Potter Notes

The accusations never end. Is there actual witchcraft influence in Harry Potter? My efforts of research so far have been inconclusive.

Original source is from my GitHub Gist.

Notes are in reverse chronological order. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

• Note taken on [2023-02-07 Tue 17:27]
  

  • https://www.theosophy.world/resource/harry-potter-and-ancient-wisdom-john-algeo → There is a tie to Helena Blavatsky and Isis Unveiled (Theosophy).

    Rowling’s wide-ranging familiarity with myth, legend, magic, and odd bits of recondite and esoteric information is the web-stuff from which she spins her magical tale. The books create their own world, whose integrity is an essential for good fantasy. Yet they are also interpretable in or, to use J. R. R. Tolkien’s term, “applicable” to other contexts, such as Theosophy, with which Rowling has some familiarity, as is clear from her reference in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to the fictitious author “Cassandra Vablatsky” and her equally fictitious book Unfogging the Future. “Vablatsky” is a metathesis of “Blavatsky,” and “Cassandra” is an appropriate substitute for “Helena,” because Cassandra was the daughter of Priam, King of Troy, a prophetess who always spoke the truth but was never believed and because Cassandra’s story is part of the great war of the Iliad, fought over Helen. Moreover, the fictitious book title Unfogging the Future suggests Isis Unveiled, Helena Blavatsky’s first major work.

• Note taken on [2023-02-06 Mon 18:32]
  https://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/d003ht.htm → “Confusion between good and evil” refers to using “magic” in a lighthearted way. The fallacy is confusion between two different kinds of “magic”. Real magic is indeed evil and dangerous. However, the fictitious “magic” in Harry Potter is a neutral mechanical-like utility, similar to real-world electricity.
• Note taken on [2023-02-06 Mon 17:59]
  
  • https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/harry-potter-satanism/ → The “rise in Satanic conversions” story originally came from The Onion, the satirical news website. Some people mistakenly took the satire at face value.
  • https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/17/jk-rowling-confirms-that-there-were-jewish-wizards-harry-potter → Wiccan theory busted! “To everyone asking whether their religion/belief/non-belief system is represented at Hogwarts: the only people I never imagined there are Wiccans.” - J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 16, 2014

• Note taken on [2023-02-06 Mon 13:51]
  Notes from a brief exchange between a coworker and his Wiccan witch friend:

  • J.K. Rowling has about as much knowledge of actual witchcraft as [some party related to “50 Shades of Gray”] has of the BDSM community.
  • The ingredients used in e.g. potions are completely different from Wiccan formulae.
  • Other movies such as the new Sabrina movie are much more representative of witchcraft than Harry Potter.
  • The reaction was almost a visceral disgust. I.e. the thought of Harry Potter promoting real-world Wiccan witchcraft was absurd in her opinion.

  Conclusion: if there are actual witchcraft formulae in Harry Potter, then they are not Wiccan formulae (the most likely candidate).