Indiana Jones and the Archaeology of Popular Culture

Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite movies of all time.  Really, I like all four of the Indiana Jones films quite a bit, and there is a great deal of content in each of them to consider. But Raiders, I was eight years old when it came out.  It blew my young mind and topped The Empire Strikes Back as my favorite movie of my life to that point.  Thirty-two years later, in my secret heart of hearts, it sits there still, despite weightier and more artistic (I suppose) films to consider.  This is a fact I am realizing properly as I type this.  This is not a detailed analysis or breakdown of anything Indiana Jones, like I'm doing with Harry Potter for example.  Maybe sometime I will dissect these movies in that manner, I don't know.  But there are a few facets about the series that I've been considering in recent days that spurred me to write this essay.

Hey, lady!  You call him Doctor Jones!

Let's start by recognizing Professor Jones as a faculty member of the Invisible College, a trope I began utilizing in my Doctoring Art Gotic series.  He even works at an imaginary college, two of them actually, Marshall College in Raiders and Crystal Skull, and Barnett College in Last Crusade.  Indiana Jones is one of those few fictional characters who could have an astrological natal chart drawn, as his birthday has been established as July 1st, 1899.  To keep things simple, this makes his sun sign Cancer.  Why is this of interest?  Because astrology is a symbol system (an ancient one), and this lies beneath the surface of the overt Indiana Jones character.  And that's what Inside the Cosmic Cube is all about. As a Cancer we should expect Indiana Jones to be moody, secretive, strong willed, tradition-loving, sensitive, protective, maternal, brooding, intuitive, sentimental, possessive, and romantic.  Hmm.  Not bad considering this is likely accidental.

Later in this article I plan to address the controversial Fridge event from Crystal Skull.  The thing about this controversy that strikes me as so amusing, however, is how surviving a nuclear blast, by any means, is far from the most incredulous event of the fictional life of Indiana Jones.  Accounting in the additional, though canonized (if such frankly arbitrary authorization is important to you), biography of Indiana Jones, he has had encounters or personal relationships with T.E. Lawrence, Howard Carter, Theodore Roosevelt, Norman Rockwell, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, George Braque, Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, Leo Tolstoy, Annie Besant, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Pancho Villa, George Patton, Charles de Gaulle, Mata Hari, Albert Schweitzer, Ernest Hemingway, Eliot Ness (Indy's college roommate), George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Amelia Earhart, just to name a few.  He also survived the sinking of the Titanic.  All of this is largely due to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles exploration of early twentieth century history as mythology.  And if it is mythology of any sort, then in the reality of Indiana Jones, it is always, always true.

Even if you just concentrate on the four films, in the world of Indiana Jones, there is certain and demonstrable truth in the theologies of Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism.  And also extraterrestrials.  And it can be shown via Easter eggs that the world of Indiana Jones is the same as that of Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and E.T.  Which is nothing compared to what took place in Tommy Westphall's head, but I digress.

E.T.'s race as part of the Galactic Senate in The Phantom Menace

Indiana Jones at the pod races on Tatooine in The Phantom Menace (climbing the stairs)

In addition, through novels, comic books, video games and other sources, Indiana Jones has been personally involved in adventures involving the Shield of Perseus and the Eye of Fates, zombies, the Golden Fleece, Noah's Ark, unicorns, the Hollow Earth, the Philosopher's Stone (on three separate occasions), the Tomb of Hermes, living dinosaurs, big foot, a frozen dragon, Ultima Thule, the Staff of Aaron, El Dorado (lots of El Dorado business), Dracula, Atlantis, a Nail from the Crucifixion, the Spear of Destiny, King Arthur and Merlin, and an inter-dimensional gateway at Stonehenge (but nothing ever with the Loch Ness Monster, that would be ridiculous).  He also has been described as the reincarnation of Marco Polo.  By a descendent of Genghis Khan. 

Everyone's lost but me!

Unarguably Indiana Jones is a hero.  But is he the hero in Raiders of the Lost Ark?  I ask because in Season 7, Episode 4 of The Big Bang Theory, The Raiders Minimization, the male characters of the show are all dismayed when Amy Farrah Fowler points out that the events of the movie would have played out exactly the same if Indiana Jones had not been in the movie at all.  This is very true.

But the response to this that Sheldon and company could not come up with is the simple fact that Indiana Jones might be the protagonist of Raiders of the Lost Ark, he is the character whom we follow and primarily identify with, but he isn't the hero.  For one thing, his name is not in the movie's title (despite reissues that add it in).  For another, he's wrong.  The Ark should not be in a museum.  It is too powerful, too dangerous and too important for that.  Amusingly, Indy seems to hold on to his view point on this even after the Ark melts the faces off of dozens of Nazis just for opening it.  Notice that the films that do feature his name in the title, the other three, do depend on his presence and his heroic activity.  So who is the true hero of Raiders of the Lost Ark?  That should be obvious.

Can the Ark of the Covenant be considered a character?  It is the essential character of the film.  Is it intelligent?  It contains the Word of God.  It is more intelligent than humanly conceptual.  Does it have willpower of its own?  Yes it does, the Will of God, and it uses human agents to enact this Will.  Indiana Jones, Belloq, the Nazis, the government agents, the Pharaoh Shishak, all are ultimately tools of the Ark.  Their job, essentially, is to do what Indy and Sallah are doing in the image above.  Move the thing from place to place.

It is the will of the Ark of the Covenant to be hidden, protected, and undisturbed.  This is why it gets itself moved to the Well of Souls in Tanis.  To be lost.  To protect its secrets.  And this works very well for 3,000 years.  The Staff of Ra plainly states that the Ark is not to be disturbed.  Yet it also has instructions for finding the Ark.  Why?  So that when the time comes the Ark can be located and then relocated to a safer location.   The Well of Souls is a highly secure resting place up to 1936 when technology and sociopolitical forces make it vulnerable.  It is much safer, ultimately, in the warehouse of Hanger 51, protected by cold science and bureaucracy.

But safer for who?  Not the Ark itself.  Despite what Hitler might believe, this vehicle of God's word can not be appropriated as a tool of evil.  Note how it burns the swastika off the crate containing it on the submarine.  It is for the safety of mortal women and men that the Ark hides itself.  Direct contact with this "transmitter," this "radio for speaking with God" is lethal.  When the Ark is opened, contrary to its Will, what protects Indy and Marion?  Not looking upon it.  Respecting its secrets.  Resisting human curiosity.  Everyone else gets melted, ignited or vaporized.  And still, Indiana Jones wants to put the thing in a museum.

It's a leap of faith.

Now let's look a bit closer at the Nuking the Fridge incident.  As stated, it doesn't bother me in the least.  Maybe it's a steady diet of super hero comic books that does that.  It's far from the most incredulous act in a work of fiction that I've ever swallowed.  The Indiana Jones films emulate cliff-hanger style movie serials.  That's another reason why Indy has no great influence in Raiders other than keeping himself and Marion alive.  His story is a series of perilous events which he miraculously survives only to fall once again into peril.  Using the lead lined fridge to survive the atomic blast was, for my money, clever and fun.  I know I'm in the minority.  But why is it okay for Indy to have stowed away on the outside of a submarine in Raiders?  Perhaps that bend of reality is more acceptable because it takes place much more quietly.

Indiana Jones can survive a nuclear blast through a means that is much, much more incredulous.  Indiana Jones is immortal.  Because Indiana Jones drank from the Cup of Christ.

I admit, any claim regarding the immortality of Indiana Jones is contentious at best, with the majority of people fully swallowing the exoteric limitations laid out in the film.  But let's be honest, these restrictions are very vague and rather arbitrary. I'm not even close to being traditionally religious.  I am not a Christian.  But limiting the life giving power of the Holy Grail strikes me as wrong-minded.

The Grail Knight states that not passing the seal is the price of immortality.  That's a means of keeping the Grail hidden, just as the Ark wants to remain hidden. And it doesn't pass the seal anyway.  The earth opens up and swallows it instead.  Does the immortal Grail Knight die?  We don't see him die.  But Henry Jones Senior also drank from the Grail, and in Crystal Skull he's dead, right?  Maybe.  We don't see him die. Maybe Indy, and everyone else, only think he's dead. 

When asked at the end of Last Crusade what he found, Henry Jones Sr. answers "Illumination."  It is very often the case that, symbolically, illumination and immortality are the same thing. Usually the substitution goes the other way.  For example, the immortality of the Philosopher's Stone represents a state of spiritual enlightenment.  An illumination. 

I don't think Indiana Jones can die.  We haven't seen him die.  Honestly, it feels a little sinful to think of any scenario where he does die.  If The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is to be believed, he lives at least into the early 1990s, almost a hundred years old.  Maybe he continues his improbable adventures forever. 

 

Keep in mind, through nerdish debate, that these are works of fiction, rife with symbolic content.  I fully believe confusion over the illuminating/immortality granting abilities of the Holy Grail are meant to be buried so that they can be dug up by the curious.

 

Okay, don't forget, Michaelson chapters four and five for next time, and I will be in my office Thursday, but not Wednesday.

Illuminating Harry Potter II: Book of Secrets

Illuminating Harry Potter I: Romancing the Stone

Before continuing the examination of the hidden symbolism of the Harry Potter books I am going to emphasize the Spoiler Alert! If you continue reading this article you should have read all seven of the novels or don't care about knowing what will happen before you read the books or see the movies. Also, if you haven't read the analysis of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, you should before proceeding with this one, where I analyze book two, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Again, the primary focus is going to be on the covers and chapter art of the American editions, provided by Mary GrandPré. All the art in this article is by GrandPré unless otherwise noted.

Part of the genius of the Harry Potter saga is the way each year's narrative matures with the young protagonists and the readers. This seems to be the case with the illustrations as well, though that is at least partly the natural development one would see with any artist's work over a period of many years.  Book two details Harry's second year at Hogwarts.  Hogwarts is as clear a presentation of an "Invisible College" as you could hope to ever find. Considering the associations between the concept of an Invisible College and the philosopher Francis Bacon, "Hogwarts" is a very interesting name for the school. Bacon is said to have used the pig and its image as a symbol representing himself, and his family seal featured a pig. Also, while Rowling has stated that she did not consciously name Hogwarts after the plant hogwort, the connotation of a Baconian institution that lives and grows over time is artful and sophisticated.  Even if done so accidentally.

When we look at Mary GrandPré's cover for Chamber of Secrets we see many of the emblems already familiar to us from book one, namely twin columns flanking an arched doorway, serpents, and a checkerboard floor. We also have a Torch of illumination. J.E. Cirlot calls the Torch a symbol of purification and an emblem of the truth. In An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, J.C. Cooper points out how the Torch combines the masculine symbol of fire and the feminine symbol of wood, and how it confers spiritual illumination, intelligence, and immortality.  Torches are emblematic of many, many legendary gods and heroes.  Particularly ones whose ancient Mystery Rites were held in dark caverns or secretive chambers. Torches are solar symbols. Harry and the phoenix are both solar symbols as well, and this continues throughout the series to be the of the utmost importance.  The Hero's Journey is a Solar Allegory.

 GrandPré's image of the phoenix Fawkes is an aesthetic blending of several types of birds, with the predominant effect on my eye being a scarlet peacock or a heron. Hans Biedermann describes the Phoenix as being heron-like as it evolved from legends of the Egyptian Bennu bird.  As with the Owl, the Phoenix can be suggestive of the Language of the Birds (which you may recall was a detail of vital importance to the end events of The Hobbit).  The film version of Fawkes is much more eagle like.

Cirlot describes the Phoenix as eagle-sized with certain features of the pheasant. Both symbolists discuss how phoenix-like myths are found in cultures throughout history and around the world, in every case representing rebirth and the sun. Cooper agrees on the solar aspect but also notes the lunar nature of the Phoenix's mutability, which is interesting in combination with Dumbledore and his office, as we'll see later.  In The Complete Dictionary of Symbols, Jack Tresidder describes the Phoenix as representing the victory of the human spirit over various trials.  All the symbolist works I consult note the alchemical meanings of the Phoenix, Biedermann associating it with the process of creating the Philosopher's Stone, and Cirlot referring to "the regeneration of universal life and to the successful completion of a process." Both are saying essentially the same thing.

Fawkes then can be viewed as representative of the end point of Harry Potter's continuing initiation process. We see this visually on the cover by following the invisible lines suggested by Harry's red cape and the floating red feather, which meet close to Fawkes' head. This all works well with the fact that Fawkes is Dumbledore's familiar. Interesting that later in the series the titles "Order of the Phoenix" and "Dumbledore's Army" mean the same thing. Looking again at that singular feather, Cirlot describes the Feather apart from the bird as representing the element of air, which reminds me once again of book one's feather levitation lesson. More interesting perhaps is that a Feather is also a quill, an essential writing implement. The second book of the Harry Potter series is largely about writing, books, the knowledge they contain and the lies that they can tell.

The cover illustration more directly represents a moment in the text than what we saw for book one. Fawkes carries Harry, Ron and Ginny Weasley out of the Chamber of Secrets following the slaying of the basilisk (more on momentarily) and the freeing of Ginny from the spell of Tom Marvolo Riddle/Voldemort. That's Godric Gryffindor's Sword on Harry's belt, which I will discuss later in this article. Despite this GrandPré still makes choices that seem to be based on esoteric symbolism. The basilisk at this moment is dead, but we see the tail of the serpentine creature holding aloft a torch at the far left edge of the cover illustration, the serpent as bearer of Promethean illumination.

The Basilisk is the other major feature of this cover, and a vital symbolic element of the novel. It is an extension of the symbolism of the Monster and the Serpent, both discussed in part one of this series. The "King of Serpents," its name derives from the Greek for "little king". In Chamber of Secrets, Rowling essentially presents the Basilisk as the opposite of the Phoenix, death versus life, chthonic versus aerial, base versus elevated. Hildegard of Bingen described the creation of a Basilisk as: "A toad, feeling herself pregnant, saw a serpent's egg, sat upon it to hatch it, until her young were born. They died, but she continued to sit upon the serpent's egg, until life began to stir within it, which was immediately influenced by the power of the serpent of Eden... The young slipped out, then suddenly let out a blast of breath like fire... [It] kills everything that comes near." This is very near to the description of the Basilisk that Hermione finds in the Hogwart's library shortly before she is paralyzed by the creature: " - is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad."

It is interesting to see that Dumbledore model Leonardo daVinci's Bestiary repeats the account of Pliny the Elder that the Basilisk is vulnerable to weasels (likely derived from accounts of cobra slaying mongooses), given the role Ginny Weasley plays in this novel. More on Ginny Weasley later.  More on da Vinci as well.  Tresidder considers the Basilisk as a personification of human sins such as lust.  Cooper directly relates the Basilisk the Antichrist. 

Before moving on to the interior art I just want to point out the black cat in the arched window which seems to be a matter entirely of Mary GrandPré's whim (unless it is meant to be Mrs. Norris, who is not a black cat and who was paralyzed during the events depicted on the cover). It could be meant as an easy means to communicate the witchcraft aspect of the story as it is still so early in the series. Symbolically Cats can act as guardians of the underworld/otherworld. Notice this stands against the only indication of outside, the starry night sky. Keeping in mind the prominent solar symbolism throughout the series, and the frequent allusions to Egyptian mythology, note that a Basilisk is rarely depicted as being as large a creature as Rowling chose to make her King of Serpents. This seemingly purposeless cat could be referencing Ra, in the form of a cat, slaying the world encircling serpent Apep.

After all, that is pretty much the sum of the battle that takes between Harry and the basilisk inside the Chamber of Secrets.

We see many of the major elements from the cover in the illustration for the title page, the Torch, Feather, Serpents, this time with the arch of the doorway repeated between the columns. The snakes twined around the columns seems particularly caduceus-like. The additional component here is the Spider. The Spider is another initiation symbol related via Arachne to Ariadne from the myth of Theseus, the minotaur and the labyrinth. More on spiders, big spiders, later.

Chapter One: The Worst Birthday

In Chapter One Harry is having a horrible summer with the Dursleys, eagerly awaiting the return of the school year (note the reversal of Harry from normal children), and wondering if his experiences of the year before were all a dream as he has had no correspondence with any of his friends from Hogwarts. The story begins on Harry's twelfth birthday, which his aunt and uncle have forgotten. Twelve is an important number in this book.  All of the Dursleys' attention is on a dinner party that evening with potential customers of Grunnings, the drilling company Uncle Vernon works for. These guests the Dursleys are so eager to impress are named the Masons. While this is an understandable pun name for a character who works in construction, I can not imagine Rowling could be unaware of the occult significance of the word Masons.

The moment illustrated for the chapter is Harry sensing he is being watched by someone in the bushes. They are the eyes of Dobby the House-Elf. Dobby is also the subject of GrandPré's illustration for chapter two.

Chapter Two: Dobby's Warning

The introduction of the House-Elves in book two have been described as the Rowling presenting the first cracks in the seeming ideality of the wizarding world. These are not elves of the Tolkien variety. They are much more akin to Santa's Little Helpers. To me they seem to be an extrapolation of fairies, personifications of natural processes. This view point is emphasized by the image for chapter one, where Dobby is visually one with the shrubbery.

Cirlot describes Elves (as well as dwarves, gnomes and the Dactyls) as "the personification of those forces which remain virtually outside the orbit of consciousness." and Fairies he describes as symbols of "the supra-normal powers of the human soul" pointing out their contradictory nature, the performance of humble tasks along with the possession of extraordinary powers. He connects their function in stories to sudden revelation of latent possibilities, and calls them "personifications of stages in the development in the spiritual life." And this is very much how the House-Elves work in the Harry Potter stories. Harry has gone through the gateway of his initiation into the super natural world. Dobby personifies doubt and insecurity as Harry prepares to enter the next stage of his development. This doubt is not unreasonable as we learn that some of the wonders of the magical world come from the enslavement and exploitation of other intelligent beings.  Tresidder considers them to be embodiments of human desires and frustrations, pointing out that the name "fairies" derives from the Latin "fata" or Fate.

Chapter Three: The Burrow

Here we see a microscopic depiction of conception. No, wait, it is a flying car and the night sky.  Dobby is trying to prevent Harry from returning to the supernatural world for Harry's own protection, and uses his extraordinary powers for the humble task of dropping a pudding on Mrs. Mason's head during the Dursleys' dinner party. Harry is blamed of course, and the Dursleys refuse to take Harry back to Hogwarts. They go so far as to lock Harry in his room and even bar his window. Rescue comes in the form of Ron, Fred and George Weasley in their father's flying Ford Anglia. Rowling was inspired by an old car owned by a friend who served as part of the basis of Ron Weasley. But note how cleverly this vehicle that Harry and Ron later use to get to school when they can't get on the Hogwarts Express has a name which can be read as meaning "Cross England".

In part one I discussed how Flying can be used as a symbol of enlightened consciousness.   One interesting point from Cirlot (citing Luc Benoist's Art du Monde) describes the processional carriage as "a temple-on-wheels, with all the 'correspondences' implies." If you consider the reverence of automobiles in Western culture you might agree this association has not only transferred but magnified with the motorized development of this object. Personal temples that fly rather than crawl upon the ground are easy to see as even more emblematic of higher spirituality.  The list of deities who travel by flying chariot or cart is a long one.  Given its use as a source of escape from Harry's life with the Dursleys to the Otherworld of magic, Tressider's description of the Chariot as representing the "triumphant journey of the spirit" feels very apt.

Fred and George are key supporting characters throughout the series, and represent the major symbolic motif of the Twins. With Twins we either see a pair of figures in opposition to one another, or, like Fred and George, completely alike and compatible. Hans Biedermann describes this type of pairing as "they compliment each other perfectly, forming an invincible duo so dangerous to cosmic order that they must be eliminated from the world of the living." This type of Twin is associated with the zodiac constellation of Gemini, notably an air sign.

Chapter Four: At Flourish and Botts

At the Burrow Harry experiences life in the wizarding world beyond Hogwarts and his brief visit to Diagon Alley. One of the most striking aspects of this is the intelligence that is imbued in almost every object, from pesky garden gnomes to (one of) Mrs. Weasley's enchanted clocks. When it comes time to buy school supplies, Harry and the Weasleys travel to Diagon Alley using the Floo Network. This is the use of magical powder to teleport from place to place via fire places. As seen in later books it can also be used as a medium of communication. Considering the number of fire/solar/illumination symbols we have already seen up to this point, the connotations of transporting people and information through fire is easy enough to follow.  It is a Promethean detail.

This chapter has the news that Percy Weasley received twelve O.W.L.S. (important exams for fifth year Hogwarts students). As The Harry Potter Lexicon points out, there is a marked preoccupation in the Harry Potter series with the number twelve (see the essay The Number Twelve). Remember that this novel begins with Harry's twelfth birthday.  Cirlot states that Twelve is symbolic of universal order, space and time, the wheel or circle, as well as salvation. The basis of this is likely the twelve signs of the zodiac. Note also that there are twelve Apostles, twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve gods in the Greek pantheon.  Cooper adds that, as a number of completion, twelve represents both the exoteric and the esoteric.

The sentience of mundane objects is a hallmark of the Harry Potter universe, and we see this quite a bit, and with comical effect, with the vain glorious Gilderoy Lockhart with his many lively portraits. It is the deceitful Lockhart holding one of these living images of himself from the cover of one of his many books that is the subject of this chapter's illustration. Renowned, idolized and beloved for the exploits he claims to have had in these books, Lockhart is really only good at using magic to alter people's memories, covering for the fact that he did none of the brave things he describes. Note how this is played parallel to the seduction of Ginny Weasley through Tom Riddle's diary.

The lies books can tell, and the hidden truth within them, is very much what Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is about. Books of course are integral to the belief systems of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Biedermann discusses the Book as "the container of intellect." Cirlot makes mention of the Book "written inside and out" as an allegory of the esoteric and exoteric, like the number twelve. He also broadly relates the symbolism of the Book to that of weaving, which is interesting considering the prominent role of spiders in this narrative.  Cooper speaks of the Book as connected to Tree symbolism and states that taken together the two symbols represent the "whole of the cosmos".  What a nice segue.  

Chapter Five: The Whomping Willow

Due to Dobby's continued interference Harry and Ron are unable to cross the magical barrier to Platform 9 3/4 to board the Hogwarts Express so they appropriate Mr. Weasley's flying car (a "temple on wheels" that not only displays sentience but is also much bigger on the inside than it appears from the outside) to make the trip to Hogwarts.  When they reach the school Ron runs the car into the Whomping Willow.  Again we have a seemingly common object that is (violently) mobile, and displays at least a degree of intelligence, enough at least to defend itself from anyone who comes too close.  In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban we learn the purpose of this particular enchanted tree is to guard an underground passage to the Shrieking Shack, so Remus Lupin could transform into a werewolf in safety and privacy (a topic that will be discussed in the next Harry Potter article).  Put more simply the Whomping Willow exists to keep a secret.

Once again we find an almost incidental story element that makes use of an occult symbol of great magnitude.  Cirlot calls the Tree "one of the most essential of traditional symbols."  He further associates the Tree with universal life, immortality and what he terms 'absolute reality/the center of the world'.  The Tree often represents the world-axis.  Like the ladder and the mountain, the upward growth of the Tree makes it stand for the link between Hell, Earth and Heaven.  Biedermann discusses the use of the Willow in the cult of Asclepius to ward off serpents.  Cooper terms the Tree "the whole of manifestation" as it combines symbolic aspects of earth, heaven and water, with the Willow being specifically sacred to lunar goddesses. 

The incident with the Whomping Willow leads to Ron's wand being broken (see part one for notes on wand symbolism), leading to his being unable to focus his magic throughout the novel, and the Ford Anglia heading off alone to live in solitude in the Forbidden Forest.  

Chapter Six: Gilderoy Lockhart


Chapter six details Harry's first day of classes of his second year.  The chapter art depicts the magical Mandrake plants the students are introduced to in Professor Sprout's Herbology class.  The use of the Mandrake as a panacea, as well as its lethal scream, are both aspects taken from the plant's traditional folk lore.  It is likely much of the Mandrake's mystical attributes derive from the fact that it is a nightshade containing poisonous hallucinogens, as well as the root's vaguely human-like appearance.  Cooper calls the Mandrake an emblem of the "Great Mother" which is something to consider given the device of their nurturing and development like children over the course of the story.  Note the use of the Mandrake as well in Pan's Labyrinth, a film that also featured prominent fairies/pixies.

Cornish Pixies are the subject of Lockhart's first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.  Recall Cirlot's description of fairies as "personifications of stages in the development in the spiritual life", when considering Lockhart's inability to handle the creatures, leaving the task to Harry, Ron and Hermione.  The spiritual development of these early second stage initiates is already more pronounced than that of their supposed educator.  And yet the book-loving Hermione is still unable to comprehend that the Lockhart described in his books is a false entity.

Chapter Seven: Mudbloods and Murmurs

In Chapter Seven the Harry/Draco rivalry is intensified when Harry learns that Malfoy is the new Seeker for Slytherin's Quidditch team.  Recalling that the winged Golden Snitch is an obvious solar symbol, as is Harry Potter himself, his competition for the object against the serpent themed Slytherins is an easy to read solar allegory.  And this is only heightened by his opposite number being named Draco.  This is particularly noteworthy here in book two with Rowling's giant serpent version of the basilisk, reminiscent of the already mentioned Apep, and similar mythological entities like the Midgard Serpent or Typhon.

The chapter art shows Ron after he accidentally curses himself with his broken wand, causing him to spit up slugs.  Even this small detail conforms with the already established symbols.  Cirlot compares the Slug to "a small snake... the male seed, the Origin of life, the silent tendency of darkness to move towards light."  The cauldron GranfPré has chosen as a receptacle for Ron's many slugs combines with this description in a male/female manner.  From Cirlot we learn that the Cauldron is the site of "forces of transmutation and germination," and strongly connected to Water symbolism, a key point we will discuss momentarily.  Tresidder refers to the Cauldron's connection to transformation and rebirth. 

Chapter Eight: The Deathday Party

On Halloween, Harry, Ron and Hermione are obligated to attend Nearly Headless Nick's "Deathday Party."  All the other guests of Nick's party are ghosts.  Cirlot describes the Ghost or Apparition as symbolic of psychic dissociation.  He also calls the Head the center of the soul, which is essentially the same as Cooper's description of the Head as denoting wisdom, mind and intelligence.  Nick's nearly headless status is amusing, especially in this novel with his desire to join the Headless Hunt, it also reinforces Nick's undead state.  He is almost but not quite dissociated from the land of the living.  Note that Halloween night is also when Voldemort murdered James and Lily Potter and gave Harry his trademark scar, and the night when the Troll attacked the school in the first book.  Obviously this holiday most associated with witchcraft (and the changing of the seasons) is being emphasized and is important to Rowling's system.  So we shouldn't be surprised that it is on Halloween that the Chamber of Secrets is opened and the basilisk's first (near) victim is found.  Halloween will continue to play an important part as it is associated with the approach of winter (antagonistic in a solar allegory) and traditionally involves a dissolution of the barrier between the living and the dead.  The symbolism of cats and torches have already been discussed when talking about the cover, with the exception here being that this is clearly meant to be Mrs. Norris.  Key here, however, is the use of the Torch as Illuminator.  A message is being delivered.  A hidden message from a secret place.

Chapter Nine: The Writing on the Wall

 
Chapter nine introduces Moaning Myrtle, whom we later learn is the ghost of the Basilisk's victim when Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years earlier.  I find it a bit surprising that Myrtle was a Ravenclaw, mostly due to the heavy association of the character with Water.  I suppose that as a Muggle-born she couldn't be sorted into Slytherin.  There is an underlying component in this story about sorting and mis-sorting, as well as the role of free will in the process.  We only really see Harry's experience with the Sorting Hats up close, and he actively chooses not to be in Slytherin.  Perhaps Myrtle, an overt outcast, thought she would do best in the intellectual, airy house of Ravenclaw and asked the hat to place her there.  We don't know.  Lockhart, another Ravenclaw, also seems misplaced to me, but I can see where being a Ravenclaw would conform to his self-image rather than his actual nature.

GrandPré's illustration emphasizes Myrtle's watery nature.  This suits my purposes very nicely as I feel that Myrtle is overtly one of the ghosts of Hogwarts, but covertly she is a Water Nymph.  A Nymph, or Water Maiden, is the personification of a spring, torrent, waterfall or (key here) a fountain. Cirlot describes their ambivalent nature as they represent both birth and fertility as well as dissolution and death.  Notice Myrtle's adolescent boy-interest, alongside her preoccupation with death (not to mention her status of being dead).  Biedermann believes Nymphs are the embodiment of unconscious mental activity.  Tresidder points out that Nymph's frequently fall in love with mortals, and that they possess prophetic abilities.  All of this falls into accordance with the character of Myrtle.  It is Myrtle who ultimately leads Harry and Ron to the Chamber after all. 

Myrtle's connection to Water is of importance here as Water is easily the most prominent of the elements utilized in this novel.  The Philospoher's Stone has a Fiery quality to it, but Chamber of Secrets is decidedly a Slytherin story, and underneath as well, as Harry's underlying Watery nature is detailed.  Put more directly, Harry Potter is exoterically a Gryffindor and esoterically a Slytherin.

As one of the four basic elements, Water is naturally a very complex symbol.  Cirlot delineates its dualistic nature by calling it both the Source of Life as well as the abode of the dragon (with the Basilisk as presented in the Harry Potter universe being essentially a Dragon).  Water is feminine, and representative of intuitive wisdom, Mystery, and the "universal congress of potentialites."  Of the elements, Water is the most transitional as it sits between the solid and the ethereal, and moderates life and death.  There is a further spatial connotation relating to the level of the given body of water.  Traditionally, the source of all waters was held to be a stone, a cave or forest.

Biedermann adds to this that waters under the earth represent primordial chaos, which seems appropriate given the ultimate position and the history of the Chamber.  He furthers that water represents the "deeper layers of the psyche," areas inhabited by "mysterious life forms."    For Cooper, water is the beginning and end of all things.  He describes water's initiatory role, which is readily evident to anyone familiar with the act of baptizing.  Remembering that Harry is both a fire representing Gryffindor, and a solar personification, it is noteworthy that water and fire are opposite elements positioned in conflict but that ultimately unite.  That is very much the process of the Chamber of Secrets.  Tresidder talks of water's connotations of purity, fertility, life, potentiality, birth and regeneration, dissolution, mingling and cohesion.  The chapter ends with our three leads deciding they need to engage in some potion making (watery action) in order to transform themselves (watery effect).

Chapter Ten: The Rogue Bludger

In this chapter there is a Quidditch match between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins.  Quidditch is an astronomical allegory.  This is only emphasized by having the enemy Seeker be a character named Draco.  This is essential solar allegory, barely veiled.  This is the same thing as Ra versus Apep near the beginning of this article.  Which means it is the same thing as Harry versus the Basilisk.  Dobby even refers to Harry as a "beacon of hope" and his survival of Voldemort "a new dawn."

The personification of a stage in the development of Harry's spiritual life (Dobby), enchants a bludger to exclusively attack Harry, leading to his arm being broken.  Lockhart attempts to mend Harry's arm, but instead accidentally removes the arm and hand's bones.  Notice how watery GrandPré's depiction of the boneless arm is.  The motion lines and the arm itself are positively wave-like.  Also note the astrological symbols on the bed.  The sun (Harry) positioned between the moon and a star.  There's a mistake in the image, as it was Harry's right arm that was broken.  Or is this an opportunity to subtly refer to the left-hand path?  I'm certain that any similarity to the above illustration and the image of Baphomet you'll see at that link is purely coincidental.  Also in this chapter is a trip to the Restricted Section of the Library to borrow the book Moste Potente Potions (water).  It strikes me that a restricted section of an occult library seems very much like an esoteric level of information.  

Chapter Eleven: The Dueling Club

This very strange image is Nearly-Headless Nick following an attack by the Basilisk.  A petrified ghost is that much further dissociated from the land of the living.  There's a certain sacrificial quality to this image, which I mention in order to emphasize the ritualistic sacrifice motif running through this story.  This is not really an esoteric matter as it is quite blatantly presented.

The chapter title refers to the Dueling Club that is created at Hogwarts and overseen by Professors Snape and Lockhart.

A duel is a formulated, even ritualized fight.  Cirlot calls the Fight (as depicted in literature or art) a "-rite or the vestiges of rites-" meaning an enacted conflict of opposites symbolizing various forces as part of Mystery practices.  This is a highly significant item to consider, not just for this article, but for every subject I've written about here thus far.  I don't think any of them lack in physical, or better yet, magical combat.  Cirlot also considers Fighting to be emblematic of astrophysical activity (representing astronomical events, the basis of myth and religion, as I state in several articles), and seasonal change.  Look at the embedded video of Harry and Draco's duel, noting the overt astronomical imagery of the dueling platform.  The platform depicts an eclipse, an event that might be symbolized as a snake or dragon swallowing the sun.  An eclipse is always a matter of planetary alignment.  Planetary alignment is always about time-keeping and age shift.  Noteworthy as well is the sacrificial quality of the Fight, stated again by Cirlot.

This chapter lays out more of the connotation of Harry's being a Parseltongue, but the most noteworthy element of this chapter must be Harry learning the disarming charm "Expelliarmus," which becomes his signature spell, and is the spell he ultimately uses to defeat Voldemort.  The spell "Expelliarmus" was utilized utilized by Shakespeare to defeat the witch-like aliens the Carrionites in an episode of Doctor Who.  Shakespeare, at the least, resonates with Francis Bacon.  I wrote about Doctor Who in my article Doctoring Art Gotic Part One, specifically presenting the Doctor as a professor of the Invisible College.  This episode featured the Tenth Doctor, David Tennet, the actor who plays Barty Crouch Junior (the false Mad-Eye Moody) in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a professor of Hogwarts, an Invisible College with a Baconian name.

Chapter Twelve: The Polyjuice Potion

 

Harry is seen in mid transformation into the form of Goyle.  The reflective surface of the mirror is keeping with the watery symbolism of this book, as well as the lunar character.  The Polyjuice Potion connects to both these areas as well.  A Reflection holds certain Platonic connotations, as the material world was considered a more base reflection of an ideal plane, noteworthy as here we see a figure startled by his course reflection as compared to his more refined and spiritually enlightened self.  A Metamorphosis like this symbolizes an inversion, the changing of one thing into another, because nothing material is really anything at all.  This is also a symbol at play with the introduction of the phoenix Fawkes in this chapter.

Even more fascinating then this is Harry's first visit to Dumbledore's office.  Note how many key activities take place in this location from this point onward in the ongoing adventures of Harry Potter.  The entrance to Dumbledore's office is hidden behind a Gargoyle (noting the name of the character Harry disguises himself as in this chapter, hiding behind a "goyle").  Cirlot calls Gargoyles embodiments of cosmic forces and entities of the underworld  who have been captured, made "-prisoners of a superior spirituality."  They are subordinate to angelic entities, and this is certainly in keeping with the character and role of Albus Dumbledore. 

Dumbledore's office is described as being filled with numerous silver instruments of mysterious purpose.  Silver is always a lunar association, as Gold is emblematic of the sun.  Tresidder states that as a lunar symbol it is also feminine, carrying connotations of purity, charity and eloquence as well as hope and wisdom.  All of Dumbledore's devices of his own invention seem to be crafted from Silver, including the Deluminator.

And if Silver is the moon, then Dumbledore's office can be read as a microscopic representation of the cosmos.  The room is circular.  A Circle represents the sky.  As stated earlier, the Phoenix (or Harry for that matter) represents the sun.  Note that the resurrection cycle of the Phoenix is essentially circular.  This is a totality, especially in conjuncture with the number Twelve.  This is Chapter Twelve.  Twelve is representative of the Zodiac, and the Zodiac is the ring around observable space.  More on the number twelve down the line.

Cooper describes the Circle's symbolic attributes as including totality, perfection, the infinite, eternity, timelessness and spacelessness, recurrence, celestial unity, and dynamism.  Biedermann calls the circle the most significant of all geometric forms, and notes its function of protection in conjurings.  Tressider concurs and notes its implicit relationship with many other major symbols including the Wheel, the Disc, the Ring, the Clock, the Ouroburos (the Snake devouring its own tail) and not surprisingly, the sun, the moon and the Zodiac.

If we are to take the word of the Marauder's Map as presented in the films, then Hogwarts is a very square structure.

Which makes the Headmaster's office a Circle within a Square.  Tresidder refers to this pattern as representative of the soul, the divine spark within a base, material body.  During the Renaissance, the Circle was regarded as the most perfect shape.  The first century BCE Roman architect Vitruvius observed that "if a man lies on his back with hands and feet outspread, and the center of the circle is placed on his fingers and toes will be touched by the circumference.  This is the source of daVinci's late 15th century illustration Vitruvian Man.

Leonardo da Vinci, Vitruvian Man, 1490

Dumbledore is the  man within the circle within the square, the divine spark, the soul of Hogwarts.  Think about this, especially in those moments when Dumbledore is forced to leave Hogwarts (one of which occurs in chapter fourteen).  I personally find it very interesting that the traditional image that we have of da Vinci as a older man with a long beard is based mostly on a drawing by da Vinci widely, but not universally, considered to be a self-portrait, and the appearance of Plato in Raphael's The School of Athens which is popularly held to be also a portrait of Leonardo. 

Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of a Man in Red Chalk, 1512

Raphael, The School of Athens (detail), 1509

This is a bit of a pet subject of mine that I am purposefully pulling back from in this article, but I talk in greater detail about it, and its connection to Dumbledore, in my article A Familiar Story.  Made short, it is my theory that both Dumbledore and da Vinci (and a number of other familiar figures) are modeled after Hermes Trismegistus.  Hermione also gets turned into a cat hybrid in this chapter, but I am going to reserve discussion of Cat symbolism for analysis of book three.  

Chapter Thirteen: The Very Secret Diary

 

It seems a bit unfortunate that this chapter, the one that introduces the first Horcrux into the Harry Potter story, is illustrated by a dwarf dressed as Cupid.  Is there more to what we see here?  Maybe.  Cupid, a pupil of Hermes, is an emblem of love after all, and it is also in this chapter that Ginny's love for Harry becomes overtly apparent.  That should be considered at least equally important to a sliver of Voldemort's twisted, murderous soul.  What I really like here are the Hearts.  Tresidder identifies the Heart as representing not only love, compassion, charity, joy and sorrow but also illumination, truth and intelligence.  The Heart is also another solar symbol, as in alchemy it stands for the human body's inner sun.  

And let's take it a step further and consider what else we might have here.  There are seven hearts in this image if you count the tattoo on the dwarf's arm.  Seven is the most significant number in Harry Potter.  Is the image of seven hearts not unlike seven segments of a soul?  It is the same thing really.  What if we think about this as the Seven of Hearts?  The Seven of Hearts is the equivalent of the Tarot's Seven of Cups.  Cups represent the element of Water. 

Art by Pamela Coleman Smith, 1911.

Well, what do you see in this card?  An enchanted castle, a dragon-like beast, and a serpent. Hidden treasure?  Higher learning (laurel leaves) emerging from the cup embellished with a Dark Mark-like skull?   Is that glowing, shrouded figure a ghost?  Is the blue faced woman a Water Maiden?  Your guess, truly, is as good as any.  That's the way it is with Tarot cards. In The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, A.E. Waite, for whom Coleman Smith designed the above card, describes it as:

"Strange chalices of vision, but the images are more especially those of the fantastic spirit. Divinatory Meanings: Fairy favours, images of reflection, sentiment, imagination, things seen in the glass of contemplation; some attainment in these degrees, but nothing permanent or substantial is suggested."

 We will have opportunity to talk about Horcruxes much further down the road in this series.  But note that the diary of Tom Riddle enters Harry's world through the element of Water.  And if the intelligent paintings are emblematic of hidden messages in works of art, how much more so an intelligent diary that looks blank but which contains a world of hidden content.  What about an intelligent, secret diary that lies?

Chapter Fourteen: Cornelius Fudge

 

The scroll that illustrates this chapter is the order of suspension delivered to Dumbledore by Lucius Malfoy.  The Roman numeral twelve is meant to show that the order was signed by all twelve of the school governors. But is such a showing necessary to the chapter?  What difference does it make that there are twelve governors?  Because, as stated, Twelve is a very important number.  Again, it is cosmic or universal order, space and time, the wheel and the circle, all of which stems from the twelve constellations of the Zodiac.  Cooper adds that Twelve represents complete knowledge and understanding, six for the exoteric and six for the esoteric, and I would expect this derives from the Zodiac as well, emphasizing the duality in the system, six male and six female signs.  The Scroll likely stands for prophecy, ancient wisdom and law. Combined with Twelve, this is the will and wisdom of the heavens.

Chapter Fifteen: Aragog

This image of the web of the giant spider Aragog by moonlight is rather fitting as Cirlot tells us how the spider is a lunar symbol and how in many mythological systems the moon is believed to be  a giant spider.  The Spider is both creative and destructive, making it emblematic of the universe itself, in a constant state of flux between weaving and devouring.   The Web represents the center of the world, a spiral towards the center where its creator lies.  Cooper links the Spider to the Mother Goddess in her most terrible aspect, a weaver of destiny.  Tresidder speaks of the Spider's connection to divination and destiny.  Note the latter when considering the role Aragog plays in this story.  This is all combined with the intriguing structure of Aragog's Web, a Dome.  In the article for Book One I mention how an arch designates importance and that is certainly the case here.  The Dome is also the sky, the limits of the world, the boundaries of everything.  Notice how with the pending confrontation the symbolism we encounter is becoming spatial, lofty, elevated and cosmic.

In my article Tingly Intuition I mention the connection between Arachne and Ariadne made by Fulcanelli in The Mystery of the Cathedrals.  This association is partly made through the symbolic resonance between the Web and the Labyrinth and also through the kind of complex, multi-lingual, punning argot Fulcanelli was master of, what he termed the "spolen cabala."  Ariadne is no small matter as she is highly emblematic of the Dionysian Mysteries.  Initiatory rites remain vital to the underlying symbolism of Harry Potter throughout the series.

Chapter Sixteen: The Chamber of Secrets

Here we see Harry, Ron and Lockhart discovering the shed skin of the basilisk.  Notice that it is Harry who bears the torch.  Solar Harry is the Illuminator.  This is the beginning of the climax of this story.  This is ritual battle itself.  Appropriately Cirlot tells us how a shed skin represents birth and rebirth.  Tresidder calls this regeneration while Cooper talks of the sloughing of old skin as leaving the old for the now, attaining new youth, a higher status or immortality.  The celestial connotations of the conflict of the solar Harry Potter and the cthonic basilisk are played out as Quidditch matches are canceled.  Quidditch represents stellar activity.

At this point our protagonist has deduced the location of the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets, and this brings us to what might be my favorite symbol of this novel, as it is one that is so cleverly hidden.  In the book at least.  In the film it is down right blatant.

This is a good shot of it behind Hermione when she was preparing the Polyjuice Potion earlier in the story .  I'm talking about the bathroom sink which the filmmakers have rendered as a medieval fountain/baptistry (and note: Transformation = Water, Potion = Water, Fountain = Water, etc.).  To the ancient mind a Fountain was a much different matter, but in the modern era we are surrounded by Fountains and all use them every day, so much so that we mostly give them very little consideration unless they stop working..  Every sink, running tap or toilet is a Fountain.

Cirlot tells us that the Fountain is "the source," or "mystic center."  Jung associates the symbolism with that of the soul, inner life and spiritual energy.  It also represents strength during difficult periods.  Often a Fountain designates a hallowed area.   Cooper speaks of the Fountain as representing immortality and notes that a sealed Fountain stands for virginity (an important motif we will return to momentarily).  This particular Fountain leads to the Chamber of Secrets.  The symbolism of this is, quite frankly, a Jungian field day.

Harry, Ron and Lockhart slide through the pipes and wind up miles beneath the school by Harry's reckoning, and likely under the lake if Ron's theory is correct.  Obviously, this continues the Watery symbolism, as well as the Serpentine, as lying beneath is very much in their nature.  This "under the lake" business, while just a single line of text, is very intriguing to me as the Lake represents the occult itself, and everything mysterious.  Cirlot relates how the Lake became related to concepts of the Land of the Dead due to the sun's apparent descent into water when it sets at night.  The Lake is the intermediary of many dualistic states; life and death, solid and gaseous, superficial and profound.  Cooper tells us that the Lake is feminine, and the abode of monsters and magic.  According to Tresidder, the Lake also represents rebirth, and he reminds us that Dionysus entered the Underworld through a Lake.   The symbolism of Water in general, and the Lake in particular, is also very involved in matters of level, the depth or shallowness of the water, and what lies beneath it.  When considering the occult meaning of the Lake it is necessary to remember that the Chamber of Secrets resides beneath it.  Like a serpent.

Chapter Seventeen: The Heir of Slytherin

To truly defeat the monster in this story, the deceptive book had to be killed.  And it is done with the Basilisk's own fang.  A loss of Teeth equals a loss of potency, a loss of identity, and the removal of the most primordial of our animal weapons.  And this device reminds me greatly of the legend of Cadmus, whom Heroditus credited with inventing the Phonecian alphabet, and whose legend includes the device of sowing the teeth of a dragon to generate an army of soldiers.  Note how teeth, soldiers and letters all stand neatly in rows. 

Cadmus Fighting the Dragon, red-figure calix-krater, ca. 350 BCE

I mentioned the sealed Fountain as symbol of virginity.  I note this in order to emphasize the importance of Ginny Weasley in this story and her status as a maiden sacrifice to the basilisk.  Her ultimate transport to the Chamber by Tom Riddle is ritualistic.  So is Harry's pursuing descent into this Underworld to rescue her for that matter.  Recall that conflicts are the vestiges of sacred mystery rites of deities like Dionysus and Ceres.  Ginny Weasley's name is itself evocative of the word "virgin," though the Ginny stands not for Virginia but for Ginevra.  Ginevra is a Welsh form of Jennifer.  So is Guinevere.  Arthurian matters are complex business.  Far, far more complicated than Harry Potter, thank goodness, but recall the role of Guinevere as the abducted queen, and her importance as a sovereignty figure.  Put more plainly, in some variations of the Arthurian legend, Queen Guinevere is presented as a personification of the Arthur's kingdom, following the mythological model that led to the generation of goddesses such as Britannia, Erin and Columbia. 

Chapter Eighteen: Dobby's Reward

The book closes with Dumbledore's return.  He's an angelic entity, who we have uncovered as the animating spirit of the Invisible College of Hogwarts.  Harry's faith in Dumbledore through adversity gifted him with the means of defeating the basilisk (the item that ultimately served to destroy many of the Horcruxes).  GrandPré shows us Dumbledore proudly displaying the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, its hilt appropriately radiating with solar power.

For Harold Bayley, the Sword is symbolic of the Word of God.  Bayley states:

"The symbolism of the sword as the word of God is enshrined in the word Sword, i.e. se-word or is-word, the Fire or Light of the Word.  The Anglo-Saxon for a sword was seax, "the Fire of the great Fire."  Similarly the Italian spada resolves into sepada, the Fire of the Shining Father, and the German sabel into Fire of Bel."

I love what Bayley reveals within language.  Even if you don't, if you have an interest in the origins of esoteric symbol systems it is key to remember the punning use of argotic language between members of secret enclaves (like alchemists during eras where such practices got one tortured and killed).  This is Fulcanelli's Spoken Cabala. 

Tresidder connects the Sword to authority, justice, decisiveness, insight, penetrating intellect, phallic power, supernatural power, light and purifying, alchemical fire.  Cooper calls the Sword the weapon of choice of the solar hero, the conqueror of dragons and other demonic forces.  Arthur was another solar hero who slayed dragons to rescue maidens.  Biedermann notes how Arthur alone could draw forth Excalibur.   Harry, who spent a great deal of the book doubting the judgement of the Sorting Hat, finds resolution to his identity crisis by drawing forth the Sword of Gryffindor from the hat, an act only a true Gryffindor could do.  Cirlot calls the sword the "antithesis of the monster," and a symbol of lofty rank and high command. He further points out that a curved sword, like the one depicted by GranPré, is lunar and feminine.  A straight sword, like the one seen in the films, in solar and masculine. 

Ultimately, this is an even more important novel in the Harry Potter saga than the first one.  The duality of Harry and Voldemort becomes emphasized and intensified, the ritual conflict at the heart of this modern myth.  In his treatment on Serpent symbolism Cooper mentions that a Serpent in conjuncture with a Stag represents Darkness and Light.  together they are a totality, a cosmic unity.  And Harry and Tom Riddle are more than that. Harry is himself a Horcrux, containing within himself a fragment of Voldemort's soul.  This is the source of his Serpentine nature which allows him to speak to snakes and confused matters with the Sorting Hat.  Cooper calls two serpents dualistic opposites that are ultimately united, much like the serpent and the stag.  If these serpents entwine a staff they represent the spiraling cycles of nature.  They are healing and poisoning, time and fate, the forces of opposition springing from the same source (like a fountain).  If the Harry Potter saga had to be summed up in a single image it would have to be this one:

 

From the Granger Collection.  No kidding.

Legerdemain of the Dark Knight IV - Coin Tricks and Cartomancy

"- but his face deep scars of thunder had entrenched-"
-John Milton describing Lucifer in Paradise Lost

This article is a continuation of the Legerdemain series and benefits from reading the previous three installments. You might also want to read Bat Time, Bat Channel and This Joke Isn't Funny parts 1 and 2.  It has been five years since The Dark Knight was released, so I have no qualms about spoiling this movie.  It's not a synopsis anyway, but still, if you haven't seen The Dark Knight then you really have missed one of the greatest achievements of film making and performance of , well, of all time really.  Go watch it right now.  If you have already seen it, you probably should see it again.

I could talk about this movie forever and I probably will be.  It is deep and it is great and there is much, much for consideration here.  Seriously, fantasy film is the art form of the masses of the early 21st century, and there are few works that achieve these heights.  I called Batman Begins "Batman Sublime," and The Dark Knight Rises is excellent as well.  But The Dark Knight?  This is a different animal altogether.  If those other films are angels in the form of films, The Dark Knight is an archangel.  One with deep scars of thunder.  Let's take a look at some of what lies beneath the top level of this particular magic trick.

The Dark Knight is about duality, hoax building, initiatory process, sovereignty personification, and more than anything, sacrifice, on many, many levels.  This promotional piece featuring the three main figures quite overtly broadcasts an occult manifesto.  Totemic items are displayed obscuring one eye.  Odin, the Norse equivalent of Thoth/Mercury/Hermes, sacrificed an eye for a drink from the well of knowledge.  Horus, the avenging, solar messiah of ancient Egypt, lost his left eye in battle with Set.  When his eye was later restored he sacrificed it again in hopes of restoring Osiris to life.  You might be thinking now that these characters are covering their right eyes, and that's true, if we are a spectator looking them in the face.  But might we be being cast in a reflective position (correcting, of course, the lettering on the pin and card)?  That would be a more interesting view point for these psychological portraits after all.  Note how this image equivilates these three rather than differentiates.

That there is a sacrificial theme to this story is inherent in the title alone.  The Knight is a very common motif representing a transformative ordeal, a quest, that leads towards a perfected state.  Just think of the Knights questing for the Holy Grail.  It hardly needs explaining then that the Knight partaking in this quest represents the initiate.  A Dark Knight symbolizes expiation and sacrifice, tribulations of sin and periods of obscurity on the path towards heightened consciousness or a higher level of being.  This is an important concept to keep in mind.  The White Knight, by contrast, stands for purity and illumination.  The White Knight is the "Chosen One."  Harvey Dent is presented and even described in the film as a "White Knight" as opposed to Batman's Dark Knight.  But, huh, which of the major figures of this movie is overtly white?  One of Heath Ledger's early major roles was in the 2001 film A Knight's Tale.  The strangely anachronistic  A Knight's Tale is overtly initiatory.  It is also about the perpetuation of a hoax, as Ledger's character is a commoner masquerading as a noble.

Yes, the real star of The Dark Knight is Heath Ledger's Joker.  It is very interesting to see how much charisma this villain of villains exudes, especially in comparison to Bale's Batman.  Don't get me wrong.  Bale produces charisma on command at the necessary story beats.  Certainly the lack of personality is a storytelling, character-driven choice, representing the insular nature of an armored, hoax perpetuator operating as a living symbol.   At any rate, the Joker steals the show.  It's kind of what he does.

The movie begins with a brazen bank heist orchestrated by the Joker.  And its done so with very deliberately utilized masks, which of course, as a Batman film, is a major symbolic item.  A mask in a visual work represents illusion and concealment, key components to magic tricks and sleights of hand.  It also stands for transformation, being equivalent to the chrysalis, and it confers a magical character.  Of course metaphorical masks are necessary for the performance of con-jobs and hoaxes.  The use of masks in plays evolved from activities of the ancient Dionysian Mysteries.  This led to their use in sacred plays as representing the supernatural forces of deities and the inner psychology of characters normally hidden.  And they still do.  The origins of theater seem to stem from the worship of Dionysus.  There's a long but direct stream (an Underground Stream) through history to every item of contemporary popular culture.  Just think of how important the Mask is to the comic book hero, particularly the Batman.  This is a Dionysian device.  These works, whether they know it or not, are an expression of his Mystery.

And these masks are clowns because this is a Joker operation.  The Joker is a clown.  The Clown is the equivalent of the Fool, and of course the modern playing card Joker is the equivalent of the Tarot trump The Fool.  The Fool is the initiate's card, the status of the seeker at the onset of his/her process of enlightenment.  The Fool is the Ain Soph of the Kabbala, the unknowable, primary cause.  The Clown/Fool is the opposite of the King (keeping in mind that Batman is the self-described King of Clubs).  The King represents order and the Fool represents chaos, and this is very apparent in the presentation of these characters.  This is the essential duality of this story, and one represented in many ways throughout the film.  The Clown/Fool is also emblematic of unregenerate man, and this is an aspect certainly readable in this presentation of the Joker.  Most importantly, the Fool is a symbol of sacrifice.  In past cultures where the sovereignty of the king was felt to have direct correlation to the fecundity of the land, there were times when it was deemed necessary to sacrifice him for the common good.  Kings don't like to be sacrificed, of course, and a system developed wherein the lowest member of the court was substituted.  Or so the mechanism is described.  Heath Ledger's first listed role on Wikipedia is a 1991 Australian film called Clowning Around.

It is not overtly presented in the film but reading the Nolan brothers' script for The Dark Knight reveals an interesting aspect of the bank heist.  The assumed identities of these hired criminals, obviously strangers to one another in the manner of Resevoir Dogs, are Bozo (that's the Joker seen above), Chuckles, the unnamed bus driver, and then Dopey, Grumpy and Happy.  The use of the Disney dwarf names might seem a simple throw away, but it is suggestive of a system of seven.  Seven is a complete cycle, the days of the week and the days of Creation, both of which derive from the seven observable planets in a geocentric model.

But wait.  There's only six actual robbers involved. Yes and no.  The robbers don't realize that Bozo is the Joker.  They talk about the Joker as the mastermind of the operation and as an additional share.  So an alter-ego, a duality, a hoax, a trick, creates the extra figure.  The bus driver is unnamed and unseen, and so he must be Bashful.  The brains of the outfit, the obvious leader?  That sounds like Doc.

Here is Doc Joker teaching the mob-tied, criminal bank manager a lesson.  Note the checkerboard floor.  The Nolan films are rife with this symbol of initiatory process (I discuss checkerboard symbolism to great extent in Illuminating Harry Potter I: Romancing the Stone amongst other articles).  Put simply, it is the interplay of dualities, positive and negative, night and day, solar and lunar, male and female.  The tensions of these polarities controls the inherent irrationality by placing it within a strict, governed order.  We see these interplays throughout this movie in many different forms, obvious and covert.  The actual bi-colored grid is in place at very key moments that I will point out as this article progresses.  They are all directly related to initiatory steps enacted by the Joker.  This bank heist, the first step in the Joker's elaborate, criminal act of performance magic, is stage one.  The subject is Gotham City.  Note that the Harlequin, which is the exact equal of the Clown and the Fool, is traditionally garbed in a checker-pattern.

Is a Tarot analogy a stretch?  Even if it weren't deliberate, a perceived symbolic content carries meaning even without the author's intent.  This is one of the major themes of this blog.  In this case I am certain the Tarot is being utilized quite purposefully as the story tellers tip their hat to this fact at the end of the scene (and far more overtly further on).  The Joker makes a clean get away driving a bus marked "District 22."  There are 22 Tarot trump cards.  At the outset The Dark Knight is slyly declared as a work of cartomancy.

Let's talk a little bit about cards.  The above still is a shot of the hundreds of Joker cards that litter the street after he blows up the judge's car.  Note the geometric circles and triangles on the card to your far left.  Without being able to specifically identify it, it looks like alchemical or Rosicrucian diagrams.  The kind of thing you might find in a Manly P. Hall book.  Hall was a genius of card (symbolism) tricks.  Hall points out that in the two color scheme of cards we again find our dualistic patterning.  There are thirteen cards of each suit which represent the thirteen lunar months of the year.  That the 52 cards equal 52 weeks is easy enough to see.  If you count the Jacks, Queens and Kings as 11, 12 and 13 then all the pips equal 364.  If you add the Joker you get 365.  The twelve court cards stand for the zodiac, which is always about time and timing.  Timing is key to magic.  Note how integral proper timing is to every major action enacted by the Joker throughout this film.  This magician characteristic is not hidden.

 
Ta da!  The disappearing pencil trick.  The Joker is very much presented as a Magician in this film.  And Batman has already been presented as a Magician.  They are hoax builders at war.  This is the same central core as The Prestige. A striking example of the importance of timing in Batman's actions occurs in his first scene in this film, when he jumps down the spiral ramp of the parking garage onto the roof of a moving van. 

 

Let's take a moment to consider some of the connotations of the Bat.  As a double-natured entity, as a mouse/bird, the Bat's alchemical symbolism is related to that of the androgyne. It's the Two-in-One, a duality personified.  In many cultures the Bat has stood for Vigilance, and that's fully appropriate here.  More commonly it represents superstition, fear, death and madness, something Francisco (that's fun to say, Francisco) Goya certainly understood.

The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, Francisco Goya, c. 1799.

Which in its way depicts the essential plot of this film and the next one.  Bruce Wayne's dream of bringing rational order to Gotham results in a costumed psychopath arms race.  The full epigraph for this etching is really perfect: "Fantasy abandoned by reason produces impossible monsters: united with her, she is the mother of the arts and the origin of their marvels."  Testify Francisco.

The parking garage scene features a reappearance of Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow, a figure that is both Dionysiac and sacrificial (usually by fire, an important symbol set we'll return to).

When criminally operative the Scarecrow appears masked.  I'm certain Dr. Crane, in this version of the character, could talk all about the psychological symbolism of the Mask.  Jungian archetypes, you know?  

Once defeated his mask is removed.  Unmasking is is an integral aspect of this story, the undoing of all the symbolic connotations described above.  Unmasking is an unveiling, the exposure of the hoax, the undoing of the opponent's magic spells.  This still also shows the most prominent of the false Batmans that appear in this scene.  Duplicates, doubles, false figures.  Think about The Prestige.

And about how these duplicate figures need to get sacrificed in magic acts.  We'll talk about the significance of the Hanged Man later.  Note how the Joker and Batman are combined here, the synthesis of opposites.

The hoaxing nature of the Batman is alluded to in the Gotham police department's joking bulletin board of Batman suspects.  Besides Elvis we see Bigfoot and Lincoln, all figures attached to hoaxes and conspiracies. Note the silver grid work.  We'll see this motif more prominently elsewhere. 

Speaking of grid work, the second example of the initiatory checkerboard pattern associated with the Joker's activities occurs when he pretends to be dead in order to get to Gambol.  The floor and the walls are all checkered.  You can see it better in the video then in any still I can find.  This Rising From the Dead scene is of course a major initiatory rite symbol, and one particularly tied to Dionysiac Mysteries.  Here we also have the first of the Joker's explanations for his Glasgow Smile, which is an aspect of his hoax building.  The scene ends with the Joker forcing Gambol's thugs to fight to the death for a position in the Joker's gang, emphasizing the sacrifice theme.  Also note how this is just one of the false deaths/rebirths in this film as James Gordon later fakes his own death to get the drop on the Joker.  What occurs after Gordon's "rebirth?"  He achieves a higher rank/reaches a more elevated position as he is named the new police commissioner of Gotham City.

 

The primary poster for The Dark Knight combines two of the major symbolic devices of the film, those of Fire and the Tower.  Together they formulate a very clear depiction of Tarot Trump sixteen, the Tower Struck by Lightning, aka Le Feu du Ciel/The Fire of Heaven.  Seriously, if there were a Tarot deck combining popular super  heroes with modern day terror anxieties, this would be card sixteen.  Batman is positioned directly before the tower, like a column, repeating its format, identifying him with the structure of the city.  This is fully appropriate as the Tower of Trump sixteen is representative of  the human form.  The enigma of the Tower card relates to the fall of man and the devastating consequence of over confidence.  This happens to describe the Joker's objectives in this film.  "Welcome To A World Without Rules" is essentially a reading of the aftermath of Trump sixteen's symbolism.

The Tower is also quite overtly used as a symbol of Bruce Wayne/Batman in this movie.  His mansion having been destroyed by Ras al Ghul in Batman Begins, Batman is operating out of the tower of his corporate headquarters.  There's an implied movement here between the films from the maternal cave to the paternal tower (and back again in the third film).  The Cave is primordial shelter, and as an easy to read womb symbol representative of birth/rebirth.  It is emblematic of the unconscious mind and associated in many legends with gods and heroes.  The Tower is about ascent and vigilance, as well as the aristocratic nature Batman can never remove himself from, as it looms above the common level.  While it is overtly phallic it is yet another item of combined duality.  The protective nature of the Tower is a feminine quality, associating it with the Virgin.  This is seen in many stories and legends.  Just think about Rapunzel.

Here we see Bruce Wayne within a cave within his Tower.  The complex encasement of his costume is intriguing.  The arms of the Knight stand for symbolic potentialities.  There is an article unto itself in examining the symbolic significance in the equipment of Batman and the Joker.  But I include this still to display the striking ceiling used for Batman's secret headquarters.  Notice we again have a single-tone grid in place associated with Batman.  Its illuminated, as the grid on the police bulletin board is light reflective.  So this is a system, a grid work, implying activity and development, but its not dualistic in these instances.  Batman's essential initiation took place in Batman Begins.  He's acts in this movie from a more elevated status, with a level of enlightenment.  Note his desire to move up, and out, from this level and unite with Rachel Dawes, leaving it to Harvey Dent.   

 

And another luminescent grid work associated with Batman/Bruce Wayne.  This one is crafted by Lucius Fox (the light-bringing Promethean) and confers upon Batman a heightened sensory awareness of his city, confirming his role of sovereignty figure.  This is truly what Batman and the Joker are fighting for in this story.  Harvey Dent as well.

Here's another prominent combination of the Tower and Fire from the scene where the Joker demonstrates that his objectives are in no way material.  If I had to choose one symbolic device that was most relevant to The Dark Knight it would have to be Fire.  The first words of the Nolans' script are "Burning.  Massive Flames".  Interestingly the fire we see as the film opens are blue.  I used to keep a catalog of blue entities from popular culture here.  I did not bring that back with the resurrection of this blog, but the color Blue has a great deal of important connotations.  Blue represents the intellect and divinity (the latter the primary reason for all those blue people).  It is an attribute of Jupiter and Juno, and many other Sky Gods.  As a color used in the visual arts it is very functional as a visible darkness.  And while in ancient Egypt the color Blue represented Truth, it simultaneously represents Mystery and Deception.  The synthesis of opposites occurs here on many levels.

Fire is Divine Energy.  It is spiritual passion, purification, revelation, regeneration.  It is the medium for conveying messages to the heavens.  It is (again) dual natured, divine and demonic, creative and destructive, intellectual and emotional. It is a device of ritual sacrifice and a common means of Christian martyrdom.  It is the central element of alchemy.  Fire is traditionally associated with Trickster Gods like Prometheus and Loki. Let me underline here how this version of the Joker and Loki are the same figure.  There are many articles at this site delineating Promethean characters.  The Joker and Loki are in that camp, retrograde.

According to Gaston Bachelard's Psychoanalysis of Fire, it is "-the archetypal image of phenomena in themselves".  That's a bit of a hard concept to parse,  but the basic idea is that experiential existence is like the visible and tactile energy of something burning.  I'm still thinking about that one.  Existence is a kind of release of energies.  Think about the origins of the universe starting with a big explosion. 

Even more on target than Loki or Prometheus is the association  with Lucifer, as I suggest with the Milton quote at the top of the page.  Hall recounts a story told by 18th century alchemy scholar Georgius von Welling that the material universe was created accidentally by Lucifer's misuse of the Schamayim, the Divine Fire.  Here's the most prominent Joker card utilized in the film to hammer home this association.

These cards are deployed to the potential victims of the Joker's triple murder plot.  The judge is killed by fire.  Fire in this context is about the Luciferian desire to annihilate time and bring all things to the end. This is what is meant by the key line of dialog for this film, when Alfred, speaking on how Wayne doesn't fully understand the Joker, states "Some men just want to watch the world burn".

It is by Fire that Rachel Dawes is murdered (sacrificed) and  Harvey Dent is turned into Two Face.  Note the floor Harvey's face is lying upon as it is half submerged in gasoline.

Here's Two-Face.  All this talk of duality and combined dualities?  That's overtly inherent in every iteration of this character.  I talk in Illuminating Harry Potter about the Roman god Janus (when discussing Prof. Quirrell and Voldemort).  Here he is again.  Janus is the god of thresholds and beginnings, exits and endings.  He is representative of acts of inversion and mutual sacrifice.  He is the transmitter of the knowledge of the law and of agriculture (that's sowing and reaping).

And when the Joker sets Two-Face, his initiate, loose on the city?  There's fire.  And there's a checkerboard.  And this vital stage of initiation involves a cross-dressing Joker, a synthesis of Randall Patrick McMurphy and Nurse Ratched, the union of opposites.  The androgyne or hermaphrodite is symbolically alchemy's coincidentia oppositorum, the incarnation of the Great Work.  It is the same meaning as a head with two faces, interestingly enough.  For this reason the androgyne is a common figure for conducting an initiation ceremony.  Now take a look at the very first image of this article and note the hexagon pattern of the Joker's shirt.  A hexagon is a six sided figure.  Six represents unity and equilibrium.  Why?  Because the hexagram is the combination of an upward pointing male triangle, and a downward pointing female triangle. It's an androgyne. 

Here is the Joker's vandalized circus truck.  The word circus is related to the word circle, due to the shape of the performance area.  Circuses almost always involve animal acts.  A circle of animals is a manner of referring to the zodiac.  Every media use of circus can esoterically relate to the zodiac.  This is a key point.  The zodiac is important due to the precession of the equinox, a grand scale matter of astronomical timing, the shifting of ages (golden, silver, bronze, iron) which is allegorized in many, many places as stories about the end of the world.  We are living in the shifting from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius.  And think how popular apocalyptic stories are right now.  This harrowing scene starts with a burning fire truck, a pun by the Joker, and another deployment of Fire symbolism associated with him. 

Does this seem like a lot to extrapolate from the graphics on the side of a truck?  This is what esoteric symbolism is all about.  In this case the above is emphasized by the black and white  initiatory patterned tent, and the Ferris wheel, a circle, and one that looks like a sun burst and an eye.  A single eye emitting a black beam or sitting atop a column.  Now that I'm saying it, try not to see that Ferris wheel as a stylized Eye of Sauron.  Return, if you like, to the obscured eye image at the start of the article.  What is alchemy's Great Work?  Turning base metal into gold.  But that's an allegory.  The basis of mythology is astronomy.  It's time keeping.  It's a turning that's a returning, back to the start of the circle, iron into gold.

 

In his last act, the Joker has a failed use of fire involving the two ferries in a Prisoner's Dilemma  scenario, and creates a hoax that Batman uses his enlightened senses to see through involving masking hostages as Clowns and his thugs as Doctors.  As I contend in the Doctoring Art Gotic articles, Doctors are the teachers of the Invisible College.  Batman gets caught in a net (a grid-structure of the visible and invisible, and a symbol of magical authority) prior to the Joker being displayed as Tarot trump twelve, The Hanged Man.  The symbolism of this card is overtly sacrificial, and once again Odinic.  It represents expiation, inversion and realignment.  And what does The Hanged Man predict?  The elevated Batman's Fall, generating a new hoax wherein he takes responsibility for the murders committed by Two-Face, an act of expiation, and the Dark Knight entering into obscurity. 

How interesting that in the Tim Burton Batman movie the Joker also hangs before falling (from a tower, weighed down by a statue of the Devil).  In The Dark Knight the Joker lives but Two-Face dies in a Fall.  Joel Schumacher's Two-Face also dies from a Fall.  The Dark Knight is Ledger's last full role.  He half finished Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.  He enters that story as a hanged man, where his Joker role left off.  Inverted.

 

The Joker dies, the Joker lives, the Joker dies, the Joker lives.  The subject of this article is a few years gone by now.  This doesn't really make it more comfortable to talk about though.  And, though not nearly as prominently, this matter of the Joker's living and dying and living, and the questions about it all, have become topical again due to an interview comic book writer and so-called chaos-magician Grant Morrison gave to Kevin Smith where Morrison makes a claim regarding what is highly regarded as the best Joker comic book story ever produced, The Killing Joke.  The Killing Joke is by another self-professed comic book writer/magician, Alan Moore and the amazing Brian Bolland.  It involves the Joker shooting and paralyzing Barbara Gordon, who is secretly Batgirl, and photographing her naked, wounded body (and possibly raping her) with the intent of driving Commissioner Gordon insane.  It ends like this:

art by Brian Bolland

With the Batman and the Joker sharing a laugh at a joke as the police arrive.  Some comic readers find this scene, read straight, as touching, though I am not amongst their ranks. Morrison contends that it was Moore's intent to suggest, though not overtly, that Batman kills the Joker.  And I agree.  I always thought this was being suggested.  I mean, look, the light goes out in the last panel.  The line separating the two of them disappears.  Batman proves the Joker is right by breaking his cardinal rule and killing the Joker.  And this was really the Joker's purpose because his existence is a misery.  However, this is fiction.  It is only so much about the author's intent.  There is no inherent truth, which means that both endings are simultaneously true.  And false.  Morrison fully realizes this I'm sure.  Smith might as well.  Note that Morrison has in his recent career killed and resurrected Batman, killed the latest Robin who is the son of Batman and Talia al Ghul, not to mention killed and resurrected Superman as the heart of the sun.  What is death in comics?  It is a symbol system.  It is a motif of exit and entrance.  It is about resurrection.  Always.