Raw Story reports a new poll that shows readers of the Harry Potter series dislike Trump in direct proportion to the number of books in the series that they have read. While this could be a spurious correlation, the pollsters speculate that the effect may be based on readers seeing similarities between Trump and the villain of the books, Lord Voldemort.

A national poll of 1,142 American Harry Potter fans who read more and more books were less and less likely to support Trump by a factor of two to three points. So, a reader of all seven books lowered a respondent’s evaluation of Trump by 18 points.

“It may simply be too difficult for Harry Potter readers to ignore the similarities between Trump and the power-hungry Voldemort.” It’s in keeping with Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling, who has written and tweeted about her contempt for Trump, saying he is a “fascist in all but name” and saying he’s actually worse than Voldemort.

Those aligned with Voldemort in the Harry Potter books supported Pure-blood supremacy wizards and opposed any who were born from non-wizards or muggles. While Voldemort did not propose building a wall around an all wizard town to keep out those who were not pure blood, he did support killing them.

It could also be that the biggest Potter fans simply love J. K. Rowling and are following her lead, as her opinion of Trump is well-known. Or it could be that people who have read more of the books are more likely to be avid readers who might be looking for more depth in a candidate than Trump has shown up until now. Or fantasy fiction readers might be more liberal in general. Or there could be any number of other relationships between variables that might only incidentally relate to this particular series.

But if the connection is genuine, those of us who don't support Trump should be sure to remember just how lame a super-villain Voldemort turned out to be. He tried to take over a high school - and failed. Even so, everyone in the Harry Potter universe was really, really scared of him. That means if Trump winds up losing big in November, the comparison will be a lot harder to deny.

No, THIS is the Saddest Harry Potter Ever

Back in 2002 a Chinese author came up with one of the most amazing ripoffs of all time. Amidst the media hype surrounding the Harry Potter books, the author decided to write his or her own - and by write I mean steal. The book consisted of the entire text of J. R. R. Tolkein's The Hobbit, with the character names changed to those of Harry and his friends. The author also added a short first chapter in which a spell changes Harry into a hobbit, and a concluding chapter in which he is changed back.

When I wrote about this amazing piece of work (pun intended) back in 2008 I described it as the saddest Harry Potter ever, but it seems that I spoke too soon. Jezebel has an article up about a Christian mom who decided to "fix" the Harry Potter series by rewriting the books from an extreme fundamentalist perspective. That is, she took out all the magical wizarding stuff and replaced it with "prayer and miracles."

A writer who claims to be an Evangelical stay-at-home mom named Grace Ann has taken it upon herself to remove all the witchcraft devil-worship from Harry Potter and replace it with a more Christian-friendly message. Looks like someone has finally thought of the children — by stripping a children's book of the very thing that makes it fun to read.

"I'm new to this whole fanfiction thing, but recently, I've encountered a problem that I believe this is the solution to," Grace Ann wrote on FanFiction.net. "My little ones have been asking to read the Harry Potter books and of course I'm happy for them to be reading, but I don't want them turning into witches! So I thought 'Why not make some slight changes so these books are family friendly?' And then I thought 'Why not share this with all the other mommies who are facing the same problem?' So-Ta da! Here it is! I am SO excited to share this with all of you!"

Know Your Trade

Half the folks on the blogosphere have been all over this one already, but in the interest of completeness I'm going to chime in on the latest exploits of the Teen Exorcist Squad, who are now heading to the UK for some serious demon-bashing across the pond. On the heels of their recent documentary, the squad is now filming a reality television series covering their efforts to drive Satan and his supposed minions from the world. According to the exorcists, Britain is apparently rife with demonic activity because of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books.

"Every single country has a specific kind of demon," says Tess, 18, who loves music and reading. They believe that the UK in particular is a hotbed for "witchcraft", because of the popularity of J K Rowling's Harry Potter books.

"The spells and things that you're reading in the Harry Potter books, those aren't just something that are made up, those are actual spells. Those are things that came from witchcraft books," says Tess.

There's a whole lot to mock in the article, but for once I'm going to play this one completely straight and ask a simple competency question. If your exorcists don't know the difference between fake spells and real ones, what makes you think they know anything about real demon possession, or for that matter how to properly perform an exorcism? If I were interviewing a computer programmer who claimed to have developed software for WOPR (the fictional military computer system from the film Wargames) or Gibson mainframes (from the film Hackers), I would know they were lying their asses off and would never hire them in a million years.

Apparently nobody subjects exorcists to this same level of scrutiny, though they probably should before spending any money on their services.

Muggle Quidditch Invasion of Britain Continues

Back in March I covered the first Muggle Quidditch match played in England. As Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is British, it might seem strange that this version of her fictional game was invented in America. However, as I noted in my previous post, creating sadder, more watered-down versions of cultural treasures from other nations is pretty much what we Americans do. In the eighties it was the Croissan'Wich, and today it's Muggle Quidditch. And don't even get me started on the chow mein sandwich, invented in Fall River, Massachusetts. Given that chow mein is a sad American substitute for real Chinese food to begin with, putting it in a sandwich is a whole other level of suckage. But I digress.

Julia Rivera is a die-hard Harry Potter fan, and she is a natural athlete. So she decided to combine the two and formed the first Quidditch league at Kennett High School.

“It’s so much fun,” said Rivera, a Kennett sophomore. “There’s a lot of laughs to see everyone get so into it. After people play, they realize it’s more difficult than they were expecting.”

I don't think anyone who's ever tried to run holding a stick between their legs would expect this version of Quidditch to be easy. See, that's why the brooms are supposed to fly...

Muggle Quidditch Returns Home

I suppose in one sense that headline is a bit of a misnomer, as Muggle Quidditch is a fully American invention that is now finally being played on British soil. However, as the Quidditch found in the Harry Potter novels was the brainchild of British author J.K. Rowling, the United Kingdom does bear some responsibility for creating this ridiculous sport. The first official match in England was held two weekends ago, with Keele University defeating Leicester University 2-1.

To play the game, opposing teams of seven have to put ‘quaffles’ into hoops while avoiding dodgeballs known as ‘bludgers’.

The flying ‘snitch’ is played by a neutral player dressed in yellow with a tennis ball in their waistband.

In the absence of flying broomsticks, players have to run around with sticks or brooms between their legs.

Although Quidditch is new to Britain, more than 400 teams play in the US.

Now, I have a couple of readers who get on my case every time I make fun of Muggle Quidditch - because after all, the players are "just having fun." I suppose that's true. But on the other hand, if I can't describe a bunch of grown people running up and down a field in little Hogwarts capes with broomsticks between their legs as ridiculous, doesn't that imply that the word has lost all meaning?

Viewed objectively, lots of sports seem pretty ridiculous. Curling comes to mind - and hey, that involves brooms as well! If someone out there really wanted to base a sport on the Malleus Maleficarum, which is where the whole "witches riding flying brooms" comes from, they could always stipulate that everyone involved make use of liberal amounts of flying ointment and play the game naked. I'd watch that for sure, though it would probably be way too dangerous to responsibly support.

A comedian whose name I don't remember once had a routine explaining that the French hate Americans because we took their invention of the croissant and proceeded to turn it into the Croissan'Wich. I fear that Muggle Quidditch may take us down the same path with the British. J.K. Rowling imagined a sport that, quite frankly, looks unbelievably cool on film, and what did we Americans do? We turned it into a game where the brooms don't fly, but you still need to ride them in order to play.

Taking the "Wizard" Out Of "Triwizard"

Back in April I commented on the inexplicable phenomenon of Muggle Quidditch, in which players run around a field with brooms that can't actually fly clutched tightly between their legs. At the time, it seemed to me that this was a case of Harry Potter mania gone too far. The whole idea is ridiculous. I mean, what's the point of trying to fly on a non-flying broom? Recently a similar idea showed up at Valdosta State University in Georgia - a "Triwizard Tournament" that involved no wizardry whatsoever.

Reade Hall is divided into four sub-hallways, two for each gender. This year, the Resident Assistants of Reade have adopted a Harry Potter theme for the entire residence hall. Each smaller hallway within Reade is decorated to reflect one of the four Hogwarts Houses: Gryffindor for the upstairs girls’ hall, Ravenclaw for the upstairs boys, Hufflepuff for the downstairs boys, and Slytherin for the downstairs girls.

As an icebreaker activity to start the school year, the Reade RA’s put together a competitive event this past Sunday which they nicknamed the “Triwizard Tournament.” Though the name is not necessarily accurate, the residents of Reade undertook a series of field-day style events, competing for points toward their respective Houses. These events included a broomstick race, an orange-passing relay, and a game of Dragon Tag among other games.

“My favorite game was ‘Gorilla, Man, Gun’,” said sophomore Engineering major Sarah McGrew, “-because I won serious House Points for Slytherin!”

Wow, that all sounds so magical - NOT. It sounds more like elementary school physical education. Now I do know that real magical contests, like trying to see who can produce the best evocation manifestation, or shift a quantum diode the most, or most effectively divine some unknown piece of information using the Tarot probably seem pretty boring to kids used to fantasy-novel spellcasting. Nonetheless, I keep holding out hope that one of these days a Harry Potter-inspired event will come along that involves something other than silliness.

So far that's turned out to be a real recipe for disappointment.

Not This Again!

It would seem that the Vatican's 2009 endorsement of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was all for naught, at least if you're trying to find Harry Potter legos at the wrong chain of stores in England. One woman who had the audacity to ask a store manager if they carried the toys found herself accused of "teaching her child evil."

Devout Christian Gary Grant owns the chain of Entertainer shops and says he has never sold merchandise from the films in any of his shops, fearing that he may be responsible for attracting children to the occult.

Customer Jennifer Gledhill was shocked when she turned up at the new store in Wakefield with her eight-year-old son Thomas, claiming she was told the shop didn't stock Harry Potter Lego because it didn't believe in teaching children evil.

Mrs Gledhill, 40, from Wakefield, said: 'I asked the store manager for help in finding the new Harry Potter Lego and he said "Look, we're a Christian company, we don't believe in teaching children evil".

The problem here isn't that a Christian store owner doesn't believe in stocking particular toys. As a businessman it is of course his right to decide what lines of toys he wants to carry. The problem is, instead of just telling Gledhill that his store didn't have the toys or even politely explaining that they weren't consistent with the owner's beliefs, the manager couldn't resist the urge to indulge in the usual judgmental schtick. That makes him look rude and stupid rather than principled, and from a media perspective reflects badly upon his entire faith.

No New Name for "Witchcraft Heights"

It would seem that Salem, Massachusetts' Witchcraft Heights Elementary School won't be getting a new name. As I mentioned back in March, School Committee member James Fleming had proposed renaming the school after former City Councilor Leonard O'Leary who passed away in 2007.

The Witchcraft Heights Elementary School will keep its name after School Committee member James Fleming withdrew his proposal to rename the school after former City Councilor Leonard O'Leary.

Instead, the ball fields at the school will be named in O'Leary's honor and a photo of O'Leary, who represented Ward 4 for 25 years until his death in 2007, will be placed in the school's lobby.

The School Committee unanimously approved Fleming's revised proposal at its meeting on Monday night.

Fleming had originally requested renaming the school building after O'Leary, a champion of public education, because it is located in O'Leary's ward.

Fleming also said the name "Witchcraft" might be misconstrued.

As I also pointed out in my March article, Fleming is apparently an idiot because it sounds like he believed that unless the name was changed people were going to think the school was Harry Potter's Hogwarts or something.

Wait, There's Really a Quidditch Team?

In last month's article about the potential renaming of Witchcraft Heights Elementary School in Salem, Massachusetts, I had some fun at the expense of a Salem school board member whose comments suggested he was worried that with "witchcraft" in the name people might confuse the school with something out of Harry Potter.

Wait a minute. Is this guy serious? Because it sounds like what he's saying here is that with "witchcraft" in the name people are going to get the school confused with Harry Potter's Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and show up looking to try out for the Quidditch team or asking how to get to the Gryffindor common room.

Well, according to this article from Salon, the joke is on me. Because people really do play Quidditch, even though I doubt Witchcraft Heights has a team. Seriously, they run around chasing "snitches" and "bludgers" with brooms held between their legs!

No, Nobody Thinks You're Hogwarts

Witchcraft Heights Elementary School in Salem, Massachusetts has been the bane of my Google News Alert for "witchcraft" for some time now. Every time an event happens at the school there it is among my listings that are supposed to contain articles about real Pagan or magical practices. Incidentally, one of my other pet peeves along those lines is Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," which shows up in the listings every time somebody reviews a new production of the play.

Now a member of Witchcraft Heights' School Committee wants to change the school's name to honor a former Salem City Councilor.

The School Committee is considering a proposal to rename the Witchcraft Heights Elementary School after former City Councilor Leonard O'Leary, although it is unclear if the request meets the district's policy on school naming.

School Committee member James Fleming raised the proposal at Monday's regular meeting, citing O'Leary's 24 years of service as councilor of Ward 4, the neighborhood where the Witchcraft Heights school is located.

"I think he should be honored," Fleming said in an interview. "[The school] is in his ward and it would be appropriate to name it after him."

Fleming, a former city councilor, said O'Leary was an advocate for the schools and a dedicated public servant. O'Leary died in 2007 at age 64.

So far, so normal. Schools are renamed after recently deceased public servants all the time, and I have to admit that it would be in my own personal interest to knock events from Salem's elementary school off my Google Alert.

One More News Roundup

Here are a few more stories from the last week. I'll be back with more original magick articles soon, but for now, enjoy!

At a recent speech in Prague a spider seems to have taken a liking to the Pope. Spiders bother a lot of people, but the Pope took it in stride and barely reacted. Clearly he's been keeping up on his meditation.

A large arachnid appeared on the pope's white robes as he addressed politicians and diplomats in Prague on Saturday afternoon. The pope didn't seem to notice at first — but journalists following the speech on a large screen flinched as the spider inched toward Benedict's neck.

It disappeared from view for a moment, but then could be seen crawling up the right side of the 82-year-old pontiff's face.

When it reached his ear, Benedict gave it a swat. But it didn't go away — it reappeared on the pope's left shoulder and scampered down his robe.

If you're looking for paranormal activity in Britain, paranormal researcher Lionel Fanthorpe has assembled the perfect guide to places with weird activity of various sorts, from ghosts to UFO's. His website can be found here.

These facts emerge in a study by paranormal researcher and priest Lionel Fanthorpe, who has identified the spookiest places in Britain over the past 25 years. Big cats, the ghost of Dick Turpin and aliens all crop up in his research based on unexplained incidents reported to the police and leading paranormal organisations.

Apparently in Connecticut the psychic trade has gotten violent - or maybe not. A psychic who reported being attacked by rivals has been charged by police with lying about the attack. It sounds like they need a good psychic to get to the bottom of what really happened. Oh, wait...

A Connecticut psychic who said she was assaulted in an attack she believed was arranged by rival psychics has been charged with lying about the incident. Greenwich police arrested 35-year-old Janet Lee of Norwalk on Saturday on charges including falsely reporting an incident.

Lee, who promotes herself the "foremost psychic in New England," called police on July 11 to report that a man had beaten her outside her Greenwich office. She said she believed rival psychics in town who had left her threatening phone messages were responsible, but she did not know their names.

In his new book former Bush speechwriter Mark Latimer has alleged that the Bush administration opposed giving J.K. Rowling the Presidential Medal of Freedom on the grounds that the Harry Potter books encouraged witchcraft.

Latimer writes that administration officials objected to giving author J.K. Rowling the Presidential Medal of Freedom because her writing “encouraged witchcraft” (p. 201):

"This was the same sort of narrow thinking that led people in the White House to actually object to giving the author J.K. Rowling a presidential medal because the Harry Potter books encouraged withcraft."

While I was never a fan of the Bush administration and find the hand-wringing over Harry Potter ridiculous, I'm nonetheless left wondering if this is what really happened or if it's just another piece of insider gossip. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is awarded to individuals who have contributed to:

1) the security or national interests of the United States, 2) world peace, or 3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

Given that description, I find it hard to imagine how J.K. Rowling would qualify with or without the "witchcraft" angle. Her main claim to fame is that she's sold a lot of books, and after all I don't see anyone proposing a Presidental Medal of Freedom for Dan Brown even though The Da Vinci Code outsold all of the Harry Potter novels.

I plan on getting back to regular blogging soon and for that matter getting the archives uploaded. There's no new publishing news this week, but I'll keep you all posted on that as well as soon as I know more.

Deconstructing Harry

In the film Adaptation, Charlie Kaufmann's fictional alter-ego jokingly suggests to his also fictional twin brother that the serial killer in the brother's screenplay should cut off pieces of his victims' bodies until they die, and that he could call himself "The Deconstructionist." If you haven't seen the film that probably doesn't make much sense, but it was the first image that came to mind when I happened upon this literary deconstruction of the Harry Potter series over the long weekend. The author of this little treatise has done an enormous amount of work going through just about everything that could possibly be linked to certain aspects of the novels, and while a number of these associations seem like pretty unbelievable stretches to me the piece still makes for some interesting reading.

The most glaring misconception of the whole thing, to my way of thinking, is in treating the Harry Potter series like serious literature in the first place. As one critic commented, the series is essentially "Tom Clancy for kids," a collection of adventure stories that are mostly plot-driven and involve navigating the main characters through a long series of extreme events interspersed with shallow character development and a bit of comic relief. It strikes me as profoundly unlikely that much thought went into the possible deeper interpretations of the book as it was being written aside laying out the basic plot and integrating various concepts from Western esotericism without much understanding of what they imply. Still, literary criticism does not end with the author's intent, and it may be that a plot-heavy saga like the Potter series actually absorbs more from the surrounding culture than a more intricate and introspective work might.

Our would-be Deconstructionist begins with a Preface that sets the foundation for the literary criticism that is to follow. The basic premise seems to be that the fundamental problem he or she will be examining is that while the Potter series is a work of fantasy it preserves much of what is wrong with the real world and simply "amplifies" those problems by infusing them with the device of magick. My take on this is a little different - in essence, it sounds to me like the criticism here is that the series is not escapist or utopian enough. But is escapism really such a good thing? One point that I think the Potter series does make well is that by itself magick doesn't necessarily fix anything, and if it's used in the wrong way it can make things a whole lot worse.

In CHAPTER ONE – Psychology and Injustice, the author puts forth the thesis that the character of Harry Potter displays many symptoms of what in the real world might be called mental illness. For me this is a real non-starter in that the same criticisms could be applied to just about any action hero. Harry is narcissistic - but the whole plot really does revolve around him. Harry has a tendency to resort to violence - but look at most action stories and you will find a hero who does the same. Furthermore, a number of the examples of this that the author uses involve children of Junior High School age, and let me tell you, I was on the receiving end of plenty of violence at that age and so were most of my nerdy friends. In a lot of cases that really is how kids are. It is true that anyone who believes all the things found in the wizarding world to be real could reasonably be considered schizophrenic, but those things are the reality of the world detailed in the series. In addition, I think that Harry's apparent lack of introspection is due to the plot-heavy style of the books that limit character development rather than some sort of social or political commentary that was either deliberately inserted by Rowling or unintentionally absorbed from the culture around her.

In CHAPTER THREE – Nature and Technology, the author's criticism turns to one of the few things about magick that I think the Potter series gets right. Contrasting the series with the works of Tolkien and Lewis, one of the main differences in the Potter series is that magick is not treated as "natural" and positioned as the enemy of "unnatural" technology. Instead, it goes with the perspective that I consider to be essentially true in the real world - magick is a kind of technology. By limiting the role of consciousness in the casting of spells the Potter series does make a different kind of error, in that spiritual realization has a lot to do with how effective real magick is, but at the same time the division of "natural" and "unnatural" is even more ridiculous. Isn't it true that everything in existence, including both magick and material technology, is a part of nature?

The next chapter, CHAPTER FIVE – Odds and Ends, contain what I consider to be some of the more dubious associations of the whole piece. Tolkien and Lewis are certainly influences on the Potter series, but given the degree to which the series steals from just about every fantasy trope it would be difficult to imagine a similar story which did not. Furthermore, trying to compare Rowling with James Joyce is just plan ridiculous. Granted, a few of the character names are similar between the works of Rowling and Joyce and there also appear to be a few structural similarities, but when you get right down to it the "talent gap" between the two writers is pretty vast, at least from a literary perspective.

In the final section, EPILOGUE, the author notes that whether or not the criticism leveled by this series of articles is correct, it still constitutes a thought-provoking analysis of the series. In this I agree - I wouldn't be responding to it here if I didn't. I furthermore agree that critical thinking is a vital part of childrens' education that is often overlooked in our culture and the lack of it among adults is a real detriment to our society. Where I part company with the author is that I don't necessarily think it to be a problem that a lot of media entertainment doesn't teach those skills. Media, even reading, is to some degree a passive experience and as a student of psychology I have doubts as to whether or not the deepest and most introspective story in the world could really teach such skills. What is necessary for that is to reflect upon the concepts brought up in any piece of entertainment in a dynamic conversation that engages the mind of the reader. Media can't do that, only people can.

So Now the Vatican Likes Harry Potter?

While I disagreed with the arguments put forth by the Roman Catholic Church when it issued the recent ban on Reiki, at least from the standpoint of univalent Christianity they made some sense. If you believe that the use of your own deity's spiritual power is automatically good when applied according to doctrine while any other use of spiritual power is automatically evil, it follows logically that you would be opposed to any magical practice that is not part of your own spiritual tradition.

For years the Roman Catholic Church has come out against the Harry Potter books and movies on similar grounds. Because the books and films portray the use of magick and magick is considered evil by the Church this is to be expected, although a lot of people over the years have pointed out that since Harry Potter is a work of fiction it is not exactly teaching anyone the magical arts. I mean, I would love to be able to levitate something just by flicking a wand and intoning "wingardium leviosa" - but of course it doesn't work that way.

Strangely enough, the Catholic Church appears to have finally seen reason in its review of the latest Harry Potter film. Contrary to all of the Church's previous statements, a positive review of the film was recently published in the official Vatican newspaper. So what changed? Here's what the review had to say:

"There is a clear line of demarcation between good and evil and [the film] makes clear that good is right. One understands as well that sometimes this requires hard work and sacrifice," the newspaper judged.

The broadsheet paper also praised the film's clear message that "the search for immortality epitomised by Lord Voldemort" was wrong. It even approved of the film's treatment of adolescent romance amid the halls and corridors of Hogwart's, saying that it achieved the "correct balance" and made the teenage stars more credible.

Aside from the comments on adolescent romance I don't see how any reviewer could have missed these points upon viewing the first film, let alone the sixth. Was Voldemort not "evil enough" for the Vatican in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone?

Let's see - he killed Harry's parents, murdered unicorns and drank their blood, tried to steal the sorcerer's stone twice, and tried to kill Harry multiple times (or at least ordered Professor Quirrell to do so). That seems pretty evil to me. And seeing as Voldemort killed the unicorns and tried to steal the sorcerer's stone in order to obtain immortality, hasn't the message that trying to obtain immortality as Voldemort does is wrong been there the whole time?

As recently as last year, the same Vatican newspaper condemned the Potter books.

The newspaper wrote: "Despite the values that we come across in the narration, at the base of this story, witchcraft is proposed as a positive ideal.

"The characterisation of common men who do not know magic as 'Muggles' who know nothing other than bad and wicked things is a truly diabolical attitude."

The newspaper called the teenage boy wizard "the wrong kind of hero", comparing the books unfavourably with two other British children's classics, the Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

I'm left rather confused here, to tell the truth. While I'm of the opinion that the original condemnation of the books and films was pretty silly, the Roman Catholic Church is usually pretty consistent in its positions. Could it be that the previous denunciations were simply based on the presence of buzzwords like "witchcraft" in the story and only now someone actually sat down and watched one of the films?

Buffy is the New Harry Potter

Apparently Buffy the Vampire Slayer is to adult women what Harry Potter is to children - a malevolent force undermining traditional religious values. Or something like that. An article from Britain's Daily Mail cites Buffy as the reason many women are abandoning Christian churches.

The article quotes Dr. Kristin Aune from the University of Derby.

'In short, women are abandoning the church. Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

'Young women tend to express egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they imagine are integral to the church.'

In fairness to Aune, she strike me as a genuine religion scholar as opposed to the crazies over here in the states who want to ban Harry Potter. Nonetheless, I have a hard time believing that (1) the large numbers of women abandoning British churches are becoming practicing Wiccans and (2) Buffy's extremely unrealistic portrayal of Wicca has anything to do with the decisions of those who do. It's not like real Wiccans can actually utter an incantation and shoot glowing beams of laser light out of their fingertips.

Maybe it just has to do with the traditionalist factions of the Anglican Communion who have become increasingly shrill in recent years about the practices of more liberal Anglican and Episcopal churches. When folks who are supposedly part of your religion throw a fit because the United States Episcopal Church dared to put someone of your gender in charge, I can see where it would be pretty easy to conclude that you just aren't welcome.

The Saddest Harry Potter Ever

Back when the Order of the Phoenix film and Deathly Hallows novel came out I wrote that I was tired of Harry Potter entries and wasn't going to write any more of them. I never really got into the books but have enjoyed the films, and there certainly is something to be said for a popular phenomenon that introduces young people to some of the ideas behind ritual magick, even if what is portrayed in the story is often nothing like the real thing.

I guess I was wrong in suggesting that I would write no more about Harry Potter, because this may be old news, but it's the funniest thing ever. Not content with shipping lead painted trains and beads covered in psychoactive chemicals, Chinese entrepreneurs tried to push their own fake Harry Potter novel back in 2002. They didn't do anything logical, either, like scour the Internet for fan fiction and then assemble it into a book. No, they took the entire verbatim text of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and changed many of the names to match those of Harry Potter characters.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon

The "authors" added a new first chapter in which Harry is conveniently transformed into a Hobbit and a conclusion in which he is transformed back at the end of the book. I'm now imagining all sorts of stupid things I could do using this method. How does this sound?

Harry Potter and the Sandworms. Young Harry, Ron, and Hermione are magically transported to the planet Arrakis, the only place in the universe where a rare spice that heightens magical abilities can be found. Lord Voldemort seeks to kill Harry and take control of the spice that will allow him to fully regenerate his body. He launches an attack upon Arrakis in order to destroy the boy wizard, but in the ensuing confusion Harry escapes into the desert along with Ron and Hermione. There they meet the native people of Arrakis who consider them prophets because of their magical abilities and lead a rebellion to take back the planet from Voldemort's henchmen. After achieving their great victory they return to Diagon Alley by flue powder.

Clearly I'll be a bestselling author in no time!