Well, once upon a time (last Thursday, to be exact), I was dozing off in my Global Studies class, as my teacher talked about the ancient Hindu civilization. Then, we got a handout about chakras and, suddenly, I was wide awake. There were seven of them, and each one represented something. My mind immediately went to Harry Potter.

A little background on chakras: they are these symbols representing different points on the body. After looking at the description for each one, I realized that they can be used to represent the books. From this kind of analyzation, I believe a conclusion can be gleaned for Book 7. Upon further thought, I realized that they can also be used to represent the seven soul-bits of Lord Voldemort, though the comparisons for that are a lot less compelling, and I will probably discuss them in another editorial.

1. Book 1-SorcererÂ’s Stone
Chakra One: Earth, Physical identity, oriented to self-preservation
Located at the base of the spine, this chakra forms our foundation. This chakra represents the element earth, and is therefore related to our survival instincts, and to our sense of grounding and connection to our bodies and the physical plane. Ideally this chakra brings us health, prosperity, security, and dynamic presence.

The first thing to notice here is that these chakras don’t represent the plot, but more of the characters’, mainly the Trio’s, attitudes and experiences. Firstly, this chakra relates “to our survival instincts” (quotings from the descriptions will be in italics to avoid confusion). Clearly, Harry begins to do some major surviving in this book (though he does a lot of it in every book). He survives the attack from Voldemort at Godric’s Hollow. Then, he, Ron, and Hermione survive Fluffy (giant three-headed dogs are pretty fatal when not lulled to sleep), and Devil’s Snare (it would have choked them). Then Ron survives being clubbed by the chess queen. Harry and Hermione also survived the chess match, with neither of them being taken.

After that, Harry and Hermione survive Snape’s riddle (SS pg. 285-286). If they had guessed incorrectly, it could have been fatal (“Three of us are killers”). Then, Harry (barely) survives the whole ordeal with Quirrell-mort, which is a miracle in itself. And who can forget the mountain troll that Harry, Ron, and Hermione survive, by “sheer dumb luck” as McGonagall puts it in the SS movie. After all, they manage to survive after only two months of magical education.

The next interesting thing to note, which I think is the best connection between this book and chakra, is that this chakra relates to “our sense of grounding and connection to our bodies and the physical plane”. This immediately connects to the Mirror of Erised. The Mirror of Erised shows us our heart’s desire, but it does not show us anything physical. To quote Dumbledore, “this mirror gives us neither knowledge or truth.” (SS pg. 213) Harry learns not to dwell on dreams, but to focus on reality and the physical plane.

Lastly, this chakra “brings us …, prosperity, security…” This is true. This book brings Harry prosperity. The Dursleys never gave him any money. Now, he finds out that he has a vault full of wizard’s gold. Harry also finally feels secure at Hogwarts, with his new friends. As you can see, there is a lot connecting the chakras to the books. And since these descriptions are probably not as detailed as some others, and I’m the only one making connections, there are probably many more connections that could be made.

2. Book 2-Chamber of Secrets
Chakra Two: Water, Emotional identity, oriented to self-gratification
The second chakra, located in the abdomen, lower back, and sexual organs, is related to the element water, and to emotions and sexuality. It connects us to others through feeling, desire, sensation, and movement. Ideally this chakra brings us fluidity and grace, depth of feeling, sexual fulfillment, and the ability to accept change.

Well, the first thing that popped out at me was that this chakra represents the water element. The Slytherin House is often said to represent the element of water. Slytherin House would definitely be one of the major points in this book. This book is all about Slytherin: the heir of Slytherin, SlytherinÂ’s Chamber, SlytherinÂ’s monster, and so forth. This book is where we find out that Lord Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin, which comes into play later on in HBP.

The next thing to notice is “fluidity and grace”. What image comes to mind? A snake. That basilisk would definitely have to have fluidity and gracefulness to be able to travel in pipes. Not to mention that this is the book where Parseltongue comes into play. Also worth noting is the part about “movement”. The irony here is that this is the book when people get Petrified, including Hermione.

The next connection is “emotions and sexuality… feeling, desire…” Many of you are probably thinking that I got the wrong book. All of that stuff is mainly from GoF on. However, CoS is the book that first starts introducing sexuality. Think about it—were there any mentions at all in SS of love, crushes, and things like that? No. In CoS, we have Lockhart, who introduces us to all those things, with Mrs. Weasley and Hermione. Also, we see Ginny’s crush on Harry. So CoS is the book that begins the sexuality.

3. Book 3-Prisoner of Azkaban
Chakra Three: Fire, Ego identity, oriented to self-definition
This chakra is known as the power chakra, located in the solar plexus. This Chakra rules our personal power, will, and autonomy, as well as our metabolism. When healthy, this chakra brings us energy, effectiveness, spontaneity, and non-dominating power.

This chakra actually seems to be much more about Hermione than about Harry or the other characters. This one is all about power, and Hermione definitely shows that she has plenty in this book. “personal power, will… spontaneity, and non-dominating power” all seem to apply to Hermione. She shows a lot of will and spontaneity in walking out on Professor Trelawney. Let’s be honest—how many of us expected that the first time we read the book (the shock probably wore off after about twenty rereads, but still)? I was definitely taken by surprise. Hermione always had the utmost respect for teachers (“Honestly, Hermione, you think all the teachers are saints or something” –Ron from SS), and she made absolutely sure to be in every class she could be—and now she walks out of Divination, out of the blue? Spontaneity indeed.

But this example pales in comparison with the event just before that: HermioneÂ’s smacking Malfoy. This is actually the only scene the PoA movie did justice to (in my opinion, the PoA movie was one of the greatest catastrophes of our time), and itÂ’s a favorite scene of mine. If there were hints of HermioneÂ’s growing lack of patience with Trelawney and Divination in general, this was completely out of the blue. WeÂ’ve seen Ron, Harry, or both of them attempt to attack Malfoy on numerous occasions, but never Hermione. SheÂ’s usually the one holding the two boys back. So this behavior came as a total shock (the really good kind). This definitely illustrates HermioneÂ’s spontaneity as well as power.

However, Hermione isn’t the only one making impressive displays of power in this book. Hermione says in SS on page 207, “Harry—you’re a great wizard, you know.” PoA is where we finally begin to see proof of that. Sure he’s an excellent flier, but that doesn’t count as wizardry. Sure he survived Quirrell-mort, but that was due to his mother’s love, not his prowess as a wizard. His Parseltongue is just a skill he got from Voldemort. He defeated the basilisk by strength, not wizarding skill. While not trying to discredit Harry in any way, because Merlin knows that boy’s been through a lot, we don’t really see any of his extraordinary wizarding talent until the third book. In PoA, at thirteen years old, Harry manages to produce a corporeal Patronus. To quote Lupin, Hermione, and Madam Bones, “that’s very, very advanced magic” (PoA pg. 237, 241, 406, 412, OotP pg. 141). A Patronus to drive away a hundred Dementors, I doubt many adult wizards or witches could do that. In PoA Harry starts showing his true power.

4. Book 4-Goblet of Fire
Chakra Four: Air, Social identity, oriented to self-acceptance
This chakra is called the heart chakra and is the middle chakra in a system of seven. It is related to love and is the integrator of opposites in the psyche: mind and body, male and female, persona and shadow, ego and unity. A healthy fourth chakra allows us to love deeply, feel compassion, have a deep sense of peace and centeredness.

Well, to begin, this chakra is related to love. And indeed, this is the book when RonÂ’s and HermioneÂ’s feelings for each other really start to develop. In CoS, it was all about school-girl crushes on Lockhart; and in PoA they were too busy arguing over cats, rats, and brooms. In this book it really gets serious. I could sit here and type up half of chapters twenty-two and twenty-three as evidence, but this will have to suffice:

But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light. “Hermione, Neville’s right — you are a girl…”
(GoF pg. 400)

Fleur smiled at him [Ron]; Hermione scowled.
(GoF pg. 724)

These two quotes clearly reveal that Ron and Hermione start to develop true feeling for each other in this book (Have mercy, H/Hr shippers!!!). They are not the only ones. Harry’s feelings for Cho really become pronounced in this book (“Harry tried not to watch Cho and Cedric too much; it gave him a strong desire to kick something.” –GoF pg. 430). In addition, after taking somewhat of a backseat in PoA, Ginny is brought in again, and her crush on Harry is even more pronounced, as evidenced by this quote:

“I asked her [Cho] to go with me just now,” Harry said dully, “and she told me.” Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling.
(GoF pg. 399)

Now we can address the part of “feel compassion”. That’s what the second task was about. Ron and Hermione berated Harry for trying to save the other hostages, though the judges thought this showed “moral fiber” (GoF pg. 507). Harry had a lot of compassion for others, which led him to try to save the other hostages as well.

5. Book 5-Order of the Phoenix
Chakra Five: Sound, Creative identity, oriented to self-expression This chakra is located in the throat and is thus related to communication and creativity. Here we experience the world symbolically through vibration, such as the vibration of sound representing language.

This chakra mostly describes communication, sound, and self-expression. Most of these can be attributed to Harry’s anger issues. Harry lets out his anger by expressing himself in a verbal (and very loud) way, mostly to his friends (read OotP pg. 65, 66—more than half of it is in caps lock). While many people found this annoying, I found it rather admirable that all he did was yell. He didn’t go on a murdering rampage (like some Dark Lords we know), and he didn’t even try to hex anyone. Let’s face it, Harry’s only human, and he’s been through more than we can imagine.

While Harry communicates his frustration at Ron and Hermione, Hermione tries to communicate her sympathy to Harry (OotP pg. 64-67, 222, 223, 237). Ron tries as well, but to a much lesser and much less successful extent than Hermione. Ron is too afraid of HarryÂ’s temper, while Hermione desperately tries to curb it.

The other interesting part in this rather short description is the part about “creativity”. This book is where Hermione starts showing her creative nature. She came up with the brilliant method of using murtlap essence to heal Harry’s hand. She then has another even more brilliant idea, in the same chapter, to form the DA. None of them had thought of it. If it weren’t for the DA, Harry would be in quite a fix. He wouldn’t know a bunch of spells, and he wouldn’t have several very valuable allies. The most notable of these allies are Neville, Luna, and Ginny. And he owes it all to Hermione.

Then, Hermione has another brilliant idea. Putting a Protean Charm on Galleons to arrange DA meetings was pure brilliance—even Draco likes it enough to use it in HBP. If it weren’t for those Galleons, Umbridge probably would have caught on to the DA much quicker.

And, of course, who can forget the interview. One of Hermione’s most brilliant ideas to date. Organizing that interview was pure genius. She utilized her resources in a creative way—blackmailing Rita Skeeter and using Luna’s father’s magazine—to achieve was she needed shows true creativity indeed.

But Hermione isnÂ’t the only creative one. Fred and GeorgeÂ’s creativity seems to know no bounds. From the Extendable Ears, to the Skiving Snackboxes, to the Headless Hats, to the Weasley Wildfire Whiz-Bangs, and to the portable swamps, it seems their creativity is limitless. Even Hermione acknowledges that it was very impressive magic.

6. Book 6-Half-Blood Prince
Chakra Six: Light, Archetypal identity, oriented to self-reflection This chakra is known as the brow chakra or third eye center. It is related to the act of seeing, both physically and intuitively. As such it opens our psychic faculties and our understanding of archetypal levels. When healthy, it allows us to see clearly, in effect, “letting us see the big picture.”

This chakra perfectly represents what we see on the cover of HBP (US edition): Harry’s lessons with the Pensieve. This chakra is all about sight: “related to the act of seeing… ‘letting us see the big picture.’ ” Harry finally “sees” why Voldemort is the psycho murderer that he is. Harry also sees how Voldemort became the way he is. Most importantly of all, Harry sees what he has to do: destroy the Horcruxes. Harry finally sees the big picture: that Voldemort has four remaining Horcruxes left that he, Harry, must destroy, and then vanquish Voldemort himself.

However, the Pensieve isnÂ’t the only way Harry starts seeing things. Firstly, he finally sees the good in Malfoy. The first time is when he catches Malfoy crying. Indeed, this is quite different from the arrogant, emotionless Malfoy weÂ’ve come to know and despise (forgive me fangirls!!!). Towards the end, Harry even feels pity for Malfoy. This kind of emotion is a big change from less than two years previously, where it says,

“Harry wouldn’t have let his worst enemy face those monsters [dragons] unprepared – well, perhaps Malfoy or Snape…”
(GoF pg. 341)

Harry isn’t the only one who finally opens his eyes in HBP. The whole wizarding world does. Before the last few chapters of Book 5, Harry was “this deluded, attention-seeking person” (OotP pg. 74), and now he’s asked multiple times to be the Ministry’s poster boy. The wizarding world has finally opened their eyes.

7. Book 7-Deathly Hallows
Chakra Seven: Thought, Universal identity, oriented to self-knowledge This is the crown chakra that relates to consciousness as pure awareness. It is our connection to the greater world beyond, to a timeless, spaceless place of all-knowing. When developed, this chakra brings us knowledge, wisdom, understanding, spiritual connection, and bliss.

Well, you say, these comparisons have been fun and all, but whatÂ’s the point? Well, we finally got to it. I was trying to prove that the comparisons between the chakras and the HP books are there. Now that I have (hopefully) convinced you, letÂ’s get to our final destination. I believe we could use this chakra description to predict what happens in Book 7.

Just hear me out (you’ve put up with me for this long, for which I’m truly grateful). Most of this description seems to point to one thing: Harry is going to die!!! Believe me, I don’t want that to happen anymore than you do, and before I started this editorial, I was a strong proponent of a happy ending. But to use Dumbledore’s words from the upcoming OotP movie, “The evidence of [Harry’s death in Book 7] is incontrovertible!”

The part that reveals this most clearly is “the greater world beyond.” Harry will, unfortunately, go beyond the Veil. I don’t want to believe it anymore than you, but this seems to be the most logical interpretation. And I wouldn’t put it past Jo to hide clues like these in chakra descriptions—after all, I’ve read every editorial here since the release of Book 5, and there wasn’t a single one about this.

One last interesting thing to note is how the chakras relate to the length of the books. The first chakra has four petals, the second six, the third ten, the fourth twelve, and the fifth has sixteen. The number of petals increases with each one, just as each book was longer than the previous. Chakra six is the one to break that pattern, having only two petals. Likewise, HBP was the book to break the pattern, being shorter than GoF and OotP. However, chakra seven is the thousand-petal lotus. Hopefully, this means that Book 7 will be phenomenally longer than all of the previous books! However, I think this unfortunately is much more likely to be a coincidence. This is my editorial debut, and I hope you guys liked it!

Note: All quotes from the Books are from the US paperback editions, and the chakra descriptions are from www.SacredCenters.com. The link leads to the pictures of each chakra blossom.

6/12/07

Posted by: Rachael