The Alchemy of JK Rowling

Chapter 41 - Phoenix

There is no one interpretation of any symbol. They don’t belong to any single person or group of people. They are public property and anyone can use them for any purpose. Nevertheless they have a very strong power and they speak forcefully to our unconscious. There are very strong traditions about some symbols and we have strong associations with some of them. The symbols as explained in my book are obviously my own interpretation, based on my understanding of the teachings of liberating alchemy.

This phoenix is sometimes called ‘the fire-bird’. This is obviously the symbol of the resurrection from the dead. Gnostics have made great use of this symbol in the past. The self-sacrifice of the earthly personality is followed by the resurrection of the perfect, immortal and divine human being.

It is also mentioned in ‘The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosycross’. On the third day, Christian Rosycross visits the Royal Sepulchre. He says:

There in the same place stands also the glorious phoenix (about which, two years ago, I published a particular small discourse). And I am resolved (in case this narration shall prove useful) to set forth several particular treatises concerning the lion, eagle, griffin, falcon and the like.

The lion, the eagle and the griffin also occur in Harry Potter. The phoenix in Harry Potter is called Fawkes and belongs to Dumbledore. He is the symbol of the Order of the Phoenix. As I said in my discussion of Dumbledore, he is the Sanctifying Spirit which heals the human being from his fallen state. His phoenix has the same healing power. Several times Fawkes’ tears heal Harry’s wounds. What can we learn from this?

Harry, the new soul, proves his loyalty to Dumbledore in Part 2 and Fawkes then helps Harry kill the Basilisk. When Harry is wounded Fawkes drops tears on the wound. In Part 4 Fawkes drops tears on Harry’s leg after it is wounded by the giant spider in the labyrinth. In both cases Harry is healed immediately, and in the former case, is actually saved from death.

This shows that the new soul is in fact invulnerable as long as it remains loyal to the Holy, Hallowing Spirit which leads the process of alchemical liberation. Only we ourselves can injure the new soul if we pay homage to Voldemort. Mr Crouch is an example of this. He does not love his son and so the latter turns to Voldemort. He ends up being ‘kissed’ by a Dementor, as we know. If we have a new soul but fail to love it with all our heart it will end up being sucked out by Dementors.

As symbol of the Order of the Phoenix, this bird obviously symbolises the Brotherhood of the Masters of Compassion. The phoenix can carry extremely heavy weights. It can carry us all to the New Universe if we join the Order and hold on to the phoenix.