ABSTRACT

The Planetary Dream of Harry Potter

Gail A. Grynbaum, R.N., Ph.D. Private practice, San Francisco and
candidate in the Analytic Training program at the C.G. Jung Institute in
San Francisco.

Summary of Presentation

The “Harry Potter phenomenon” signals the emergence of a new energy and consciousness around the world. Certain myths or stories have the same relationship to the collective psyche that a personal dream does to an individual. This presentation/discussion will explore the meaning of the Harry Potter dream to our culture.

Learning Objectives:

To understand the relationship between fairy tales and dreams.
To grasp the symbolic meaning of Harry Potter.
To gain insight into the projection of the shadow .

Evaluation questions:

Abstract 

     The advent of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books and the first two films (Sorcerer’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, and The Goblet of Fire) signal a major psychical and literary event that has conjured up magical new energy around the world. The tales feed a collective hunger for images of renewal and hope. The presenter, an analytical psychologist, interprets the Harry Potter books/films from a cultural and psychological perspective. Certain myths or stories have the same relationship to the collective psyche that a personal dream has to an individual. The Harry Potter story is viewed as a modern fairy tale or dream series that reflects the spiritual and moral questions of our time.      The Harry Potter tales record the coming of age of an intuitive boy, in which the traditional young hero’s journey is woven through an unfamiliar hermetic world. The vivid images and themes of each book/film are explored along with amplification of the symbolic material. The presenter delves into the Harry Potter phenomenon psychologically through the archetypes (initiation, shamanism, alchemy) that emerge out of tales.  Harry Potter is seen as a contemporary healer who goes through his initiatory training via his dark encounters with the demonic Lord Voldemort at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.      Like a dream series with vivid images and archetypal themes, Harry Potter and his world stirs and works on us.  To bring the “dream” to consciousness we need to plumb the depths of it by moving into the Hogwarts environment and experience the energy of imaginative characters like Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Headmaster Dumbledore, Lord Voldemort and the Dementors. Then we will reflect on Harry’s own dreams and nightmares and the significant archetypes that emerge from the stories.  A focus of the discussion will be contemporary themes, known well to dreamworkers, such as scapegoating and the projection of the shadow, dissociation and embodiment, and the battle between good and evil. We will explore how might the conscious situation on the planet be compensated by the Harry Potter stories.   Join Gail Grynbaum, PhD for a presentation and focused group discussion to reflect on the many layers of meaning that Harry Potter and his friends and foe are carrying for both children and adults.
   

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