Recovering the Medieval Imagination

February 13, 2008 by 3 Comments

“Isn’t Jupiter splendid these nights?” he exclaimed to one correspondent in 1938; “Do you ever notice Venus these mornings at about quarter past seven?” he asked his godson in 1946. “She has been terrifically bright lately, almost better than Jupiter.”

Sound familiar? How about Hagrid’s conversation with the Centaurs in Philosopher’s Stone? “Mars is bright tonight…”

But this isn’t a Centaur. It is C. S. Lewis. The quotations are from C. S. Lewis and the Star of Bethlehem, an excerpt taken from Dr. Michael Ward’s Planet Narnia in Christianity Today’s Books and Culture. I commend it to your attention for these reasons: [Read more…]

Filed Under: C. S. Lewis, Traditional Symbolism

Writers Strike Over! Good News for Janet?

February 13, 2008 by 5 Comments

The Writers Strike is Over! Hurrah!

Why do I care, teevee and movie know-nothing-and-care-less kind of curmudgeon that I am? Because Janet Batchler, beloved HogPro AllPro and author of What Will Harry Do?, has been on the picket-line for months. There is no word yet at Quoth The Maven blogspot about what she thinks of the deal; I hope she’ll check in here and let us know if the good guys won or were just worked over.

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

Ms. Rowling Interview in El Pais (2/2008)

February 12, 2008 by 4 Comments

Readers in Spain have their copies of Deathly Hallows today — and an intriguing interview with Ms. Rowling in El Pais magazine, to boot. SnitchSeeker has the first “complete transcript translation” I’ve been sent [hat-tip, Bob Trexler!], but, alas, we know it isn’t complete because in previous reports on this interview from the same source we read about her comments on Neville Chamberlain as a model for Cornelius Fudge and about her ex-husband not being in the books (I tell you, the guy in lavendar is Philip Pullman…). And those notes aren’t in the “complete transcript.” Nothing yet at our best source for JKR interviews; if you didn’t think the quiet demise of Accio Quote was going to be painful, this is your moment to reflect and reconsider.

Two quick comments on what we have in this interview and my favorite parts before opening the gates for your comments about your favorites: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Hog Pro Notes

What Alchemy Does in Harry Potter

February 11, 2008 by 17 Comments

Filit sent me a link to a livejournal posting by ‘Josef Djugashvili,’ Alchemy, What Might Have Been, in which post the writer and serious reader tries to assess the value of understanding alchemy (and specifically the stages of alchemy) in getting to the meaning of Harry Potter. The conclusion s/he comes to after examining the three stage process of black white, and red and a more involved seven stage process is that “IMVHO alchemy does not assist too much in our understanding of the Harry Potter series as it stands, whichever way one slices it.” S/He asks readers to “convince me otherwise.”

I’m pretty sure this kind of discussion doesn’t allow for premise-conclusion demonstrations that would convince any person of good will but I feel obliged to respond to the live-journalist (even if s/he has chosen Josef Stalin‘s birthname as an alias; I should confess this choice sets my teeth on edge and has made writing this an exercise). Here are three talking points for HogPro conversation today: [Read more…]

Filed Under: C. S. Lewis, Literary Alchemy, Traditional Symbolism

Mozart’s Zauberflote: Alchemical Text?

February 7, 2008 by 15 Comments

Thank you, JAB, for the great work you’ve done here as HogPro Web Master! I have finished the revisions and four new chapters for what was Looking for God in Harry Potter and what will be How Harry Cast His Spell: The Meaning Behind the Mania — and I have you to thank for keeping the conversation going here so I could meet my deadlines. I have to think no one missed me given the quality of your posts and commentary! I certainly enjoyed checking in here during my bancha tea breaks.

I have to return my interlibrary loan copy of M. F. M. van den Berk’s The Magic Flute: An Alchemical Allegory this afternoon so my first post here will be a short review. Let me start with the downside. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Literary Alchemy