Harry Potter's Invitation to the World
by Vickie Ewell
Chapter 78 – The Kids Discover Their Deception (HP Chapter 16)
As the kids moved forward, all they could hear was water gently trickling down the walls. It was dark, so they couldn’t see the water. Even so, it was washing away the debris and parts of themselves they gave up in order to become free, but the sound of the water and the dark passageway sloping downward, indicated they were moving to a deeper level of consciousness, not higher. Higher and lower is a hierarchy structure that fallen man has created, not God.
The passageway itself made Harry think of Gringotts and the dragons they had there, guarding the vaults. That memory caused his heart to jolt with fear. For those who know about the existence of Light and Darkness, fear can easily paralyze us, especially when we begin to approach the door that leads to the subconscious mind. Fear also causes us to play mind games such as “What if?”
What if they met a fully-grown dragon in there? Harry thought Norbert had been bad enough. Ironically, that’s exactly what Harry will face in Book 4: a full-grown dragon!
As the kids made their way down the dark corridor, memory was igniting and fanning their fears. Memories are actually triggered by emotions, so the passageway was producing the same feelings Harry experienced when he saw the dragons at Gringotts. Fear of the future often results from ignorance, but in this case, Harry was experiencing fear of his subconscious mind. He didn’t know what was in there. We fear the unknown. We fear what we believe might become real for us.
The danger in this type of fear is that our present situation is a result of the images and pictures we have imagined or feared in the past. Harry’s subconscious mind was creating the situation he feared the most at this moment – fighting a dragon in Book 4 – because that was where he was placing his attention.
Ron heard something up ahead and imagined the clinking and soft rustling to be a ghost. Entering the realms of the subconscious is not just about sight. Our subconscious mind takes full advantage of all of our senses. In this case, Ron’s hearing, but Harry didn’t accept that idea. To him, it sounded like flapping wings. This shows how interpretation of what our senses perceive plays a major role in discernment.
The chamber at the end of the passage was brilliantly lit. It was a faster vibration. Jo symbolized that by the ceiling being high above them. The room was filled with beautiful, jewel-like birds flying around. Birds represent spiritual messengers, but in this case, they introduced us to our self-deception. On the other side of the room was a large, wooden door. A door of wood reminded me of the many gods we have in our lives made of wood and stone.
Ron wondered if the birds were going to attack them if they tried to cross the room. He believed the birds were real. Once again, Harry didn’t accept his idea. When we refuse to accept the ideas of others, our subconscious mind doesn’t see those ideas as possible, so we do nothing internally to create them. Since we create with our subconscious mind, Jo was showing us how to protect ourselves.
The false aspects of our self come from accepting the ideas and ideals of others without checking them out first. It is what we accept or don’t accept blindly that becomes planted or not planted in our subconscious minds. What we hear, read, or see isn’t real until we make it so.
The birds didn’t look vicious to Harry. Many astral entities don’t, but he figured if they all swooped down at once, that could be trouble. This reflected the damage that Voldemort’s followers can do as a group. For that reason, setting boundaries is important. Otherwise, the dark parts of our selves could harm us rather than help. For Harry, the Mirror of Erised and Dumbledore’s Pensive will be that boundary.
It’s interesting that Jo used bright blue, flying keys that were initially mistaken to be flying, glittering birds to mirror the trials Harry passes through in Book 4. That points to deception being a strong learning tool at that level. You can’t move deeper into the subconscious mind until you understand the potential to be deceived by what you find there.
In Book 4, many people in Harry’s environment do not believe he didn’t put his name into the championship drawing. They can’t see another alternative. No one suspects Mad Eye Moody to be someone else. He looks, talks, and acts like Mad Eye Moody. In addition, Harry’s Pensive experience clearly introduced us to the fact that Professor Snape defected before Voldemort’s downfall and was no more a Death Eater than Dumbledore was. Yet, we travel through the rest of the series refusing to believe Dumbledore’s testimony.
What we see and experience in the Pensive along with Harry just isn’t real for us. Even Voldemort’s speech in the graveyard where he explained his perception of what is going on was simply more deception. Things are not what they appear to be. The false aspects of our self pretend to be us. They talk and act in ways that convince us they’re real, but they’re not.
There doesn’t appear to be any choices available to the kids other than running for the door. That wasn’t true, but that’s what it looked like to them. This is the stage where many people try to run before they’re ready. We learn that when Fleur was unable to hold her breath long enough under water to find and save her imprisoned little sister.
Harry figured it didn’t matter what the birds did to him. He had to try to make it to the door anyway. This seemed to reflect his attitude in the maze. Harry’s forward movement was driven by what he believed to be true. Whether that belief was true or not didn’t matter. Obviously, his desire was to pass through the door, but he didn’t understand how to do that.
Ron and Hermione didn’t question Harry going first this time. They just let him. At this point, Harry experienced as much deception as we do. Taking a deep breath (deep breathing is the first step that precedes meditation), he covered his face with his arms (meditation is often done with closed eyes) and dashed across the room.
This was an instinctive, protective action because he expected the birds to attack him, but they didn’t. In fact, nothing happened. Many of our fears never materialize. Our fears simply deceive us. Many people get stuck at this level because they fear what they “might” experience if they travel deeper within themselves.
Harry reached the door easily, pulled on the handle, but the door was locked. Up to this point in the Initiation, the kids haven’t had to unlock a door. The first door was opened for them by Quirrell. The second door opened easily for Ron when he pulled on it, but this door was locked. Passing through it takes more than just Desire. It takes the Key to Self-Knowledge.
Ron and Hermione crossed the room to join Harry in front of the door. Foolishly, they tugged and pulled on it, thinking they could accomplish what Harry could not, but the door wouldn’t budge – not even for Hermione’s Alohomora charm. That’s because the work at this level isn’t about implementing a self-improvement program that requires will power. It doesn’t involve the intellect at all.
Hermione reasoned that the birds in the room had to be there for a purpose. Many spiritual traditions agree. There is a Divine purpose for everything we experience, and that includes deception. The kids believed the glittering, flying entities were birds (spiritual messengers), but as Harry looked closer, he realized they were wrong. The entities were not birds. They were winged keys!
The first step in unlocking the door is setting aside our deceptions and illusions, as well as our reasonable mind, so we can capture the Key that will allow us to move forward. In the graveyard in Book 4, it is only when Harry placed his illusion aside – the belief that fighting Voldemort meant he would die – that he found the Key to survive