A Peek at Rowling’s Secrets?

by · March 6, 2012

by rotfang

Abstract: The author makes several connections between characters in the Harry Potter series and characters of the Old and New Testaments.

J.K. Rowling has enthralled us for many years, but even now with the books at an end, many questions remain unanswered. Two storylines have both been much discussed in the context of Potter–Christ’s story from the Nativity to Resurrection, and the universal child-hero story–but after some research, I’ve uncovered another religious layer that involves each leading character acting as dual, sometimes triple, incarnations of personalities from the Old and New Testaments as well as from early British and French Christian history. I believe J. K. Rowling’s apparent purpose is to reveal the Scriptures–and often the ones no longer taught in early Christian history class–and their significance to our culture as it is today.

An example of some of the clues J.K. Rowling has left us:

“The Restricted Section” rearranged reads – “Note It: Secreted Christ.”

And, the two books taken by the trio from The Restricted Section translate as:

“Most Potente Potions” = “Stop: Test Potion on Me” and,

“Secrets of the Darkest Art” = “Secret: Test of Harder Task.”

Below is one out of more than sixty examples that have so far been uncovered that have alternative underlying references to the Old and New Testaments as well as to early Christian history. The question is, are all these correlations just coincidences?

Dumbledore – Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore is the incarnation of five different figures. The last incarnation in the Christian storyline is St John the Baptist. Each name represents a prophetic figure that is to culminate in the arrival of the Messiah Jesus (Matthew 11:10-14). However, there is a twist as his final incarnation is as The Alchemist, which in turn exposes an essential parallel storyline to the Christian one:

Albus-Aaron – Aaron can have two meanings in Hebrew, light, o’r, and exalted, ar’on). Albus means white in Latin, used to represent light in painting, but in relation to the prophetic line of the Christ story within Harry Potter it means milk, yet another term for white. ‘Dumbledore’, dumble meaning bumblebee in old English, and d’or meaning gold in French, literally translates as bumblebee of gold or a honey bee, meaning honey. The name Dumbledore represents the prophecy that the People of Israel, and later all humankind, would be led to the Land of Milk and Honey. He is the spiritual head of the 12 Tribes of Israel, and a Levite. The Tribe of Levi subsequently had no territorial inheritance “because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their inheritance” (Deuteronomy 18:2). Aaron leads the People of Israel to the Promised Land but dies on its borders for having abused the sacred power of the ‘rod’… (Numbers 20:24-28). Dumbledore never becomes Minister for Magic, i.e. a temporal leader, instead, he remains head of Hogwarts, nor does he live to see the prophecy fulfilled.

The Alb in Albus probably refers to both St Alban as well as Alba, which is Celtic for Scotland, Hogwarts’s location. Albus Dubledore’s having possession of the Invisibility Cloak for a short period is probably a reference to the story of St Alban (died c209), who swapped his cloak for that of a fugitive cleric in an attempt to protect himself and was beheaded most likely by Emperor Severus (I have similar material dealing with Snape). The Cathedral of St Albans stands on the reputed spot of Britain’s first Christian martyrdom.)

Percival-Samuel – Samuel and Percival are both warriors and spiritual seekers. They are both protected by their mothers and receive their spiritual-warrior calling in their early teens. They both succeed on the battlefield but do not quite live to see their spiritual desires fulfilled. Samuel, the prophet, was also a Levite but attached to the Tribe of Judah). Dumbledore’s scar, of “a perfect map of the London Underground,” refers to Percival’s stabbing himself in the thigh for being diverted from his quest. In Dumbledore’s case, it was almost certainly a self-inflicted punishment for abandoning his younger teenage sister Ariana. The reason it is in the shape of the London Underground is that it refers to King’s Cross-St Pancras London underground station. Percival returned directly to the quest upon seeing a cross, which is echoed in the name King’s Cross, and St Pancras, who was martyred at the same age as Ariana, is the patron saint of children and St Pancras church, whose original site is near the station, is England’s oldest church.

Wulfric-Elijah Elijah the prophet is a direct spiritual descendant of Samuel his name in Hebrew means ‘God is my God’ as he opposed the worship of the Baal god.) Like Wulfric of Haselbury, or, St Wulfric) he was a miracle worker and hermit. Neither witnesses prophecy wholly fulfilled.

Brian-St John the Baptist – St John the Baptist, also a Levite, like the fictional character Brian from the comedy film Life of Brian, is believed to be a Messianic figure, in John’s case the reincarnation of Elijah (Matthew 17:10-13), his authenticity is supported further with his birth story echoing that of Samuel a previous Levite prophet.

Albus Dumbledore – The Alchemist – In all his incarnations, Dumbledore represents an Enabler. As prophetic figures all of Dumbledore’s incarnations die before they witness the promise fulfilled, all are prophetic enablers. But Albus, white, combined with ‘d’or’, gold, also represents the alchemical colors white and yellow, white and yellow gold, and silver and gold. St John the Baptist’s flower, St John’s wort is also yellow. Together they indicate that Dumbledore has another incarnation as The Alchemist. It is his role as Headmaster at Hogwarts to help individuals attain their spiritual potential by enabling them to develop from their original base color, which is always black in alchemy, to self-actualization represented by the color gold. These colors can also stand for the sun and the moon, the two lights of our world, and often correspond to the conscious and unconscious.

Other sections of my research cover all the characters and locations as well as the parallel alchemical non-Christian storyline. There are possibly a hundred similar correlations. I do not believe for a moment they are coincidental. What do you think?

Notes:
1. Hebrew-English dictionary ‘light’; andhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron#Etymology
2. St Alban, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Alban
Alba, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alba
Severus, Septimius, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septimius_Severus
St Albans Cathedral, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Albans_Cathedral
Albus and Invisibility Cloak, Rowling, Deathly Hallows, 572.
3. 1 Samuel 1-25. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel; andhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percival
4. Elijah see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah
5. St Wulfric of Haselbury see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wulfric_of_Haselbury
6. Life of Brian, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_of_Brian#Plot St John the Baptist,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_the_Baptist