THE EMBODIMENT OF BRITISH WITCHCRAFT CULTURE IN HARRY POTTER

于阅

【Abstract】The series novel Harry Potter was created by English woman writer J.K.Rowling. It contains the rich mythical factor， the witchcraft fantasy component and the folk cultural factor. It has inherited England traditional culture， fantastic novel and children literature. This essay mainly discuss the reason of Harry Potter regarded with great favor in the west from the perspective of traditional culture of British and Europe. It started from the witchcraft culture and Christian Culture. These two points are expounded the western culture details by means of the analyzing on culture background. Both of them layed the culture foundations for the success of the series. At last，the depiction of the heroism of nobody is in sharp contrast with the traditional heroism， thereby reflected the commendable， which makes people realised to carish the worth of peaceful life.

【Key words】“harry potter”； witchcraft culture

The Embodiment of British Witchcraft Culture in Harry Potter

I.Introduction

In 1997， the British writer， J.K. Rowling， published her first volume of the novel series， "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." In just ten years， she completed all the seven volumes of her fiction， and every year， “Harry Potter” is the top best-selling book in the world. Nowadays， literature has gradually been replaced by a variety of electronic entertainment； therefore， it is such a miracle that people are so willing to buy it. Even some scholars believe that “Harry Porter saved the contemporary literature.” In this essay， the Celtic Witchcraft culture will be discussed in order to explain this point.

II.Witchcraft Cultural Factors

A.Profound background of Witchcraft Culture

In the novel and the movie “Harry Potter” people are attracted by the wizards fighting scene， the magic flying broom and a variety of spirituals animals and plants. In fact， these seemingly mysterious magic all have a profound cultural background. Witchcraft， according to Jean Michel Sallmann in the “Witch - Satan's Lover”， is a religious and mythological context that does not come from prehistoric times beliefs， nor superstition. It is a kind of invisible forces of the world.“1 European witchcraft has a long history.”The Western concept of the witches can be traced back to the ancient Assyrians Babylonians， Hebrews， Greeks and Romans. In ancient Greece and Rome， the witches are in repute by their medical knowledge and 'supernatural ability. In western culture， most of the scholars are firmly believed in demons， magic， astrology and predictions until the medieval time.

However， since the early 16th century， witchcraft panic swept across Europe， the witches was cruelly persecuted by Christians， and thousands of so-called witches were burned into the raging flames. Until 1692， held in Sellers witch trials， 19 witches were put to death - an act that marked the end of the persecution of witches in the United States and Europe. Nevertheless， in such a long historical period， the Witch， witch doctors， alchemy evolved into a culture of folklore. From the first book in the history of European literature， “The Golden Ass”， formally describe the witch magic to the mid-20th century， the “Lord of the Rings”， there are a large number of European literary works are permeated with traces of magic and witchcraft. “It is clear that in the ‘Harry Potter series of novels， the author implies a profound cultural background of the witchcraft environment based on the bold imagination and integration.”

We have seen in the “Harry Potter” magic world， a lot of magical things are not the author's imagination， but disseminated in the deep background of years of European culture. They are lurking in the looming end of the author's pen， but also lurking in the reader's heart， resulting in between the works and the reader a bridge accessible. For example， the first volume “Philosopher's Stone” is a long-term Treasure in Europe developed by the ancient alchemists treasures. The mantra Witches speak in the novel is a kind of language which is real， but later lost the Anglo-Saxon language. Then there is Eris Mirror， and its mirror image is also reflected in the “Snow White”， “Thousand and One Nights，” “Canterbury Tales” and “Alice in Mirror Travels” and other masterpieces.

The magic wand Harry Potter carried can be associated with the ruling stick in J.R.R. Tolkien's masterpiece， “Lord of the Rings” and the German epic poem “Song of Nibelungs”. In addition， the European ancient and mysterious Celtic culture makes the series of novels a strong cultural resonance in the minds of Western readers. Almost all of the Celtic legend of the prehistoric and contemporary Celtic culture can be found in the “Harry Potter”. In the novel， there are a variety of animals and plants， spiritual， representing a natural image of God， such as the “beating willow”. If we look at the Celtic witchcrafts background， we will know that Willow has some special means： it is the shade-loving plants belong to the moon， and it has a property of water； Willow can make instrument stick （wand）， for the treatment of pain； willow grower or owner is expected to get it in return - the Moon God's blessing on them； willow branches， also often used to make witches brooms； willow branches can also be used on water-related magic， such as put out the fire， etc. （Herb Lore Index， Herne， Elspeth and Snip）.

There are so-called “domestic elf” in the book actually refers to the Celtic legend of the “forest fairy” in a fairy race， we usually call it “Brownie，” because they are said to have brown skin. Brownie likes to help people with household and planting. When they sleep in the master's family， they were responsible for looking after the whole house and family. All they receive is just a bowl of cream or a piece of cake. If the owner does not like them， you can send clothes to them， or give them some money for reward. They will know it is time to leave. The “domestic elf” Doby in “Harry Potter” gets his freedom by complying with these age-old precepts. All of these reflect that the work is carried out under the background of witchcraft in Europe， imagination and creativity. No wonder American scholar David Gilbert comments on the “Harry Potter's magic world”： “Miss Rowlings book reading of the enjoyment of the game so that you can find her hidden in the text version of history legends and literary allusions.” It is such fascinating stories behind the works of the profound cultural atmosphere of the European tradition of witchcraft that makes this work deeply rooted in the hearts of readers in Europe and the United States.

B.Old magic world and reviviscence of Witchcraft Culture

In the Latin America literature ，the witchcraft， or magic is strongly affected by the surrealism literature.and derives the inspiration from the Indianswizard thinking. The word magic actually refers to the witchcraft. Therefore， magic realism is the realism under the guidance of the magic thinking.

The magic weapen for breaking the various boundary of reason and unreason， illution and reality， before and after death， the natural and the supernatural is reentering the magic thinking. All those things called fantasy stem from it. Harry Potter is a fantasy novel， a modern fairy tale. Different from other fictioned figures or affairs， J.K.Rowling maked up a magic school named Hogwarts.This school is based on Alawick Castle of Scotland， and the inner is originated from Lacock Abbey，and at the same time， the platform nine and three quarters which brought Harry to the Hogwarts is the real representation of Goathland Station.

When I finished reading the book， I saw all the characters in the novel have been well explained. In the fictional world， individuals can precisely study about what Harry said， learned and played. People feel as if the magic world really exists， only be forgotten by history. A lost culture has revived through Harry Potter. In fact， Rowling believe that the magic world is equal to our actual world. Through ‘magic， the magic world became a metaphor of a real history in the fantastic space-time. Rowling use this ‘magic narrative to express her thinking about Harry Potter. That is because Rowling believe magic is real， is a general revelation of human culture from God. It contains immeasurable turth. Actually， ‘magicapproach stems from myth narrative.

From her view， literature in matter era has gone into a wrong way which is against Humanity. It has lost the ability of telling truth. Only can real ancient unadulterated magic fairy keep in touch with God， and stand a chance to bring truth to the masses of matter ero. Magic is the revelation from God. People know there is truth， but they cannot see it. People can speak those out and produce expectation for lives from God only through the Sub-creation of magic narrative， and stories in everybodys mouth. Rowling believes what she wrote is real not means that they happened before， but means that the existence of God and truth can be proved through the magic narrative Sub-creation. Magic narrative can creat a new possibility of cognition besides the limited expression and understanding. And it leads people pursue an inspiration beyond the physical level. Rowling brought about a space-time equals any myth， a civilization approximate history， a Irish nations own magic world.

Harry Potter is not only the embodiment of J.K.Rowlings remarkable imagination， but also the reactivation of Europes old witchcraft culture. What is witchcraft exactly？ From its genial perspective to describe， it is a exceptional function. From the serious aspect， it is an anti-religious action.

Spiritual court in the Middle Ages was a persecution against witches. During a period of more than a century， millions of females had been thorwn into the fire and burned to death， merely because that there were suspect to be witches. The authorities said that the existence of them had posed a threat to the orthodoxy of the Christian Faith. Today， religion no longer has the mystery like Genesis. The rapid development of modern science and technology makes the fancy reality. Rowling used Harry Potter to narrate the ancient witchcraft culture in a modern context， it to some extent is a kind of rememberance of witchcraft， and it is a criticism against modern civilization.

Where did the supernatural sorcery and wands in Harry Potter come from？ Besides the impregnation of ancient witchcraft， we have to mention the magical socerey form the masterpiece of Tolkien Lord of the Rings and the magic wand from the Nibelungenlied. It is thus clear that the imagination of magic and wand not derives from J.K.Rowling. It is noteworthy that the spells in Harry Potter was once real existed but later lost Anglo-Saxon archaism. Then， Rowlings magic world is like an archaeology on literary. She digged up the the ancient literature culture baried under the history.

Meanwhile， the variety of magic things in Harry Potter are not all dreamed up by J.K.Rowling. In the Anglo-Saxonepic poetry Beowuf， abundant figures and stories like Half-Orcs， huge dragons， Furbolg and warriors killing monsters to seize the treasures have affected Harry Potter not only the spiritual aspect， but also the linguisitic.

Ш. Conclusion

The enlightment that Harry Potter leaves us is complicated and deep. Professor Ye Shuxian had said that Harry Potter is a miracle of the Post-Literature. Its crazing all over the world indicates that the undercurrent of the rebelling modernity has gotten a comprehensive identity.

Anyway， Harry Potter stirs up a huge magic storm. It is the deconstruction and rebel against the market， the science and technology and the rationality of the late capitalist society.

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