The Alchemy of JK Rowling

Chapter 75 - The Room Of Love

Both Harry Potter and The Chymical Wedding feature a secret room that is always locked.

In Harry Potter it’s a room in the Ministry of Magic. Dumbledore tells Harry:

There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times. It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and more terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature. From: The Order of the Phoenix Chapter 37

In The Chymical Wedding, on the fifth day, Christian Rosycross also comes to a room that is always locked. It contains a sleeping woman called Venus - obviously the personification of love. The difference between Harry Potter and The Chymical Wedding is that Christian Rosycross does enter the room, which was accidentally left unlocked, whereas Harry doesn’t.

What does this room represent in terms of Alchemy?

The human being has a dormant divine force in the heart. In alchemical tradition it’s called the Philosopher’s Stone. In one of Grimm’s fairy tales it’s called BriarRose (known popularly as Sleeping Beauty). It is this dormant divine force that is symbolised by the Room of Love in both Harry Potter and The Chymical Wedding. The purpose of life, and the one and only task of humanity, individually and collectively, is to open this room and awaken Venus/Briar Rose. However the room cannot be opened by will power. It can be opened only by going the way of Harry and CRC. That’s the way of

1. liberation from material desires - HP1; 2. liberation on the etheric plane through forgiveness and compassion - HP2; 3. liberation on the astral plane i.e. liberation from fear of fear itself, through the longing (the stag) for Love in its purest form - HP3; 4. liberation of the will through purity - HP4; 5. liberation of the mental I through Love - HP5; 6. liberation of the emotional I through self-sacrifice – HP6; 7. liberation of the consciousness I through the death of self HP7.

Why is this room locked? Just because it’s locked doesn’t mean the force doesn’t penetrate. It’s a mighty nuclear force and it radiates in every human heart. In our deepest essence we are all motivated by this force. Every one, good or evil, and no matter how evil, is motivated by love. We all need love; we all seek it; deep down we all need it. However because the door is (still) shut we don’t understand what it is. We are compelled to react to the force of Love in the heart, but because we don’t understand it, we make grave errors. Because of our erroneous reactions to Love we distort its effects. Because its effects are distorted we cause horrendous suffering to ourselves and others. If we look at human suffering in this light we can see that Love is the greatest cause of suffering. That’s not because Love itself is wrong, of course not, but because we do not seek it in its pure form. We look for love in the world around us; we look for it in marriage, in sex, in our fatherland, in our religion, even in service to others. There is nothing wrong with any of those, but those things don’t open the door! Only the 7 steps above will open the door to the Room of Love.

The door to the Room of Love in the Chymical Wedding has an inscription that says:

Here lies buried Venus, the beautiful lady, who deprived many a great man of happiness, honour, blessing and fortune.

This is a veiled reference to what I’m saying. Look at what suffering love of the fatherland has caused. Look at what suffering has been caused in the name of religion. The love of power is what motivates Voldemort. A book could be written about what suffering our erroneous reaction to the force of love causes. Love is a power in the human heart that humanity is driven by, but because we are trying to find OUTSIDE of us what is INSIDE of us, we keep making a mess of life until we learn to open the door. That door will open of its own accord when we have gone the Path Harry is going. Why is love so dangerous?

If we keep in mind the mess we’re making of this world when the room of love in our hearts is locked, just imagine what would happen if that door were opened before we had purified ourselves, like Harry. We would be driven absolutely insane. The pain would be totally unbearable. Death would be nothing compared to the consequences of that.

Anyway, what is death? Just the loss of the physical body, that’s all. We lose a cloak, so what? Yes death causes extreme anguish to those bereaved of a person’s physical presence. But in essence there is no death! Death is fiction. Our immortal self continues its journey to the ultimate destination: Love.