29 July,2009 10:18 AM IST | | DEEPTA ROY CHAKRAVERTI
I have always had a soft corner for Harry Potter. I find in him, a bit of Deepta-the witch. Harry has remained true to many of our old time Wiccan symbols and in doing so, has kept to a touch of Wiccan reality.
Harry's broom is just one such instance. Witches through the ages have been associated with the broom. What is not too well known is that the broom was a symbol of emancipation for the woman who was tied down to the home and hearth. Do I have a broom? Don't ask me for too many secrets.
Harry's magical wand has a very Wiccan name. We call it the Athame. In the old days it was made of wood but some forms have a combination of metal and wood. My own Athame is like a long blunt knife with a steel length and wooden handle. At times when there is atmospheric charge such as the recent high tides the Athame proves a perfect receptor.
I remember seeing Harry use the cape for invisibility in one of the films. Perhaps the very inscrutability which Wicca talks of bore best cinematic translation in form of invisibility.
The common Wiccan thread which the Harry Potter series seems to have picked up on is the most vital one. The possibility of magic the power of the mind. For, as Crowley believed, the chief rule of Magick was to let the will and power of the imagination work.
The only bone of contention I have is the main character being a boy. Wicca has had many male practitioners, but the real domain has remained with women. Being a feminist, the women-in-charge aspect has always appealed to me. But to be true to the craft, I have to admit, that Wicca summons regardless of age or gender.
This is one of Wicca's basic truths you cannot choose Wicca, Wicca chooses you.u00a0 And so, Harry, I may wish now and then in my feminist way that you were Harriet instead, but in reality, see you at the next Sabbath.
(Deepta is a Wiccan by choice and by birth)
