The Alchemy of JK Rowling

Chapter 31 - Hermione

Hermione’s name is the female form of Hermes, the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. The Roman equivalent was Mercury.

It’s fascinating to think that this same word is used for a metal as well as a planet.

Mercury is the stage in alchemical self-initiation where the candidate for liberation opens the door to a new mental faculty.It means he gains direct knowledge of the Divine Plan. If you carry a messenger of the gods in your mind, this means you can see what God wants you to do. J.K. Rowling constantly refers to Hermione as knowing everything. She said somewhere that if she wants to say something to the reader, she either speaks through Dumbledore or Hermione.

Another aspect of Hermione is that she symbolises mercury as one of the ingredients in traditional alchemy. Here Harry symbolises sulphur, Hermione mercury, and Ron salt. When you add these three ingredients to the fire slowly, they will form the Philosopher’s Stone.

The point is that when the alchemist surrenders his desires, his feelings, his thoughts, his actions and his will to the new, divine soul, Harry, this will allow it to grow quickly and become a powerful force in the blood, the endocrine system and the nervous system. In the beginning the new soul is present in the heart region only, but as it grows, this new force enters the head, and the alchemist begins to KNOW with more and more certainty what he has to do. A new consciousness begins to dawn.

In the beginning of the Path of Liberation, there is faith. This is an emotional certainty that the alchemist is on the right track. But when Hermione becomes Harry’s friend, there is also the mental certainty, the hope, that he will reach his goal. The aspirant on the path feels the hand of God leading him, giving him the experience that is described so well in Psalm 23:

The Lord is our shepherd. We shall not want. He makes us lie down in green pastures. (green: hope) He leads us beside still waters (the tranquil astral body). He restores our soul (Harry). He guides us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Hermione guides him!). Yes, though we walk in the valley of the shadow of death (Voldemort), [mort = death - Latin] we will fear no evil, for You are with us. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Yes, that’s the purpose of Harry Potter and all the other road maps to Liberation: to return to the Kingdom of Heaven, to live in union with the original spirit, proceeding from a living soul to a Life-giving Spirit. That’s Harry Potter.