Cycles of Death and Rebirth in the Harry Potter Series

Leslie Barnhart

Revivals, Resurrections, and Reincarnations

• Difference between resurrections, reincarnations, and revivals/ resuscitation:– Resurrection: body was dead and came back to

life as same person– Reincarnation: body died, spirit took on new body

and came back to life – Resuscitation/ revival: body never died, came

close to death but returned to life with new spirit

BRAINSTORM:REVIVALS WITHIN THE SERIES

Talk to a neighbor or write down all the “revivals” you remember from the series (canon or movies)

Which are which from your lists• Resurrections

– CS: Fawkes in office– PoA: Sirius at lake– OoP: Fawkes in Ministry– HBP: Dumbledore – Spirit carried

off as Fawkes (returns to heaven)– DH: Harry from Forbidden Forest

• Reincarnations– GF: Lord Voldemort in graveyard

• Revivals•PS: Harry from Hogwarts’ basement•CS: Harry, Fawkes restores health; Ginny: Harry restores life by destroying LV;•CS: 7 beings restored from petrification (Ms. Norris, Sir Nick, Colin Creevey, Justin F-F, Penny Clearwater, Hermione Granger, Ginny…)•PoA: Harry and Hermione restored by the lake•GF: Harry returns from the graveyard to Hogwarts (symbolic death)•OoP: Harry survives LV’s possession•HBP: Draco survives near-death in bathroom•HBP: Harry saved from lake•DH: multiple… pool, fire, killing curse…

Cycles of Death and Rebirth

• Big picture: Deathly Hallows: Harry returning from “Avada Kadavra” curse

• Each book in canon: Harry goes through a death and rebirth, each one mastering new element (earth, water, air, fire, astral plane, black, white, and red stages)

• Death/near death – rebirth cycles accelerate towards end of canon: multiple events in “Half-Blood Prince” and “Deathly Hallows”

Drivers of Cycles

• Symbolism – Harry’s path marked by mastery of different elements, immersed in element to master it (come out on top)

• Religious overtones – dying to old self/ understanding, rebirthing to new self/ understanding

• Conversion facilitated when people sense an end is near

Closer Look at HBP Harry – Insights – Illumination!! Lead-ins: Draco’s near death leads to his conversion –

fiery cross in bathroom, Draco never hurts anyone thereafter

Beginning with Climax of quest (Destroy the horcruxes) – near-deaths for those around Harry leads to his alchemically centered transformation:

Earth: Aragog dies; Water: Inferi – death all around Harry; Air: Dumbledore dies; Fire: Hagrid’s Hut up in flames (near death for Hagrid) Astral plane: Fawkes departs, never to return End of Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s lives as students at Hogwarts

Ultimate understanding: everything has an end

Deathly Hallows: Rebirth after Death

• Begins with Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s departure from World

• Dying to self, being reborn: more common name: baptism

Deathly Hallows: Earthly Element

• “Baptism” through earthly element• The trio descends into the Ministry of Magic:– Definition of who they are: wizards, their

community, their identity– Nearly caught, stuck in depths of Ministry

• Escape from tainted identity, working together

• Emerge with locket Horcrux – cursed exit

Deathly Hallows: water element

• Attracted by Sword of Gryffindor – symbol of the cross, the spirit

• Free-willing entrance into water, full immersion, locket/ curse strangles Harry – death imminent

• Rebirth - “Baptism” from Ron, Harry has new insights

• Emerges with Horcrux destroyer

Deathly Hallows: Air Element• Immersed in air on back of dragon escaping

from Gringotts– Dragon: Symbol of immortality, death to self– Air: breath, time, spirit – – Air is very cold, they hunger, thirst, ache from cold

• Emerge from air together, solidly in purpose, with Horcrux

Deathly Hallows, Fire Element

• Room of Requirement: Fiendfyre surrounds everyone, kills Crabbe

• Symbolic of fires of hell and death, consuming fire that destroys that which is evil within us

• Trio emerges from fire with another horcrux destroyed, reborn in their acceptance of their parts in the end of LV

• Draco and Goyle revived in turn

Deathly Hallows, Astral Plane

• In Forbidden Forest, Harry is hit with “Killing Curse”, somewhere between death/ life

• Immersed in Astral Plane – meets up with Albus Dumbledore “in his head”

• Can choose whether to go on to death, or return to life

• Emerges from Astral plane with new understanding, reborn without horcrux attachment

Conclusion

• Spiraling death/ rebirth cycles throughout series – revival, reincarnation, and resurrection

• One of J. K. Rowling’s main themes -There is life beyond the end

• Entirety of canon summarized through the snitch: Once we accept the inevitability of our own deaths, we are apple to accept the resurrection beyond

Reflection

• When have you experienced near-death experiences?

• Did they change how you understood the world around you?

• Did it drive you to a more spiritual understanding of who you are?

• Would Harry be who he is without any of the experiences he had at Hogwarts?

THOUGHTS, COMMENTS