The Alchemy of JK Rowling

Chapter 71 -Lycanthropy

I have stated in Chapter 33 that Lupin is the equivalent to the Grey King in The Chymical Wedding. He symbolises the force of accumulated goodness in the seeker. He teaches Harry the Patronus, which is very important in the story, as it saves Harry several times. This symbolises the fact that it is our unfulfilled striving for goodness that induces the longing for liberation, for the transcending of the natural limitations. However, Lupin has a very unfortunate flaw: he is a werewolf. Once a month, at full moon, he changes into a wolf which attacks and kills human beings. What could this horrible disease possibly symbolise?

As I said in Chapter 41, there is no single interpretation of any symbol. I am relying purely on my own intuition when I explain what lycanthropy can symbolise.

To me, the lycanthropy symbolises sexuality.

Sexuality is a necessity in this universe. It keeps the human race incarnated, and sexual love has been responsible for many great and heroic deeds. World literature is full of examples. And yet it symbolises a flaw in human goodness.

The human race that we are, lives in a fallen universe. There is a root force which keeps the human race incarnated, but at the same time it keeps it incarcerated in this universe. This root force is the energy of life itself, and is the strongest of all forces working in the human being, as we’ve probably all experienced.

In fact this force is very similar to Voldemort, and is closely related. Each one of us has our personal Voldemort, and as long as we don’t go the Path of Liberation he is our friend and he doesn’t bother us. As soon as we look up to the hills and begin to long for reunion with God, i.e. the Absolute God of Perfect Creation, and not the god of this fallen universe, our Voldemort becomes our mortal enemy and tries to kill the New Soul that is born from the Divine Lily in the heart.

It’s the same with sexuality. When a person applies the alchemical practice of self-dissolution, he has to give up his sexuality eventually. This is not possible until liberation is achieved, and so we can see that even in part 6 of the Septology, lycanthropy, i.e. sexuality, plays quite a large role. Meanwhile our ‘good’ side has to put up with it as best it can.

We learn in Part 3 that it is in fact Snape, our ‘bad’ side, who makes the potion for Lupin to enable him to keep his human mind when he changes into a wolf once a month. In my opinion this refers to the dualistic state of being of this fallen universe. Good and evil are always in balance, and they maintain each other.

When one reads literature about the process of Liberation, there is always a final confrontation with ‘Satan’, the inner enemy who has to die before the original divine human being can resurge. Quite often in literature this Satan is personified by a beautiful woman. The last temptation is then definitely very sexual in nature. I’m referring particularly to The Angel of the West Window by Gustav Meyrink. The main character, a reincarnation and descendant of the alchemist John Dee, sees the beautiful woman of his most intense and fervent desire coming towards him while he is standing inside the gate to a castle very similar to Hogwarts. He forgets all about liberation and longs to rush towards her and embrace her as the fulfilment of his ultimate longing. But just before he does so the equivalent of Sirius shines its light on him and suddenly he can see the dualistic nature of this temptress: he can see her back as well as her front at the same time. He sees that at the back she is an open grave full of snakes and writhing slimy monsters, and he steps back just in time from the gate that leads for ever out of the castle and into a ravine.

Liberation actually consists ofreplacing the basic driving force of life of this fallen universe with the basic driving force of the Universe of God. That basic driving force of the dualistic universe is sexuality. Before it can be replaced it will put up a life and death struggle. Throughout the millennia religious people have tried to overcome their sexuality by withdrawing into monasteries or convents and trying to stick to vows of chastity. In my opinion this is counter natural and has led to very abnormal behaviour and situations. The sexual drive is an irrepressible serpent and all we can do is behave in a civilised manner and respect the privacy and rights of others. There is no way we can overcome sexuality by the will power or by prayer and meditation. Seen biologically, the human body is a machine to produce eggs or seeds, like every other type of animal and plant, and it’s just futile to try to sublimate or eliminate this. The only way is Liberation, where the fire of sexuality is replaced with the divine Fire of God.

You will remember that some of the werewolves in Harry Potter prey on young children. I regard this as a reference to the overwhelming number of cases of paedophilia which have come to light in many religious schools and institutions. Isn’t it striking that men who have dedicated their lives to serving God and His children are possessed by astral forces which force them to do the very opposite? These are ‘grey kings’ who try to do good but instead inflict unbearable suffering on their victims. I believe that many people who withdrew into monasteries or withdrew from normal life in some way in previous incarnations, and tried completely to deny their sexuality, their natural hormonal fire, became burdened with the karmic debt of paedophilia and other unnatural sexual proclivities.

Another interesting thing in Part 6 of the Septology is that Bill is bitten by a werewolf in human form. It’s interesting to see that it was Fenrir Greyback who bit Lupin and turned him into a werewolf. As I’ve identified Lupin as the grey king, the use of the word grey seems a remarkable coincidence. Also, of course, Voldemort is using Greyback as an ally, and this seems to substantiate my idea that sexuality and our personal Voldemort, or fallen microcosmic force field, are linked.

In the Divine Universe there is no death. The Children of God have indestructible bodies not prone to disease or capable of being harmed in any way whatsoever. Hence there is no procreation and no need for sexuality. The Children of God are ‘married to the Spirit’ and so are not subject to uncontrollable desires, proclivities, passions etc. Their desire is to do God’s will, and in that they experience ultimate and absolute fulfilment.

Harry Potter teaches us that sexuality dies when our earthly goodness dies. And that goodness dies in the alchemical fire in which our whole biological system is dissolved and replaced by the eternal and perfect Good of the Child of God.