Chakras and Harry Potter

By hpboy13

Well,
once upon a time (last Thursday, to be exact), I was dozing off in my Global
Studies class as my teacher talked about the ancient Hindu civilization. Then,
we got a handout about chakras. Suddenly, I was wide awake. There were seven of
them. And they each represented something. My mind immediately went to Harry
Potter.

A
little background on chakras: they are Indian symbols representing different
points on the body.1 After looking at the description for each
one, I realized that they can be used to represent the books. From this, I
believe a conclusion can be gleaned for the final book. So let's begin by
trying to connect each chakra to its respective book.


1. Book 1’Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Chakra One: Earth,
Physical identity, oriented to self-preservation. Located at the base of the
spine, this chakra forms our foundation. It represents the element earth, and
is therefore related to our survival instincts, and to our sense of grounding
and connection to our bodies and the physical plane. Ideally this chakra brings
us health, prosperity, security, and dynamic presence.

The
first thing to notice here is that these chakras don't represent the plot, but
more the characters'’ mainly the trio's ’ attitudes and experiences. Firstly, this chakra relates "to
our survival instincts
" (quotations from the descriptions will be in
italics to avoid confusion). Clearly, Harry begins to do some major surviving
in this book (though he does a lot of it in every book). He survives the attack
from Voldemort at Godric's Hollow.2 Then, he, Ron, and
Hermione survive Fluffy (giant three-headed dogs are pretty fatal when not
lulled to sleep), and the Devil's Snare (it would have choked them). Then Ron
survives being clubbed by the chess queen. Harry and Hermione can also be said
to survive that, but in a different way: they survive the chess match, with
neither of them being taken.3

After
that, Harry and Hermione survive Snape's riddle.4 If they had
guessed incorrectly, it could have been fatal ("Three of us are killers").
Then, Harry (barely) survives the whole ordeal with Quirrell/Voldemort
(Quirrellmort), which is a miracle in itself.5 And who can
forget the mountain troll that Harry, Ron, and Hermione survive only by luck;
"You're lucky you weren't killed' as Professor McGonagall puts it.6
After all, they manage to survive after only two months of magical education.
From all of this, it's very clear that there is a lot of surviving going on in Sorcerer's
Stone
.

The
next interesting thing to note, which I think is the best connection between
this book and the first chakra, is that this chakra relates to "our sense of
grounding and connection to our bodies and the physical plane.
" This
immediately connects to the Mirror of Erised.7 The Mirror of
Erised shows us our heart's desire, but it does not show us anything physical.
To quote Dumbledore, "this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth."
8
Harry learns not to dwell on dreams, but to focus on
reality and the physical plane.

Lastly,
this chakra "brings us [¦] prosperity, security." This is true.
This book brings Harry prosperity. The Dursleys never gave him any money. Now,
he finds out that he has a vault full of wizard's gold.9 (On
a side note, this book also brought J.K. Rowling prosperity, but I believe that
to be less relevant.) Harry also finally feels secure at Hogwarts, with his new
friends. "It [Hogwarts] was the only place he had ever been happy¦." 10

As
you can see, there is a lot connecting the first chakra to Sorcerer's Stone.
And since these descriptions are probably not as detailed as some others, and
I'm the only one making connections, there are probably many more connections
that could be made.


2. Book 2’Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Chakra Two: Water, Emotional
identity, oriented to self-gratification. The second chakra, located in the
abdomen, lower back, and sexual organs, is related to the element water, and to
emotions and sexuality. It connects us to others through feeling, desire,
sensation, and movement. Ideally this chakra brings us fluidity and grace,
depth of feeling, sexual fulfillment, and the ability to accept change.

Well,
the first thing that popped out at me was that this chakra represents the water
element. It has often been said that Slytherin House represents the element of
water.11 Slytherin House is definitely one of the major
topics of this book. This book is all about Slytherin: the heir of Slytherin,
Slytherin's Chamber, Slytherin's monster, and so forth. It's in this book that
we find out that Lord Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin, which comes into play
later on in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.12

The
next thing to notice is "fluidity and grace." What image comes to mind? A
snake. That basilisk would definitely have to have fluidity and gracefulness to
be able to travel in pipes. Not to mention that this is the book where
Parseltongue ’ the ability to speak to snakes – comes into play.13
Also worth noting is the part about "movement." The irony here is that
this is the book when people get Petrified, including Hermione.14

The
next connection is "emotions and sexuality [¦] feeling, desire."
Many of you are probably thinking that I got the wrong book. True, there is
much more of that from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on. However, Chamber
of Secrets
is the book that first starts introducing sexuality. Think about
it ’ were there any mentions at all in Sorcerer's Stone of love,
crushes, and things like that? No. In Chamber of Secrets, we have
Lockhart, who introduces us to all those things, with Mrs. Weasley and
Hermione.15 Also, we see Ginny's crush on Harry.16
So Chamber of Secrets is the book that begins the sexuality.


3. Book 3’Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Chakra Three: Fire, Ego identity, oriented to self-definition. This
chakra is known as the power chakra, located in the solar plexus. It rules our
personal power, will, and autonomy, as well as our metabolism. When healthy,
this chakra brings us energy, effectiveness, spontaneity, and non-dominating
power.

This
chakra actually seems to be much more about Hermione than about Harry or other
characters. It's all about power, and Hermione definitely shows that she has
plenty in this book. "Personal power, will [...] spontaneity,
and non-dominating power
" all seem to apply to Hermione. She shows a lot of
will and spontaneity by walking out on Professor Trelawney.17
Let's be honest ’ how many of us expected that the first time we read the book
(the shock probably wore off after about twenty rereads, but still)? I was
definitely taken by surprise. Hermione always had the utmost respect for
teachers ("Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or
something' as Ron tells her in Sorcerer's Stone18),
and she made absolutely sure to be in every class she could be ’ and now she
walks out of Divination, out of the blue? Spontaneity, indeed.

But
this example pales in comparison with the event just before that: Hermione's
smacking Malfoy.19 This is actually the only scene the Prisoner
of Azkaban
movie did justice to (in my opinion, this movie was one of the
greatest catastrophes of our time), and it's a favorite scene of mine. If there
were hints of Hermione's growing lack of patience with Trelawney and Divination
in general, this was completely out of the blue. We've seen Ron, Harry, or both
of them attempt to attack Malfoy on numerous occasions, but never Hermione.
She's usually the one holding the two boys back. So this came as a total shock
(the really good kind). This definitely illustrates Hermione's spontaneity as
well as power.

However,
Hermione isn't the only one making impressive displays of power in this book.
Hermione says in Sorcerer's Stone, "Harry”you're a great wizard, you know."
20
Prisoner of Azkaban is where we finally
begin to see proof of that. Sure he's an excellent flier, but that doesn't
count as wizardry. Sure he survived Quirrellmort, but that was due to his
mother's love, not his prowess as a wizard. His ability to speak Parseltongue
is probably just a skill he got from Voldemort.21 He defeated
the basilisk by strength, not wizarding skill.22 While not
trying to discredit Harry in any way, because Merlin knows that boy's been
through a lot, we don't really see any of his extraordinary wizarding talent
until the third book. That's when, at only thirteen years old, Harry manages to
produce a corporeal Patronus. To quote Lupin, Hermione, and Madam Bones,
"that's very, very advanced magic." 23 A Patronus
to drive away a hundred Dementors; I doubt many adult wizards or witches could
do that. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry starts showing his true power.


4. Book 4’Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Chakra Four: Air,
Social identity, oriented to self-acceptance. This chakra is called the heart
chakra and is the middle chakra in a system of seven. It is related to love and
is the integrator of opposites in the psyche: mind and body, male and female,
persona and shadow, ego and unity. A healthy fourth chakra allows us to love
deeply, feel compassion, have a deep sense of peace and centeredness.

Well,
to start off with, this is the chakra related to love. And indeed, this is the
book when Ron's and Hermione's feelings for each other really start to develop.
In Chamber of Secrets, it was all about schoolgirl crushes on Lockhart;
and in Prisoner of Azkaban they were too busy arguing over cats, rats,
and brooms.24 In this book it really gets serious. I could
sit here and type up half of chapters twenty-two and twenty-three as evidence,
but this will have to suffice:

But Ron was staring at Hermione as
though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.

"Hermione, Neville's rightyou are a girl¦" 25

Fleur smiled at him [Ron]; Hermione
scowled.
26

As
is clear from the two quotes above, Ron and Hermione start to develop true
feelings for each other in this book (have mercy, Harry/Hermione shippers!!!).
They are not the only ones. Harry's feelings for Cho really become pronounced
in this book ("Harry tried not to watch Cho and Cedric too much; it gave him a
strong desire to kick something" 27). In addition, after
taking somewhat of a backseat in Prisoner of Azkaban, Ginny is brought
in again, and her crush on Harry is even more pronounced, as evidenced by this
quote:

"I asked her [Cho] to go with me
just now' Harry said dully, "and she told me."

Ginny had suddenly stopped
smiling.
28

Now
we can address the chakra characteristic, "feel compassion." That's what
the second Triwizard Tournament task is about. Ron and Hermione berate Harry
for trying to save the other hostages, though the judges think this shows
"moral fiber." 29 Harry has a lot of compassion for others,
which leads him to try to save the other hostages as well.


5. Book 5’Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Chakra Five: Sound, Creative identity, oriented to self-expression.
This is the chakra located in the throat and is thus related to communication
and creativity. Here we experience the world symbolically through vibration,
such as the vibration of sound representing language.

This
chakra mostly describes communication, sound, and self-expression. Most of
these can be attributed to Harry's anger issues. Harry lets out his anger by
expressing himself in a verbal (and very loud) way, mostly to his friends (read
Order of the Phoenix pages 65 and 66 ’ more
than half of it is in caps lock). While many people found this annoying, I
found it rather admirable that all he did was yell. He didn't go on a murdering
rampage (like some Dark Lords we know), and he didn't even try to hex anyone.
Let's face it, Harry's only human, and he's been through more than we can
imagine.

While
Harry communicates his frustration at Ron and Hermione, Hermione tries to
communicate her sympathy to Harry.30 Ron also tries to, but
to a much lesser and much less successful extent than Hermione. Ron is too
afraid of Harry's temper, while Hermione desperately tries to curb it.

The
other interesting part in this rather short description is the part about "creativity."
This book is where Hermione starts showing her creative nature. She comes up
with the brilliant method of using murtlap essence to heal Harry's hand.31
She then has another even more brilliant idea, in the same chapter, to form
Dumbledore's Army ("the DA"), the secret Defense Against the Dark Arts class.32
Neither Ron nor Harry had thought of it. If it weren't for the DA, Harry would
be in quite a fix. He wouldn't know a bunch of spells (remember those
spellbooks Sirius and Lupin got Harry for Christmas?33) and
he wouldn't have several very valuable allies. The most notable of these allies
are Neville, Luna, and Ginny. And he owes it all to Hermione.

Then,
Hermione has another brilliant idea. Putting a Protean Charm on Galleons to
arrange DA meetings34 was pure brilliance ’ even Draco likes
it enough to use it in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.35
If it weren't for those Galleons, Umbridge would probably have caught on to the
DA much sooner. It would have looked quite suspicious to suddenly see over two
dozen people from three separate houses giving each other messages constantly.

And,
of course, who can forget Harry's interview with Rita Skeeter?36
That was one of Hermione's most brilliant ideas to date. Organizing that
interview was pure genius. She utilized her resources in a creative way;
blackmailing Rita Skeeter and using Luna's father's magazine to achieve what
she needed shows true creativity indeed.

But
Hermione isn't the only creative one. Fred and George's creativity seems to
know no bounds. From the Extendable Ears37 to the Skiving
Snackboxes38 to the Headless Hats39 to the
Weasley Wildfire Whiz-Bangs40 to the portable swamps,41
it seems their creativity is limitless. Even Professor Flitwick acknowledges
that it was very impressive magic.42


6. Book 6’Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Chakra Six: Light,
Archetypal identity, oriented to self-reflection. This chakra is known as the
brow chakra or third eye center. It is related to the act of seeing, both
physically and intuitively. As such it opens our psychic faculties and our
understanding of archetypal levels. When healthy, it allows us to see clearly,
in effect, "letting us see the big picture."

This
chakra perfectly represents what we see on the cover of Half-Blood Prince
(US<span edition): Harry's
lessons with the Pensieve. This chakra is all about sight: "related to the
act of seeing
[...] letting us see the big picture." Harry finally
"sees" why Voldemort is the psycho murderer that he is. Harry also sees how
Voldemort became that way. Most importantly of all, Harry sees what he has to
do: destroy the Horcruxes. Harry finally sees the big picture: that Voldemort
has four remaining Horcruxes left that he, Harry, must destroy, and then
vanquish Voldemort himself.43

However,
the Pensieve isn't the only way Harry starts seeing things. Firstly, he finally
sees the good in Malfoy. The first time is when he catches Malfoy crying.44
Indeed, this is quite different from the arrogant, emotionless Malfoy we've
come to know and despise (forgive me, fangirls!!!). Towards the end, Harry even
feels pity for Malfoy.45 This is a big change from less than
two years previously, where we read,

Harry wouldn't have let his worst
enemy face those monsters
[dragons] unprepared”well, perhaps Malfoy or Snape¦.46

Harry
isn't the only one who finally opens his eyes in Half-Blood Prince; the
whole wizarding world does. Before the last few chapters of book five, Harry
was "this deluded, attention-seeking person' 47 and now he
and Dumbledore are asked multiple times by Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour,
as well as Cornelius Fudge, if Harry will be the Ministry's poster boy.48
The wizarding world has finally opened its eyes.

7. Book 7’Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chakra Seven: Thought, Universal identity, oriented to self-knowledge.
This is the crown chakra that relates to consciousness as pure awareness. It is
our connection to the greater world beyond, to a timeless, spaceless place of
all-knowing. When developed, this chakra brings us knowledge, wisdom,
understanding, spiritual connection, and bliss.

Well,
you say, these comparisons have been fun and all, but what's the point? Well,
we finally got to it. I was trying to prove that the comparisons between the
chakras and the Harry Potter books are there. Now that I have
(hopefully) convinced you, let's get to our final destination. I believe we
could use this chakra description to predict what happens in book seven.

Just
hear me out. Most of this description of the seventh chakra seems to point to
one thing: Harry is going to die!!!!! Believe me, I don't want that to
happen anymore than you do, and before I started this essay, I was a strong
proponent of a happy ending. But I believe that this is the most plausible
interpretation.

First,
the part about "knowledge, wisdom, understanding" should be pretty
obvious. Harry is going to find out a lot of stuff in Deathly Hallows.
Don't believe me? Go to the "What's Left" area in Leaky Lounge.49
We know that he will at least find out something about Lily and Petunia. Most
likely, he will learn something about Dumbledore, Aberforth, Snape, what are
the Horcruxes, where are the Horcruxes, how to destroy Horcruxes, and a lot
more stuff besides that. But anyway, back to Harry's impending death.

The
part that reveals this most clearly is "the greater world beyond." Harry
will, unfortunately, go beyond the Veil. What other "world beyond do we know"
other than the one beyond the Veil?50 I don't want to believe
it any more than you, but this seems to be the most logical interpretation. But
for the sake of argument, let's look at other possible interpretations. Some of
the brilliant title discussions on the Leaky Lounge51 mention
that Hallows could refer to All Hallows' Eve (Halloween), where the veil
between the realm of the living and the dead is supposedly at its thinnest. So
maybe Harry will only communicate with the "greater world beyond' instead of
actually winding up there.

This
brings up another interesting theory, concerning the two-way mirror. Rowling
implied that we haven't seen the last of it.52 So maybe the
mirror will turn out to be the link. Therefore, there is hope for Harry's
survival. However, this is a theory which relies on a bunch of other theories
to be true. So I'm inclined to believe that this chakra does, in fact, imply
Harry's death. Also, let's not forget that the title is Deathly
Hallows
. I'm afraid that we should expect the worst.

It
may seem far-fetched that Rowling would use chakra information to convey her
intentions, but I wouldn't put it past her to hide clues in chakra descriptions
’ after all, I've read every essay here since the release of book five, and
there wasn't a single one about this. We know Rowling likes to hide clues in
the most obscure places, and these chakras are pretty obscure.

So,
to sum it all up, I believe that these chakras do have something to do with the
Harry Potter books. And as much as I regret to say it, I conclude that
Harry will die at the end. This is my essay debut, and I hope you guys liked it!

Notes

1.
All chakra references from Sacred Centers, "Chakras."

2.
Rowling, Sorcerer's Stone, 12.

3.
Ibid., 276’84.

4.
Ibid., 285’87.

5.
Ibid., 299.

6.
Ibid., 177.

7.
Ibid., 207.

8.
Ibid., 213.

9.
Ibid., 75.

10.
Ibid., Goblet of Fire, 339.

11.
Anelli and Spartz, "TLC/MN interview Part Three."

12.
Rowling, Chamber of Secrets, 314.

13.
Ibid., 195.

14.
Ibid., 257.

15.
Ibid., 36, 95.

16.
Ibid., 238.

17.
Ibid., Prisoner of Azkaban, 298’99.

18.
Ibid., Sorcerer's Stone, 183.

19.
Ibid., Prisoner of Azkaban, 293.

20.
Ibid., Sorcerer's Stone, 287.

21.
Ibid., Chamber of Secrets, 332’33

22.
Ibid., 320.

23.
Ibid., Prisoner of Azkaban 237, 241, 406, 412; Order of the Phoenix, 141.

24.
Ibid., Prisoner of Azkaban, 252.

25.
Ibid., Goblet of Fire, 400.

26.
Ibid., 724.

27.
Ibid., 430.

28.
Ibid., 399.

29.
Ibid., 507.

30.
Ibid., Order of the Phoenix, 64’67, 222’23, 237.

31.
Ibid., 324.

32.
Ibid., 325.

33.
Ibid., 501’2.

34.
Ibid., 398.

35.
Ibid., Half-Blood Prince, 589.

36.
Ibid., Order of the Phoenix, 566.

37.
Ibid., 68.

38.
Ibid., 104.

39.
Ibid., 540.

40.
Ibid., 634.

41.
Ibid., 676’77.

42.
Ibid., 848.

43.
Ibid., Half-Blood Prince, 651.

44.
Ibid., 522.

45.
Ibid., 640.

46.
Ibid., Goblet of Fire, 341.

47.
Ibid., Order of the Phoenix, 74.

48.
Ibid., Half-Blood Prince, 357.

49.
The Leaky Cauldron, "What's Left?"

50.
Rowling, Order of the Phoenix, 863.

51.
Leaky Lounge, "Official Book Seven Title Discussion."

52.
Rowling, World Book Day Chat.


Bibiliography

Anelli,
Melissa and Emerson Spartz. "The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet Interview Joanne
Kathleen Rowling, Part 3." The Leaky Cauldron, 16 July 2005. /#static:tlcinterviews/jkrhbp3 (accessed 31 January 2007).

The Leaky Cauldron. "What's Left?" /#static:whatsleft
(accessed January 27, 2007).

Leaky Lounge. "Official Book Seven Title Discussion." http://www.leakylounge.com/index.php?showtopic=37299&st=0
(accessed January 27, 2007).

Rowling,
J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. New York: Scholastic Press, Arthur A.
Levine Books, 1999.

”””.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. New York: Scholastic Press, Arthur A.
Levine Books, 2000.

”””.
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. New York: Scholastic Press, Arthur A.
Levine Books, 2005.

”””.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. New York: Scholastic Press,
Arthur A. Levine Books, 2003.

”””.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. New York: Scholastic Press, Arthur A.
Levine Books, 1999.

”””.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: Scholastic Press, Arthur A.
Levine Books, 1998.

”””.
World Book Day Chat, 4 March 2004. Transcript, AccioQuote!, http://www.accio-quote.org/articles/2004/0304-wbd.htm
(accessed 28 January 2007).

Sacred Centers. s.v. "Chakras." http://www.sacredcenters.com/chakras.html
(accessed 27 January 2007).

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