Last week I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the theatre. I feel that this is the best of the movies they have made so far. The really managed to distill the book in the a 2 hour movie well and far better than the previous books. It was in discussing this ‘chapter’ of Harry’s life with my spouse, Tarra, that I gained a new respect for the book.
Warning – This contains spoilers
I always felt that this was the book that didn’t need to exist and argued this point regularly. Throughout the book Harry is lead on his journey to find the room of Prophesies. He finds his prophesy and it is destroyed before he can hear it. Just when we think all is lost Dumbledore says, ‘Don’t worry I remember it and can tell you’. Well I thought if that’s the case then why this whole book. it could have been thirty pages long just the last few chapters of all of the info we get. However Tarra said, but that’s not what the book is about. It’s about the shadow and what happens when we refuse to face it.
The obvious example of this is Fudge, Minister for Magic, who refuses to believe Harry and Dumbledore when they say that Voldemort is back. He does every thing in his power to make it not true and as a result gives Voldemort a very strong foothold with no resistance. And when we don’t deal with the shadow it takes over much like the ministry did at Hogwarts. But the piece of the shadow I missed was Dumbledore’s. Dumbledore did not want to make Harry’s life any harder than it had been and tried to keep the prophesy from him. Dumbledore ignored his own shadow. As a result people died and Harry and several of his friends were put in danger because Dumbledore wouldn’t deal with his shadow.
So what can we take from this story on our own journey. Well, for me, I don’t have these massive dark forces trying to kill me or the rest of the world, at least not so obviously as an evil wizard, but I do have my own shadow. When I ignore my shadow side or try to pretend it doesn’t exist, or don’t look at it because it I think it might cause loved ones in my life pain it invariably causes more pain and has greater consequences.
I try to remember that my shadow side has many lessons for me to learn and if I look at it in manageable doses in a safe environment I’m able to get these messages with smaller consequences and limited pain, if any. Something also to note is that when you shine a light on a shadow it disappears and has no power, but when we turn our back on the shadow it has tremendous power over us. The situation is definitely a ‘damned if you don’t', but not a ‘damned if you do’. If you face the shadow, with all the courage it takes and believe me it takes great courage to face it, you can get the lessons you need and become stronger for it.
I hope that this was not to didactic as it’s how I think and feel about this topic although sometimes it scares the hell out of me.
Walk in peace,
Warrior Jevon: In-Service
