Harry Potter and the Over-zealous Mother
One mother in Georgia has made it her mission to remove Harry Potter from all the school and public libraries in her county because it promotes the practice of witchcraft. No kidding. Stop laughing.
I have not read the Harry Potter books. They started coming out when my kids were at the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Thomas the Tank Engine" stage of life, and as they aged they never showed interest. We have seen a few of the movies though, which were OK. I never saw them as promoting witchcraft, though. I saw them as portraying the struggle of good vs. evil, much the same way as "The Lord of the Rings" did (though not nearly as well, in my opinion).
Why do I say the books do not promote witchcraft, when they portray children going to a school to learn to cast spells and tamper with the universe? Because that's not witchcraft, really. That's wannabe fluffy "witchcraft", just like the TV series "Charmed". If casting a spell makes you a witch, then surely eating a flat tasteless wafer and drinking wine makes you a Catholic. It doesn't, obviously. It's just one teensy part of the whole.
What is witchcraft? It is a pagan religion, often referred to as the "old religion". Why? Because paganism predates all the other religions. Long before there were "God" and "Jesus" and "Allah" there were other deities. Which ones you worshipped mostly depended on location. Egyptians had a set of gods/goddesses (Bast, Ra, Osiris, etc.), Greeks had a set of gods/goddesses (Zeus, Demeter, Athena, Dionysus, etc.), Romans had them (Neptune, Venus, Mars, etc.). The Norse had Odin, Thor and Freya among others and the Celts had Cerridwen, Brighid and many others. Even those on this continent could have been considered Pagan, when you think that their gods are all things you find in nature, such as the Sky Father, Earth Mother, and their many brothers and sisters in the animal kingdom. Many people think "heathen" or "atheist" are interchangeable with "Pagan". They are not. Pagans of old (and the Pagans of today) simply believe in deities other than "God." Some people, especially Christians, equate "Pagan" with "Satanist", which is also extremely inaccurate. Satan belongs in that God, Jesus and Mary set, and most Pagans do not believe in him. How can we worship a being who does not exist to us? Witches simply worship other gods and goddesses in much the same way as other major modern religions do.
Do witches cast spells all the time? I would say that less than 1% of my religion the way I practice it is spellcraft, at least in a ritualized format. Do I cast spells more often than that? Yes, in the same way that most other people do. It's called a wish. You see a need, you focus on it and direct energy towards it, and work toward resolving it. Much more of my time, in fact the bulk of it, is spent in something I like to call "passive worship". Serving others, taking care of my Earth Mother by recycling and reducing my own personal consumption, noticing all the beauty around me: these are how I worship.
Now if I have a minor illness or discomfort, I have learned enough about the substances Mother Earth has provided in order to take care of it. I don't go running for a pill bottle. If my cure doesn't work, I go to a professional healer (doctor). I have had no need of a doctor for four years, so I must be doing something right. (This also goes to show that most people could also apply a little common sense and nature wisdom to many of their ills and maybe make all of our health insurance premiums go down a little.) Could someone who isn't a witch make menstrual cramps go away with a simple tea? Yes, probably; but would they believe that Earth's solution would work as well as Midol? Probably not.
Wow, I got WAY off Harry Potter. Anyway, in my experiences I have not seen Harry, Hermoine and the other dude invoke a deity to cast a spell. I have not seen them worship other deities. In fact, from the movies I cannot discern what religion they are. Which means they AREN'T witches, because I could easily discern that. They are just spell casters in a fantasy fiction world. You remember "Fantasia"? There was a part where Mickey grabs his boss' pointy hat and floods the whole room with water. That's Harry Potter. It's not really witchcraft. Witchcraft is an entire lifestyle, a mindset, a way of being. I remember when I was really into Jesus. All day long I thought about Jesus. Jesus this and Jesus that, what would Jesus do, etc. I was consumed by it. Or it sure felt like I was. I think many hardcore Christians can relate to that. That, I believe, is the best way to describe the Wiccan faith. It's not something you do for an hour on Sundays, it IS you. Anyway, Harry and friends do not seem to be all about the Craft. They are regular teens sometimes, enjoying sports and cars (OK, it flies) and the attentions of the opposite sex occasionally. And sometimes they get into a spot, say a few Latin-sounding words while pointing a stick and POOF! The problem is solved (or worse, depending on which kid cast the spell). That's not witchcraft. It's just a story.
I have not read the Harry Potter books. They started coming out when my kids were at the "Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Thomas the Tank Engine" stage of life, and as they aged they never showed interest. We have seen a few of the movies though, which were OK. I never saw them as promoting witchcraft, though. I saw them as portraying the struggle of good vs. evil, much the same way as "The Lord of the Rings" did (though not nearly as well, in my opinion).
Why do I say the books do not promote witchcraft, when they portray children going to a school to learn to cast spells and tamper with the universe? Because that's not witchcraft, really. That's wannabe fluffy "witchcraft", just like the TV series "Charmed". If casting a spell makes you a witch, then surely eating a flat tasteless wafer and drinking wine makes you a Catholic. It doesn't, obviously. It's just one teensy part of the whole.
What is witchcraft? It is a pagan religion, often referred to as the "old religion". Why? Because paganism predates all the other religions. Long before there were "God" and "Jesus" and "Allah" there were other deities. Which ones you worshipped mostly depended on location. Egyptians had a set of gods/goddesses (Bast, Ra, Osiris, etc.), Greeks had a set of gods/goddesses (Zeus, Demeter, Athena, Dionysus, etc.), Romans had them (Neptune, Venus, Mars, etc.). The Norse had Odin, Thor and Freya among others and the Celts had Cerridwen, Brighid and many others. Even those on this continent could have been considered Pagan, when you think that their gods are all things you find in nature, such as the Sky Father, Earth Mother, and their many brothers and sisters in the animal kingdom. Many people think "heathen" or "atheist" are interchangeable with "Pagan". They are not. Pagans of old (and the Pagans of today) simply believe in deities other than "God." Some people, especially Christians, equate "Pagan" with "Satanist", which is also extremely inaccurate. Satan belongs in that God, Jesus and Mary set, and most Pagans do not believe in him. How can we worship a being who does not exist to us? Witches simply worship other gods and goddesses in much the same way as other major modern religions do.
Do witches cast spells all the time? I would say that less than 1% of my religion the way I practice it is spellcraft, at least in a ritualized format. Do I cast spells more often than that? Yes, in the same way that most other people do. It's called a wish. You see a need, you focus on it and direct energy towards it, and work toward resolving it. Much more of my time, in fact the bulk of it, is spent in something I like to call "passive worship". Serving others, taking care of my Earth Mother by recycling and reducing my own personal consumption, noticing all the beauty around me: these are how I worship.
Now if I have a minor illness or discomfort, I have learned enough about the substances Mother Earth has provided in order to take care of it. I don't go running for a pill bottle. If my cure doesn't work, I go to a professional healer (doctor). I have had no need of a doctor for four years, so I must be doing something right. (This also goes to show that most people could also apply a little common sense and nature wisdom to many of their ills and maybe make all of our health insurance premiums go down a little.) Could someone who isn't a witch make menstrual cramps go away with a simple tea? Yes, probably; but would they believe that Earth's solution would work as well as Midol? Probably not.
Wow, I got WAY off Harry Potter. Anyway, in my experiences I have not seen Harry, Hermoine and the other dude invoke a deity to cast a spell. I have not seen them worship other deities. In fact, from the movies I cannot discern what religion they are. Which means they AREN'T witches, because I could easily discern that. They are just spell casters in a fantasy fiction world. You remember "Fantasia"? There was a part where Mickey grabs his boss' pointy hat and floods the whole room with water. That's Harry Potter. It's not really witchcraft. Witchcraft is an entire lifestyle, a mindset, a way of being. I remember when I was really into Jesus. All day long I thought about Jesus. Jesus this and Jesus that, what would Jesus do, etc. I was consumed by it. Or it sure felt like I was. I think many hardcore Christians can relate to that. That, I believe, is the best way to describe the Wiccan faith. It's not something you do for an hour on Sundays, it IS you. Anyway, Harry and friends do not seem to be all about the Craft. They are regular teens sometimes, enjoying sports and cars (OK, it flies) and the attentions of the opposite sex occasionally. And sometimes they get into a spot, say a few Latin-sounding words while pointing a stick and POOF! The problem is solved (or worse, depending on which kid cast the spell). That's not witchcraft. It's just a story.
posted by Basskitty @ 7:05 PM
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