The Secret of Life

Ten Words That Can Heal The World

A friend of mine recently introduced me to the audio program The Missing Secret by Dr Joe Vitale. Vitale was one of the contributors to the phenomenally successful video about the law of attraction, The Secret. As you might have guessed from the title, The Missing Secret promises to fill in the missing bits you didn't get in The Secret, the bits that meant that the law of attraction didn't work as well as it said on the wrapper.

There's a lot of this sort of stuff around, so I didn't have particularly high expectations when I listened to The Missing Secret. It therefore came as a pleasant surprise to find that it's a sensible, honest and comprehensive guide which happens to echo a lot of what I said in my own series of posts on the law of attraction, The Heart Of The Secret, and which provides exhaustive information on the various techniques you can use to defuse the problems which can get in the way of success.

I still have reservations about the practical use of the law of attraction for those of us who aren't either a) naturally positive people or b) enlightened - and to give him his due, Vitale pretty much accepts its limitations himself. But if you still want to give the law of attraction a go (and why shouldn't you?) then I can't recommend The Missing Secret too highly.

But what really excites me about this program is the third of the six CDs. This covers a Hawaiian technique with the unlikely title of 'Ho'oponopono', which in my opinion has implications of far greater importance than the kind of creature comforts we so often associate with the law of attraction. It has the potential to literally heal the world.

Vitale first came across this technique when he heard about the work of the Hawaiian psychiatrist Dr Ihaleakala Hew Len, who was in charge of a hospital for the criminally insane, the inhabitants of which were generally considered to be beyond cure or redemption. Eschewing all orthodox methods, and without even speaking to the patients himself, Dr Hew Len apparently used the Ho'oponopono technique to cure all but two of the patients to the extent that they could be reintegrated into society. The hospital was eventually closed because it was no longer required. Perhaps surprisingly, this remarkable and heartening chain of events appears to be well corroborated.

The version of Ho'oponopono used by Dr Hew Len was developed in the 1980s by Morrnah Simeona and is based on an ancient Hawaiian practice. Its underlying concept takes the law of attraction to its ultimate conclusion. If we do indeed create our own reality, then it follows that we create everything in our world, even (for instance) the things we hear about on the radio. It entails taking total responsibility for whatever there is in our life.

Yet this isn't about a pointless guilt trip. It is all about healing what has happened. At the heart of the technique, there are four simple phrases: "I'm sorry", "Please forgive me", "Thank you" and "I love you". Through these phrases, the healing (or 'cleaning') can be achieved.

The first two phrases are about expressing regret and requesting forgiveness for whatever in us has created the circumstances we wish to heal; "Thank you" is said in anticipation of the forgiveness we know will be forthcoming; and "I love you" reestablishes the original, natural relationship with God - or 'the Divine', as Joe Vitale and Dr Hew Len prefer to call It. If you have a problem with either of these words, you can of course substitute a word of your choice: the universe, consciousness, the quantum field, the source, whatever you'd like to use instead...

The Missing Secret has a section which repeats these phrases over and over again so that you can play them in the background whatever you are doing; while Vitale himself likes to keep repeating 'I love you' as he goes about his day, which is a powerful exercise in itself. Alternatively, you may prefer to use the phrases to work on specific issues. In earlier posts, I've talked about dissolving away negative emotions using both Nick Roach's approach and my own welcome breath. I still use both of these, but I find that Ho'oponopono usually works even better. I focus on the emotion and then repeat each phrase in turn until the energy changes and the emotion dissipates.

I suggest you try using the phrases in various ways and find out what seems to work for you. If you are drawn to the technique, then do investigate The Missing Secret and/or Joe Vitale's book Zero Limits (which is all about Ho'oponopono) to find out more. Or if you are within traveling distance, consider signing up for one of Dr Hew Len's seminars on Ho-oponopono, details of which which you can find on his web site.

Of course, you may be asking why you should believe a single word of any of this stuff. Given its unlikely nature, this is a fair question. I guess it comes down to the same as everything else on this site. Just give it a try and see what you think. Judge it by its results or any gut feeling you may have about it. I'm impressed by Ho'oponopono because it helps to dissipate my emotions, and I sense a feeling of power when I say the phrases. But you really have to try it for yourself...

You may also be wondering exactly why you should be expected to take responsibility for all this stuff on the news that you never thought had anything to do with you. You may not buy the idea that this is the ultimate consequence of the law of attraction. You thought that the law of attraction was all about getting a nice new house and that sports car you always wanted. You weren't aware of the little-known sub-clause that, along with the house and the car, come total responsibility for worldwide war, famine, earthquakes, crime, anti-social behavior and bad TV.

But the way I look at it is this: if we are all truly One (as I have argued on this blog), all part of a single field of energy, then of course we share responsibility for everything that happens in this world. If we are all interconnected, then collective responsibility follows.

But even if you don't believe in this spiritual stuff, if you prefer to ignore quantum physics and insist that we are all entirely separate from each other, then perhaps you will be willing to accept that we are nevertheless united by chains of cause and effect. Other people are affected by the way we interact with them, and this in turn affects the way they behave with others. Bearing in mind the widely held belief that there are, on average, only six degrees of separation between us and everyone else on the planet, it can be argued that the way we act has an important effect on the world in which we live.

All these actions are stored in memory, and for most of the time - in our current state of consciousness - it is these memories which shape events in our world. It is memory which elects governments, which makes those governments fearful of others, which promotes and prolongs war - because of who did what to whom in years gone by. And if we look in our hearts, perhaps we can come to understand that the emotions which arise within us when we come into conflict with others in our daily lives stem from the same source as those which cause others to kill, abuse, and exploit other people across our planet.

According to Ho-opnopono, all actions arise from one of two sources: from memory or from inspiration. The answer it presents is to heal or 'clean' those memories, to clear away those centuries of accumulated grievances, passed down through the generations, once and for all: to clear away the collective karma of the human race, so that all that remains is inspiration, connection to source, connection to love...

I have written before about the way in which our emotions get in the way of our natural connection to joy. Well, here is more of the same, yet for 'emotions' read 'memories', for it is memory from which those emotions spring.

Remember the four simple phrases: "I'm sorry", "Please forgive me", "Thank you", and "I love you". They can be used to clean away those memories and reestablish our connection to joy.

Find the best way you can to use them. They are ten words that can heal the world.

Related links:

Dr Joe Vitale

The Missing Secret

Zero Limits

Dr Hew Len: Foundation of I

Summer Schedule - And A Video About Trust

We've been having some nice warm summery weather here in the UK and I've been finding that the trowel and the watering can have been shouting rather louder than blogging. Last year, while we were moving house, I put The Secret Of Life on the backburner for a few months to give me a chance of keeping my life in some sort of sane balance, and all of a sudden, it seems like a good idea to do the same again this year. All this means is that I'll be posting once or twice a month instead of once or twice a week over the summer, which will allow me to revitalize and bounce back all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed when the leaves start to fall from the trees again.

In the meantime, the best way to keep track of my occasional posts might be to subscribe to my feed or register for email updates (if you haven't already done so). You'll find all the necessary clickable bits in the sidebar. This might be a good idea, because I've got some interesting posts planned in the next few months, including one with the intriguing title "Ten Words That Can Heal The World'. I'm hoping you'll like that one...

A couple more things this time: you may remember my earlier posts about neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor's remarkable experience during her stroke. If so you may be interested to download Taylor's recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, the first of a new series of spirituality interviews which Oprah is running as a follow-up to her Eckhart Tolle - New Earth series.

(Additional note: Some readers have pointed out that Jill Bolte Taylor has also written a book about her experience. You can find it here.)

And finally, here's a video which reminds us of a very important factor in using the law of attraction: trust. I described this element as 'letting go' or 'non-attachment' in my 'Heart Of The Secret' series of posts, but 'trust' is another excellent way to look at it.

It's easy for those of us who are motivated to produce art in some form or other to become pessimistic about our chances of finding an audience. After all, there are so many demands on people's time these days. But the guy in this video turns this idea on its head, quietly trusting that his audience will come... and it seems to work for him!

I found this inspiring - do take a look...

In case you didn't catch the name, the singer in the video is called Terry Prince. Incidentally, I came across this video on a blog called Bold Thoughts by David Hooper. (David has written a book on the law of attraction, the audio version of which is available on free download.)

A Native American Message

I just discovered this video on You Tube. I think you may like it...

You can read the message around which the video is built here. Research on the net suggests that it may not come from the Hopi Elders at all, but may in fact be the work of a Cherokee Elder.  It still speaks to me, whoever its author may be...

((Additional Note: There's an interesting discussion about Hopi prophecy and the possible validity of this message here.))

Gateways Of Light

Following on from the previous post, here's a video about the process of transformation which may be ahead of us all. It starts off with a rather downbeat view of the state of the world, but in featuring this video, it is not my intention to be alarmist. I would much rather focus on the second part of the video: about how we can help both ourselves and the world through personal transformation.

Thanks to Ed Harpin for bringing this video to my attention. Ed says: "It's a short, sweet and direct video, that I think quite simply gives the view of the times we are in... the changes that we may be facing just around the corner... and the possibility to transcend."

I'd also like to quote the words of Sue Ann Edwards in her comment on the previous post: "I have Faith in us. I know we're afraid of change but we need to get over it... emotionally grow up... develop. We have nothing to fear but fear itself. We're inventive. We're competent. We're imaginative. We're creative. We will meet any and all changes and challenges, with confidence and courage."

(Note: This is now a new 'improved and upgraded' version of the video - March 2008)

Cartoon Time (and more...)

A few things this time. First of all, here are a couple of interesting animations on a similar theme:

This first one, based on a vintage recording by Alan Watts, makes an interesting comparison between life and music. It's an old recording and the quality is poor at first, but it swiftly improves as it goes along:

I found the above on richgrad's blog. Many thanks to him for finding it!

Thanks too to Linda (aka Cosmic Sunshine) for sending me the link to an animation called The Book Of Now, which you can find here. They request your email address unfortunately but I don't seem to have been spammed as a result - and it's a great animation, kind of a cartoon version of Eckhart Tolle's teaching.

Did anyone else try the recent Jyothi transmission? I've written about my own impressions here. Please feel free to add yours too...

Special thanks to those of you who left supportive comments on May's blog, in response to my recent post! May left some response here.

Finally, here are a couple of local notices. If, like me, you live in Yorkshire in the north of England (or thereabouts) my friend Ed Harpin (who contributed two fascinating comments on enlightenment a few months back) is starting up Deeksha sessions in Huddersfield again. He is now combining Deeksha (also known as the Oneness Blessing) with Kundalini Yoga. The details of his classes are here.

And if you live a bit further north, Heidi Fawkes is continuing her regular Deeksha sessions in Otley and Hunton. You can contact Heidi here.

There are links to information on Deeksha sessions worldwide in my original post on Deeksha.

The Heart Of The Secret 4 - Gratitude

This is the last of a series of posts in which I've been focusing on The Secret, the DVD which has done so much to publicize the law of attraction, the idea that we can create our own reality through the power of positive thought. I've been discussing the three elements of The Secret which I believe to be the most important, and the third technique is perhaps the most valuable of all.

This one appears on The Secret DVD but does not, in my opinion, receive sufficient emphasis. The message is a simple one: give gratitude. Give thanks for all the good things in your life.

There may be many such things in your life or there may be very few just at the moment, but everyone - at least, everyone who is reading this - has something for which to be grateful. So make a list of your blessings - however short it may be! - and give thanks for them.

You may find that, as with the second technique, this is a valuable exercise in itself. It makes you feel good just to do it. But I think you will also find that it triggers the law of attraction. The way this works is obvious really. If someone gives you something good, they're more likely to do it again if you show that you're grateful. So why should the universe be any different? If you don't show that you're grateful for something, how does the universe know what you like? How does it know what to send you next? If, on the other hand, you give thanks for what you receive, then it may send you more of the same...

This is an idea which resonates with me, and I think it may be the reason why  religions seem to stress the importance of giving thanks. I used to wonder about this. Why does God need all that praise? Does he have a personality disorder or something? Why should this omnipotent being need the emotional crutch of having its ego stroked all the time? Why should something so powerful be so needy? But now I realize this isn't about what's good for God after all, but about what's good for us. We're asked to give thanks because this is the way the universe works. If we give thanks for what we like, we receive more of what we want in our lives. The exhortation to praise is simply telling us this.

If you aren't convinced by this, I can only suggest what I usually do: give it a try and see. There are two things to watch though. First of all, the gratitude has to be genuine. If you concentrate only on what you're going to get out of it, it won't work. But don't worry - I think you will find that as you practice gratitude, you will find it is such a pleasurable experience that you will be happy to do it for its own sake, instead of focusing on any rewards you may get.

The second potential problem is that those old familiar negative thoughts can rear their heads. You may find yourself asking why you have to be thankful for A when you have to put up with B. And for that matter, what about C and D, which are also a pain in the butt?

The way I deal with this is to tell myself that I can think about B,C, and D later. For the time being, I'm focusing on how good I feel about A. I can think about that other stuff when the gratitude session is over. This tactic seems to work for me, so I hope it will work for you.

The Secret suggests that this gratitude technique is particularly useful for relationship problems. If some things about your partner are annoying you, stop dwelling on them and make a list instead of the things you do like about them. Practice gratitude for these positive things and you will encourage more of them, while those annoying habits you are now ignoring will fade away.

Quite apart from the spiritual dimension, this seems like a good common sense idea to try. Law of attraction or no law of attraction, we see what we focus on most...

And of course, we don't have to concentrate just on ourselves. The same technique can be used to manifest peace and joy for the world. It is all too easy to focus on what is wrong with the world. Spend some time focusing on what is right with the world instead - and give thanks for it.

These, then, are my top three tips for 'law of attraction' techniques to practice - especially if you find that negative thoughts tend to get in the way of your imaginings. The first of them (described in Walk Before You Run!) is simply a beginner's version of the classic 'imagine what you want and so attract it' technique.  The other two (described in this post and the previous one) may be less specific than the idea of summoning up a fast car or a dream house, but they are delightful exercises in themselves. And who knows? - perhaps it is better not to be specific. It may be that the universe has a better idea of what will bring you happiness than you do...

(To read the Heart Of The Secret posts in sequence, please start here.)

The Heart Of The Secret 3 - Contemplating Perfection

Earlier this year, The Secret DVD did much to publicize the law of attraction - the idea that we can create our own reality through the power of positive thought. In this series of posts, I'm highlighting what I see as the most useful techniques in The Secret, and the one I'd like to talk about today is one which you may not have encountered before even if you've seen the DVD, because it doesn't appear in the movie, only in the accompanying book.

The reason it didn't make it onto the DVD may be because it will only make immediate sense to those who are already familiar with the idea of being in the moment and connecting with the energy which can be found there. If you read this blog regularly, you'll already know what I'm talking about. Otherwise, I urge you to look at one of Eckhart Tolle's excellent books The Power Of Now or the briefer Practicing The Power Of Now, which will explain all about it.

You could also try taking a look at one or two of my earlier posts. Feeling What Is briefly describes the process of coming to rest and connecting with the moment, while An End To All Abuse contains a visualization in which you imagine being one with the universe, an integral part of everything that is.

Both of these are gateways to the same state of consciousness, in which you realize that you are an integral part of everything: a part of the force of nature, a part of the universe. In such a state, you are able to focus on your own perfection, on your own boundless abundance, for if you are a part of this great energy, then you too must share its attributes, you too must possess its limitless power.

With a focus like this, there is no longer any room for the anxious thoughts which might creep in if you were trying to imagine a new house or a car. Those nagging questions "will it work?" or "do I deserve it?" become irrelevant. Once you are aware that you are part of this energy, that you are one with the universe, there can be no doubt that you share in its perfection. So focus on that perfection - and bring it into your life.

This technique can be particularly useful for working on your health. The Secret DVD suggests that to improve your health, you should imagine yourself being well, but this can be hard to achieve if you are severely disabled or in great pain - or even if you've got a bad cough for that matter! In such a situation, doubts can be hard to dispel. If you feel really ill, it isn't always easy to imagine feeling better again.

If, however, you realize that you are one with all that is, that you are not separate from the life force which puts the buds on the trees and brings the green shoots from the earth, then you cannot fail to understand that on a spiritual level at least, you are perfection. Contemplate this perfection - and feel it seep into the cells of your physical body.

This is a wonderful exercise, but if you have difficulty with the whole 'oneness with the universe' thing, I came across a useful variation at Sue Ann Edwards' excellent blog, Always Embraces All Ways.  This has the rather dull title of Standard Technology (not Sue Ann's name!) but it's a very powerful exercise.

Briefly, what you have to do is to imagine that there's a perfect cell in your body. I think all of us are willing to accept that we have at least one of them! Imagine that cell all vibrant and happy, then set it as the standard for all the other cells in your body. And watch the perfection spread throughout your being...

If you like the sound of that exercise, please go and read all about it at Sue Ann's blog here.

Next time, in the last of this series, I'll be talking about the most powerful law of attraction technique of all. And this one is very, very simple...

(To see the previous posts in this series, please click here: part 1 - part 2)

The Heart Of The Secret 2 - Walk Before You Run!

As I mentioned The Heart Of The Secret part one, what I'm hoping to do in this series of posts is to highlight what I see as the most valuable things which appear in The Secret, the DVD which has done so much to publicize the law of attraction (the idea that we can create our own reality through the power of positive thought). There's a lot in the movie about imagining big houses and expensive cars, and if you are managing to manifest such things, then that's brilliant! (If you can do a bit of work on world peace and saving the planet too, that'll be even better...)

But if, on the other hand, you're struggling with the big stuff, you might try starting with something more modest and work up to bigger things gradually. This suggestion is actually given in The Secret, but it's kind of hidden away, so you might have missed it in your scramble to imagine a Porsche.

What The Secret suggests is to start by imagining parking spaces. Next time you're out in the car, imagine that a perfectly positioned parking space will be waiting for you when you reach your destination. Imagine yourself skilfully parking your car in the space and then focus on the gratitude you will feel to have found it. Then - and this is very important! - put the whole thing out of your mind until you get there. If you're not dwelling on whether or not this will work, there'll be less opportunity for negative thoughts to creep in.

As I explained in the earlier post, these negative thoughts such as "Will it work?" and "Do I deserve it?" tend to get in the way of your positive thoughts and mess up the whole business. The idea is that by starting with something relatively unimportant such as parking spaces, these unhelpful thoughts are less likely to intrude. You are therefore more likely to be successful, so that you can build up confidence in the law of attraction and work up to something bigger.

This also gives you the opportunity to get used to the various elements of the process. It might be useful to run through them here. First of all, imagine clearly what you want, then imagine your gratitude and delight at having it. Next, put the whole thing out of your mind while you set about the all-important business of taking whatever action you need to achieve your desire. These steps can be summed up as follows: CLARITY - GRATITUDE - RELEASE - ACTION. You need the clarity because otherwise - to use an extreme example - you might end up with an elephant instead of a parking space; you need to release your attachment to the outcome to stave off those negative thoughts; and you need to feel gratitude for the simple reason that feelings are more powerful than mere thoughts. If you doubt this, just take a look at the state of the world. 'Bad' thoughts are a problem, but it's 'bad' feelings that are really doing the damage...

And don't forget the all-important final ingredient: take the necessary action. If you watch The Secret, you might be forgiven for thinking that the universe will take care of everything like some kind of  fairy godmother, while you sit at home watching TV. Well yes, sometimes opportunities may arise out of nowhere, but most of the time you are likely to have to work for them. If you use the law of attraction, you may well find that the path of action will be smoother than it might otherwise be, but you'll still have to do what needs to be done . In the case of the parking space, for instance, you'll have to get in the car and drive there. It won't work if you just sit at home going "Vroom, vroom!"

When you've tried out this exercise and managed to get yourself a brilliant parking space a few times, you can build up to something more ambitious, but there's lots of scope for slowly advancing your skills, even with parking places. Once you've started getting convenient spaces at the supermarket, you'll be ready for the high street on a Saturday afternoon...

This post has been about taking the first steps towards using the law of attraction to bring a specific object or outcome into your life. But the law can also be used in other, subtler, less obvious ways: ways which may well be more accessible to those of us who struggle with the classic 'imagine a sports car' scenario. The technique I'm going to discuss next time does not even appear in The Secret DVD, only in the accompanying book, and it's particularly useful for improving our health...

The Heart Of The Secret 1 - Intention And Acceptance

In writing this blog, I'm hoping to share ideas about life which may be useful to other people, but also - a lot of the time - trying to work things out for myself. Clarity comes and goes. Sometimes I think I've got all my ducks in a line and everything makes perfect sense. Then someone posts a comment and suddenly I'm all over the place with feathers flying everywhere. "Whaat?" I cry, "How does that fit in?"

But that's OK - it's what it's all about. Yet it can be inconvenient if I'm just in the middle of writing a post...

Leaving the quantum physics aside (which I always find is best unless I particularly want a headache) there's nowhere I've struggled more in the whole spirituality area than with the law of attraction, that idea which was so successfully popularized earlier this year by the DVD The Secret. This is the idea that we can create our own reality by the power of our positive thoughts. I've written about this before in Positive Thinking For Beginners and also in the comments to another previous post, The Secret Antidote.

One particular problem I have is in reconciling the law of attraction with acceptance of what is.

If you've been reading this blog in the last month or so, particularly the posts How Does It Feel To Win A Million? and Ripples On A Sea Of Peace, you'll know that I'm pretty big on 'acceptance'. Indeed, it seems to me that acceptance, as in truly accepting and being OK with whatever is in our lives right now, may be the real big 'secret' of life, rather than the law of attraction.

Acceptance is all about not arguing with reality, which is something we do all the time but (when you think about it) makes absolutely no sense at all. "The buses should run on time", "Chocolate shouldn't make you fat", or "You shouldn't have walked out on me", are the sort of things we say every day, but they don't get us very far if they're simply denying the way things actually are. This sort of denial of reality uses up a vast amount of energy but we don't realize what's happening because we've been doing it all our lives. If we can let go of that resistance, and feel our whole body relax as we stop saying "no" to what's happening now, we may suddenly feel an incredible burst of freedom. (Read more about this here.)

But how can we have this acceptance of life yet also use the law of attraction to bring about changes?  Do we have to choose either one or the other approach?

At first glance, there does seem to be conflict here, yet when you actually read the small print of the law of attraction, the conflict falls away. To make the law of attraction work, you have to be free of attachment to whatever outcome you're trying to bring about. This is kind of skated over in The Secret but it's very important. In fact, it's one of several important features of the law of attraction which you could easily miss if you watch The Secret, and which I intend to highlight in this series of posts.

So just to get this straight: what you have to do is to put the intention out there - imagine whatever you want to happen - and then let it go. You can't be thinking "I do hope this works..." or it won't! It's necessary for you to imagine richly and passionately whatever you want to bring into being and then be willing to accept whatever happens.

Why is this non-attachment so important?

What we are told is that the law of attraction takes things very literally. It brings into being whatever thoughts we're putting out there. So if what we're doing is wanting something, that's exactly what we get: a situation of want. We don't actually get that shiny new car (or whatever it may be) but we create a reality in which we very much want a shiny new car. Which almost certainly isn't the outcome we had in mind! So to be successful,  you have to keep the wanting out of the equation. Put the intention out there and then let go.

Another important factor is the need to keep unhelpful, negative thoughts at bay.  A big problem with putting the law of attraction into practice is that thoughts such as "What if it doesn't work?" and "What if I don't deserve it?" tend to creep in. These thoughts tend to push whatever we're trying to bring into being away from us, undermining the whole process. If we can drop the attachment, however, and be easy with whatever the outcome may be, then such anxious, negative thoughts need no longer trouble us. Why should they, once we are willing to accept whatever may be? As I like to put it: we can have whatever we want, once we realize that we no longer need it.

I've described this problem with negative thoughts at greater length in the previous post, How To Have It All, and it's the main reason why I personally find the classic 'imagine what you want and get it' version of the law of attraction hard to put into practice. I fully accept that this isn't a problem for everyone however: such as, for instance, people who have a very positive disposition (the sort of people who will tend to be successful even if they never read a self-development book in their lives!); and those who are enlightened, who have total acceptance of whatever may be, who understand that worldly circumstances can never be a source of lasting happiness.

But where does this leave the rest of us? Should we forget all about the law of attraction? Should we put The Secret back in its box and list it on eBay?

No, that's not what I'm suggesting. Though I don't believe that the law of attraction is the universal panacea that some have claimed, there are lots of things in The Secret that are valuable to us all. In this series of posts, I want to focus on what I believe are the most important aspects of The Secret, one of which does not even appear in the film, only in the accompanying book. They are things that you might have missed, yet it seems to me that they lie at the very heart of The Secret - and they may be particularly valuable to those who have so far found it difficult to put the law of attraction into practice...

Coming next: The Heart Of The Secret 2 - Walk Before you Run!

Harry Potter And The Holy Trinity

As regular readers will know, this isn't a Christian blog, but I'm a bit of a Harry Potter fan, and by way of a bit of a change, I'd been planning a post about Christian ideas in the Harry Potter books - especially in the final volume, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. I'd spotted the parallels myself, but I did a search of the net a few days ago, and found that the Christian-Potter link was still being hotly debated. It was therefore interesting to search again today and find that the author, J K Rowling, is now talking openly about the whole thing on her US book signing tour.

"To me (the religious parallels) have always been obvious," she says, quoted on that well-known theological web site, mtv.com, "but I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going."

Of course, this is all particularly ironic because the Potter trilogy has long been vilified by many Christians due to its supposed links with witchcraft. Yet even before the final book, it seems that some such opinions were starting to soften, a change in perspective I can only applaud as a triumph of sense over superstition.

Spoiler alert: If you are a Potter fan who hasn't read the final volume, you may not want to read any further!

To illustrate the links with Christianity, the mtv.com article quotes a couple of biblical passages which appear in The Deathly Hallows and points out that towards the conclusion of the book, Harry appears to get zapped by his arch-rival Voldemort, only to apparently return from the dead in triumph. Meanwhile, another recent article (in Newsweek) points out that Harry spends his time between death and resurrection in a misty sort of afterworld which he calls 'King's Cross'. (Get it?)

What strikes me as particularly significant, though, is that Harry goes into the final battle with Voldemort in the full expectation of laying down his life to save his friends, after which gesture they are suddenly able to turn the tide of the battle in their favor -  all because, we are told, of what Harry has done.

The evidence for the Christian connection seems to be scattered throughout the book(s), and more ardent scholars than I will no doubt gather it all in, but I'm particularly grateful because it helps to explain the puzzling presence in the final book of all those magical artefacts. Magic swords, enchanted chalices and the like are the stock in trade of fantasy fiction, of course. The critic Nick Lowe used to call them 'plot tokens'. But rarely have so many been introduced in a single volume as Rowling manages to cram into The Deathly Hallows.

To start with, there are the Horcruxes. Harry doesn't have to find three of the things, not even five, but seven of them. Why so many? No doubt the clever kids could cope with them all, but were there any adult readers who hadn't lost track of the blessed things by half way through the book? A single magical artifact can have a certain power and charm if the writer describes it well, maybe even three of them can work at a pinch, but any more is too many and seven is just plain boring. Would The Lord Of The Rings have worked better if  Frodo had had to destroy seven rings instead of just one? I don't think so.

So why didn't the publishers ask Rowling to think again? Was it because she was adamant that there had to be seven Horcruxes? Because there are seven seals in the Book Of Revelation perhaps? Not to mention seven trumpets and seven basins into the bargain. (I think they were basins anyway - I can't really remember. Even St John  could have done with a firmer editorial hand...)

And not content with those seven Horcruxes, Rowling goes on to introduce yet more magical artifacts. Half way through the book we finally encounter the Deathly Hallows themselves - all three of the d**n things: the sword of power, the ring of resurrection and the cloak of invisibility. Now what is that all about? Even Harry is uncertain whether to turn his attention to the Hallows or the Horcruxes, and readers can only sympathize with his plight. Perhaps it was a good thing that he didn't look too closely. If he'd realized that the Deathly Hallows might symbolize the Holy Trinity - the power of God the father, the resurrection promised by God the son and, well, Ghosts are invisible, aren't they? - he might have chosen them instead of the Horcruxes. But of course, that would have been a mistake on Harry's part. That would have been using Godhood for earthly power, as Voldemort wished to do. Get thee behind me, Satan...

Aside from this muddle of artifacts, however, I do feel that some aspects of the final Potter book can genuinely speak to the soul. Harry's time in the wilderness is surprisingly bleak for a children's book. I had expected a breakneck chase from one location to the next as they tracked down the various Horcruxes, but it isn't like that all. A lot of the time, Harry and his friends just sit around clueless, not knowing what to do next. As I read, I wasn't sure whether this was just bad writing or deliberately making a point. In the end, I think, there's sufficient evidence that the latter is the case. It's as though the characters have to look inside themselves to find the answers, a concept which will be familiar to readers of this blog. At one point, Harry remarks that he was meant "not to seek but to know", a curious quote in the context of the book - and one which holds echoes for me of one of my earlier posts on enlightenment. As for Harry's frustration that things haven't been properly explained to him, there are many times in my life when I've felt exactly the same. What exactly are we supposed to be doing here? Why doesn't life come with a proper set of instructions?

So why was the Harry Potter series so popular, I wonder? Can it really be explained by the cozy school-story comfort food of the earlier books? Or was it Rowling's reputed use of the law of attraction to sell her books that made the difference?

Or did readers perhaps unconsciously sense the underlying spiritual message right from the start?

The latter may seem unlikely, yet I find myself wondering too about that most popular book of the twentieth century, The Lord Of The Rings. Again, why the immense popularity? I've been a great reader of science fiction and fantasy, believing that the former - and sometimes the latter - are greatly underrated, yet when I first read Tolkien's trilogy as a teenager I was disappointed. The quality of his writing did not seem to match his world-building skills and, well, I could have done with a little bit of humor. Yet I found watching the movie of The Return Of The King a profoundly moving experience. As I watched, I began to realize that the Great Ring, which promised the bearer so much power yet which weighed him down and threatened to destroy him, might be seen as a symbol of the human ego - this great weight which we all carry - which had to be burnt and cleansed in the fire of the mountain.

I don't know if that's what Tolkien (or director Peter Jackson) intended or not, but it's a great way to watch the movie! Do other people see - or sense - something similar, I wonder? It sometimes seems to me that such ideas - the kind of stuff we discuss in this blog - are actually of great importance not just to a wacky minority but to the population at large: not consciously perhaps, yet glimpsed beneath the surface of popular art.