This is all fascinating!
I wonder where she falls on the fantasy/occult continuum:
She flies because of her hat I think.... Or maybe the hat just acts as a horizontal stabilizer.
Posted on 11/15/2002 2:23:23 PM PST by RJCogburn
The movie adventures of child-wizard Harry Potter will continue on November 15. Far from being an agent of the occult, as his critics contend, Harry Potter is the kind of hero children should be encouraged to read about and emulate, said the executive director of the Ayn Rand Institute.
"It is true that Harry lives in a magical, fantastical world, but what's important is that he is a hero who wins through intelligence, effort and courage," said Dr. Yaron Brook. "Throughout the series, Harry has developed his talents through hard work and has learned to think for himself, to be honest and to be self-confident. He has friends who share his values and he earns the respect of his teachers. Aren't these the character traits all parents want their children to possess? I know they're qualities I actively try to instill in my two boys."
Dr. Brook said that the critics' focus on the supernatural aspects of the Harry Potter stories is completely non-essential. What is fundamental is the abstract meaning being conveyed during the course of Harry's magical adventures. "The books are, in short, fuel for a child's maturing mind. As vitamins and minerals are essential to a child's healthy physical development, so literature with this view of the world is essential to a child's healthy mental development."
I think we'll just have to agree to disagree. You take a much more literal view of the film than I.
My own personal take on the magic brooms was that one should:
Know and respect one's limitations
Have respect for private property (Did the wizard say Mickey could borrow the hat?)
Not try to shirk honest work
and... Don't mess with powerful things if you don't understand them.
He moved on to the Titanic after that. When he gets into a subject he reads and watches all he can on them. I remember when he was about 5, we were at a blockbuster and he was telling some other customer about a documentary on Lincoln and pointing to the area of the head that the bullet entered!
The customer asked how he knew so much. Easy. The HISTORY channel! lol
Really? - Witches really ride brooms? I thought that was just in cartoons!
I would be, too! (BTW, I'll bet I'm speaking for a lot of FReepers when I say I'm proud of you for raising him right!)
Yep Im frightened of Gore too!
Only in people's imaginations.
Why didn't Harry ride a vacuum cleaner?
LOL!
At the very least the church ought to give a warning about the connotation.
What connotation? That brooms mean witches mean worshiping satan? Should the Vatican warn people about the dangers of owning a black cat? FYI, the broom goes back to pagan times where it was used to sweep away "evil spirits". In modern times, it's used to sweep away evil dust bunnies.
Really lookin forward to that too and considering buying the new Fellowship DVD. Other than going to Harry and LOTR, we haven't done movies. I'm really enjoying this.
But, I tried to pay attention to what his assignments were and when necessary make corrections. Even gave him a couple of my books on Tesla to use for his 5th grade end of year report. Thought maybe the teacher might learn something. Hard to say, since the report had no comments written on it, nor any grade. Can't even say if she read it. That type of teaching somehow seems wrong. Ask kids to do something, then not even acknowledge it in any way??
Middle school teachers seem to be more like the teachers we all grew up with, so am hoping for the best. Time will tell, and I still pay attention to what is being taught.
This is all fascinating!
I wonder where she falls on the fantasy/occult continuum:
She flies because of her hat I think.... Or maybe the hat just acts as a horizontal stabilizer.
First of all, the Mickey Mouse segment, of Fantasia, is a famous piece of music titled : THE SORCEROR'S APPRENTICE " . What would you have the animation be about ; ducks laying eggs, farmers mowing hay, and / or Jesus Christ turning wine into water ?
Mickey uses a broom, because he is on cleanup duty, it's supposed to take place at a time, when there was NO vacuum cleaners. :-)
Witches and " flying " brooms made their way into mythic history, because the prients, of the Inquisition, tortured people ( mostly old women, but not solely old, nor women ), until they confessed to exactly what the set questions, that had been put to them, called for. " Witches " were supposedly able to fly, because some of the people , accused of witchcraft smeared their bodies with " FLYING OINTMENTS ". These were made of aninal fats, herbs, and something or other, that is now thought to have been an hallucinagetic. THEY IMAGINED THINGS, WHEN UNDER THE CHEMICAL STUPOR INDUCED.
What some people , on this thread, might consider to be " witchcraft ", isn't. People use only about 10 % of their brain. Some people's brains ( without whorshipping the devil, being a witch, or anyother such silly thing ! ) have ESP. If anything, THAT COMES FROM GOD !Prcognition, and the like, is also a brain function, which has NOTHING at all to do with " evil " or Satan ! Much of what was once called " witchcraft ", isn't. Many of the supposed " witches " , of yesteryear, were just old, cranky women, someone, that someone else didn't like, wanted their wealth / land , had an old grudge against.
Today, anyone can call themselves a witch, and some people do. Witch is an old word, that translates in " wise ". Throwing salt over one's shoulder, saying " GOD BLESS YOU " , when someone sneezes, and a vast aray of oldwives tales / folklore / superstitions, which Christians still hold to, come from the earliest of pagan times. Does THAT make them " witches " ?
" HARRY POTTER " is fiction.The books and movies are fantasy ! If one were to keep everything away from children ( and themselves ), which contained any refference, whatsoever, to witches, witchcraft, brooms, black cats , etc., they would have to exclude The Bible ; not to mention a panaply of some of the world's best literature. That is a " good " thing ?
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