The Alchemy of JK Rowling

Chapter 6 - Harry 2

When Harry, the New Immortal Soul, is born in the heart of the seeker for the ineffable indefinable causeless cause, a new life-force enters the blood stream. This life-force does not originate from this universe, but emanates from the Spark of the Original Creative Spirit, symbolised in Harry Potter by Lily. The Lily in our heart was conceived by the Mind of the Architect of the Original Universe in all its glory, fathomless depth, and rapturous, indestructible beauty. The Architect put Himself into that mental spark, and so it’s just like Him: perfect in every possible way. Hence the glow that comes out of the spark when it’s rekindled also has those qualities. However the human being whose blood stream it enters is not perfect, and two irreconcilable forces meet - the life-force of the perfect universe (in a weakened vibration) and the life force of the mortal human being with all his faults, his goodness, and his ignorance. When they meet, this causes a storm in the human being. A person in whom Harry is born will wonder what’s happening to him or her. Everything is suddenly different. It’s almost like the blood is fermenting. Tremendous emotional storms rage through the person. He may try to escape, but whichever way he turns, the force is there. He may even try to escape to a shack on an island off the coast, but to no avail. Then suddenly, in the middle of the storm, he receives an invitation.

This is a stage in the seeker’s life which is described very graphically in both Harry Potter and The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosycross. You will all be familiar with the events on Harry’s eleventh birthday. Here is the same event in The Chymical Wedding:

All of a sudden arose so horrible a tempest, that I imagined no other but that through its mighty force, the hill on which my little house was founded would fly into pieces. But inasmuch as this, and the like from the Devil (who had done me many a spite) was no new thing to me, I took courage, and persisted in my meditation, till somebody in an unusual manner touched me on the back; whereupon I was so hugely terrified, that I dared hardly look about me; yet I showed myself as cheerful as (in such occurrences) human frailty would permit. Now the same thing still twitching me several times by the coat, I looked back, and behold it was a fair and glorious lady, whose garments were all sky-coloured, and curiously (like Heaven) bespangled with golden stars; in her right hand she bore a trumpet of beaten gold, on which a Name was engraved which I could well read but am as yet forbidden to reveal. In her left hand she had a great bundle of letters of all languages, which she (as I afterwards understood) was to carry to all countries. She also had large and beautiful wings, full of eyes throughout, with which she could mount aloft, and fly swifter than any eagle.

I might perhaps have been able to take further notice of her, but because she stayed so little time with me, and terror and amazement still possessed me, I had to be content. For as soon as I turned about, she turned her letters over and over, and at length drew out a small one, which with great reverence she laid down upon the table, and without giving one word, departed from me. But in her mounting upward, she gave so mighty a blast on her gallant trumpet, that the whole hill echoed from it, and for a full quarter of an hour after, I could hardly hear my own words. In so unlooked for an adventure I was at a loss, how either to advise or to assist my poor self, and therefore fell upon my knees and besought my Creator to permit nothing contrary to my eternal happiness to befall me. Whereupon with fear and trembling, I went to the letter, which was now so heavy, that had it been mere gold it could hardly have been so weighty. Now as I was diligently viewing it, I found a little seal, on which a curious cross with this inscription, IN HOC SIGNO VINCES, was engraved. [‘In this sign will you conquer’ – H.A.]

Now as soon as I espied this sign I was the more comforted, as not being ignorant that such a seal was little acceptable, and much less useful, to the Devil. Whereupon I tenderly opened the letter, and within it, in an azure field, in golden letters, found the following verses written.

This day, today Is the Royal Wedding day. For this thou wast born And chosen of God for joy Thou mayest go to the mountain Whereon three temples stand, And see there this affair. Keep watch Inspect thyself And shouldst thou not bathe thoroughly The Wedding may work thy bane. Bane comes to him who faileth here Let him beware who is too light.

Below was written : Sponsus et Sponsa. (‘Bridegroom and Bride’)

At this stage let me just reiterate the obvious: neither Christian Rosycross nor Harry Potter are or were real people, or meant to portray real people. They are personifications. Harry personifies the New Soul in a seeker whose heart is open. Christian Rosycross personifies the seeker himself. Hence the invitation is not a physical invitation. It’s an invitation written in the heart. The Bible talks about ‘the fleshy tables of the heart’. When the heart of a seeker is opened - by that I mean when the Spark of Eternal Life begins to glow again - it prints a letter as it were on the heart.

Paul says:

You are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. (2 Cor: 3)

In other words the power emanating from the pure spirit-spark writes a letter of invitation in the heart. If we can understand the symbolism, we can see that a seeker, whose heart is open, is a ‘marked man’. This person has a Divine Spark which has been kindled and so is shining brightly; he thirsts for liberation and he has drunk the Living Water. This has caused a storm in his astral body because of the tremendous difference in vibration between the astral force of this universe and that of the Original Home. At the same time the power emanating from the Lily in the heart has etched a letter in his heart. This letter invites him to return to the Father’s House, but it also gives information: the seeker knows what to do. He knows where to go, what he needs on the way, and what the purpose is.

Both Harry and Christian Rosycross have to travel through a gate to reach a large castle. Both have to pass a large number of tests, as we know. But they both pass!

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