Harry Potter - A Spiritual Guide

People think fantasy movies and stories are shallow but more often they have a deeper meaning than we think. I am on a spiritual journey and I can’t stop myself from quoting Harry Potter, because it is all so relatable. It comes under “Young Adult” genre but if you have an open mind, it is for everyone.

In first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,

The mirror of Erised, shows you your deepest desire, most desperate desire of our hearts. On a spiritual level, when we come face to face with our true self, we come to know our deepest desires which are not layered with the limits society has imposed upon us.

In the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,

When Dumbledore is suspended as a Headmaster, he says that – “You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.” 

It seems through out the series Dumbledore represents the Universe. Whenever we ask Universe anything with faith and good intention, it always provides. The Universe always has our back and it doesn’t judge, it responds to us as per our intentions.

In the third book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,

Dementor represents Depression, which sucks happiness out of living creatures. They make people spiraling on their guilts, victimhood and fears drive them so mad that they don’t wish to live anymore. Sounds like depression.

When Harry was first attacked by dementor, Professor Lupin gives him Chocolate to make him feel better, which really works when you are feeling down.

Chocolate contains Neurotransmitters. Chocolate can affect our body’s nervous system in various ways, one of them is causing the release of neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters assist in conveying signals between neurons. Chocolate helps in releasing various happy neurotransmitters in the brain such as endorphins, serotonin, and other opiates. They trigger certain emotions and effectively reduce stress and decrease pain, this is the reason why chocolate is known to be comfort food. Endorphins help in alleviating depression as they act as sedatives and provide a feeling of pleasure and happiness. 

Dementors are repelled by Patronous and Patronous is produced by feeling a happy memory. Isn’t it something you need to do to cure depression? Feeling is really the secret!

I have another interesting theory about why it was difficult for Hermione to produce a Patronous? Because she had an extremely analytical mind, it was difficult for her to see a situation without analyzing it. Whenever she tried to produce the patronous she was more focused on the problem than generating a happy feeling without context.

Boggart represents our irrational fears, when we don’t confront them, they grow and grow but when we learn to face them, they dissolve.

Hermione uses Time turner to attend multiple classes at once. Basically, she was at different places at the same time. Well, that’s Quantum physics, which says as soon as a potential exists for any object to be in any state, the universe of that object transmutes into a series of parallel universes equal to the number of possible states in which that the object can exist, with each universe containing a unique single possible state of that object.

In the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,

When Cedric dies. Dumbledore insists Harry to tell the details of the event and says -

"Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it."

"Understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance can there be recovery."

This is very basic that we shouldn’t suppress negative emotions because they turn into trauma and haunt you until you have finally dealt with them. Accepting whatever you are feeling removes resistance and in turn makes it easier to process a heightened emotion.

In the Fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix,

Umbridge makes Harry write lines – “I must not tell lies” and when Harry asks – “How many times?” she replies – “As long as it takes for the message to sink in.” It is about subconscious programming, you repeat something over and over again, it gets embedded in your subconscious mind and you start believing it without giving it a second thought.

Voldemort could not possess Harry because at the time Harry was worried for his friends and was grieving for Sirius and “What is Grief if not Love persevering.”  (that’s one of my favorite quotes). Voldemort who was conceived under the effect of love potion, had never experienced true love, and could not stand such a strong positive emotion, it was unbearable to him. 

When Sirius dies and goes beyond the veil, at the end Luna says to Harry about her mother that “It is not as though I will never see her again. You heard them behind the veil, didn’t you?” Well, we don’t really die, it’s just this body. Our soul lives till eternity in the form of consciousness so our loved ones who left us, aren’t really gone. They are all around us just in a different form or no form.

In the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,

The liquid luck potion, Felix Felicis. It is described as – “You will be lucky in everything you attempt.” The potion represents high vibrations. When you are in high vibrations, every decision you make turn out to be fruitful, the Universe bends reality for you, everything becomes effortless.

In the seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,

Horcrux Vs Hallows, Dumbledore left clear instructions to Harry that he has to hunt down Horcruxes, Dumbledore also in a very mysterious ways gave Harry another weapon against Voldemort that was Deathly Hallows. Who reunites all 3 Deathly Hallows becomes the master of death. Harry had to become master of death because that was the only way to kill the horcrux which was inside Harry without killing Harry. So, his main purpose was to destroy the horcruxes, not really to own the hallows and Dumbledore trusted Hermione to remind Harry about his purpose whenever he was sidetracked. This part is very personal to me (not in a deadly way). I am on a spiritual journey and I know I have a purpose. Every now and then I learn something new about spiritual world and different experiences which can speed up the whole spiritual journey but it shifts my focus out of my purpose and whenever my focus is shifted, I am somehow put back on track to focus on my purpose. I have learnt that I can’t fast track this process, I have to do my job first, which is to focus on my purpose. And honestly when I was wrapping my head around all this, it almost felt like the way Harry, Hermione and Ron were figuring out their next move.

From the fifth book, the Order of the Pheonix, Harry had been forced to learn to close his mind against Voldemort but he was not able to do so. When Dobby dies, Harry didn’t have to close his mind he knew what Voldemort was doing but it no longer affected his feelings. The thoughts were just there in his mind. Because in moments of despair we go beyond our mind, everything is still there but we just go past all of it. Despair is the number 1 cause of human soul awakening, when we finally go beyond our mind and come face to face with the source energy.

When Voldemort kills the horcrux which was inside Harry and Harry wakes up at King’s cross. Harry asks Dumbledore – “Where do you think we are?” and Dumbledore replies – “I have no idea. This is what they say, your party.” What it really means is at the time Harry was beyond this realm so he was not limited by its reality. He was creating his own reality.

Again, Dumbledore says “We are in King’s Cross, you say? I think that if you decided not to go back, you would be able to…let’s say…board a train.” And Harry says – “Where would it take me?” Dumbledore replies – “On.” The whole experience harry was having was a near death experience, he was in the middle and he could go on or come back and resume what he was doing.

And then Harry asks – “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?” to which Dumbledore replies – “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” The most important aspect of spiritual teaching is to look beyond your five senses. What you perceive with your five senses is not always true. Even scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson says that the world is full of things that we cannot understand simply by observing or touching them. He claims that only using our five senses is inadequate.

Throughout the series Dumbledore insisted upon Love. Love truly conquers all. Love is in core of all positive feeling be it Gratitude, Compassion, Forgiveness, Appreciation. Love is basis of all existence. Never underestimate the power of true love. Love is the primary source to raise your vibrations.

Writing all this has made me nostalgic and now I have an urge to read it all over again the 11^th time.