Harry Potter and Witchcraft
I am studying to be a Wiccan. I also have read all of the Harry Potter books. I really like them--they're interesting, full of adventure, well written, and, well, there's magic. Harry Potter magic is not real. Real witches or Wiccans cannot make things float (that's telekenesis), they do not fly on brooms, they can't really do any of the stuff in those books. At least not to my knowledge. It's called fantasy, people. FICTION. Everyone makes such a big deal out of the most trivial things in the world. They're banning books here and there, criticizing them, all sorts of stuff. Well you know what? People have got to learn to lighten up. Why ban them in Christian schools? Those kids read fantasy stories all the time. Cats don't really talk, do they? A fairy godmother doesn't swoop in and out of our houses. And yet Cinderella was popular. No one had a problem with her. Then comes Harry Potter--kids are reading again, they love the characters, they're buying merchandise.....oh look, here come the critics. And why? Because people are uptight stiffs. I admitt, I did notice mythological references in some of the books, such as Sirius can turn himself into a dog, and Sirius is the dog star. The point, please? There is none. Give it up already. I'm tired of hearing about it. Kids have active imaginations, they're going to enjoy this stuff, and I'm willing to bet a nine-year-old isn't thinking to himself, "Hmmmm....Sirius is the dog star, so therefore J.K. Rowling must be implying real witchcraft here...maybe I'll go out and try to curse poeple who look like Draco Malfoy...". No! They're thinking, "Hey, it's so cool that Sirius can turn into a dog! I wonder what happens next." Really, if you're stiff enough to think reading Harry Potter is going to make the child grow up and turn Wiccan, then I have nothing to say to that. I don't seem to remember Wicca crossing into these books, do you? Sure, it says Yule in there, but you've got the kids singing carols with that word in it too, so don't even go there. J.K. Rowling herself said that she doesn't believe in the type of magic in Harry Potter books. So please, can we get over this and move on? That's all I have to say.
~*~Lily~*~
~*~Dated May 4, 2001~*~
