Harry Potter has always been one of my absolute favorite series. I was taken to see the first movie in theaters in 2001, and my ten year old self thought it was literally the greatest thing I had ever seen. Kids, my age, finding out they were witches and wizards and going to live in a castle to learn magic? Um, sign me up please.
After seeing the first movie, I immediately asked my parents to buy me the books and from there on I was hooked. I’d read each book as it came out and subsequently would see each movie in the theater as it came out. When the last film premiered in 2011 (and I saw the midnight premiere of it, of course)I was turning twenty - a full decade after I had seen the first one, and it was still my absolute favorite thing.
I loved being whisked way to a world full of magic… but as I got older, I realized there were so many parallels from the world of Harry Potter to our actual world. There was so much wisdom and good advice embedded in there, definitely aligned with all the spiritual and personal development teachings I had learned.
A few years ago, thanks to my instagram account, I became friends with the amazing Erica Haskett! We both followed each other and initially bonded over both being named Erica - but then we realized we were also both artists, both loved color, both love spiritual things and positivity, both love Mac and cheese and chocolate chip cookies, and of course, both super, super love Harry Potter.
This past fall, Erica visited NYC and we got to hangout in real life and had so much fun - and then even a few months later right before Christmas we happened to be in Disney at the same time, so we very briefly crossed paths in Magic Kingdom!
This year, Erica suggested we should do some sort of book club or something to still keep in touch regularly… and when she mentioned she wanted to do a re-read of Harry Potter, I was so in as I had been wanting to do a re-read too! (The Harry Potter reunion on HBO definitely influenced that for sure!)
So, Erica & I agreed to do a full re-read of all seven books! And we figured afterwards, we’d write down some of our takes and the amazing life lessons that can be pulled from this series.
We definitely plan on doing a blog post for each seven, so keep checking back every month or so for the next one!
Without further ado, here’s the first one!
Here is the great Life Lessons we learned from the Sorcerer’s Stone!
Erica Haskett, House Hufflepuff
Erica Haskett’s takes on Life Lessons from The Sorcerer’s Stone:
Let me just start by saying that Harry Potter and the sorcerer’s stone is such a fun book. It’s full of all of the things we love about childhood–friendship, school and, of course, any and all things creative and magical. Reading Sorcerer’s Stone always reminds me of how much fun my childhood was–particularly elementary school, which is what school Harry, Ron, and Hermione would have been in in the muggle world.
All through reading this book I was refilled with childlike glee and wonder as I stepped back into the wizarding world. The emotions of the characters are so relatable, the plot so full yet so simple, and everything just unfolded so perfectly one or another–just like in childhood. It’s blissful to read.
My favorite part of the book, the part that stood out the most to me this time, was the chapter about the mirror of erised. When Harry finds it, he can see his whole family in it. When he shows it to Ron, Ron sees himself as head boy and with both the house and quidditch cup and as quidditch captain. As Dumbledore explains it, the mirror of erised “shows us nothing less than the deepest, most desperate desires of our hearts”.
When I think about the mirror of erised, I think about how it can be a very powerful manifestation tool. If it can show me the deepest desires of my heart, it can help me achieve them. And then help me dream new dreams and achieve those as well simply by showing me that what I desire is attainable. By showing me as already having it like it did Ron.
^Erica's picture from Lancock Abbey in London where they filmed the room with the Mirror of Erised
This chapter also got me wondering about what the deepest, most desperate desires of my heart are and what I would see if I looked in the mirror of erised today. And honestly, aside from my soulmate (cliche I know), I’m not sure what else I desire. I’ve always done a pretty amazing job of manifesting my desires and living my dream life, so I’m not sure what exactly is next on my list of desires beside falling in love with my soulmate, but I do know that the mirror of erised would show me that desire and plenty more, and I would be most eager to stand in front of it and see what it shows.
Erica Rose, House Slytherin
Erica Rose’s takes on Life Lessons from The Sorcerer’s Stone:
My favorite life metaphor in this whole book is the Devil’s Snare scene. This one is a bit more illustrated and dramatic in the movie than in the book, but it’s still the same gist. Once Ron, Hermione, and Harry, eager to go stop “Snape” and get the Sorcerer’s Stone, get passed the three headed Fluffy, they fall into a pit of Devil’s Snare. The harder they fight and struggle, the tighter the vines wrap around them. Hermione, being the genius she is, encourages them that it only makes it worse and instead they need to just remain calm and let go. Harry, is able to do so. He stops struggling and the vines release him. However, Ron fails to do so, so Hermione must shine super bright light onto the snare to make it shrink away.
This to me is such a metaphor for manifesting and trusting the Universe! When we try so hard to to force things into happening and when we can’t surrender control, we only make things that much more difficult for ourselves. But instead, if we just learn to trust, to let go, stay calm, and fully surrender, we allow space for things to naturally fall into place. When you trust that it’ll all be okay and the Universe has your back, you make it that much easier for yourself.
And when it doubt, just shine your light on a situation! Having a good mindset, good expectations, hope, and kindness can solve *most* problems.
I think also Harry Potter blindly trusting the Weasleys about running into the wall between platforms 9 & 10 to get to 9 & 3/4 is another great metaphor about just trusting the Universe, trusting that you don’t & won’t always know what you’re getting yourself into, and you might not be ready, but sometimes you just gotta run into it and trust that it’s going to lead to better things.
^ me at King's Cross Station in London in 2015! LOL you can't see but my sweatershirt is the Quibbler
At the end of the novel, Harry asks Dumbledore why Quirrel/Voldemort burned upon touching Harry. Dumbledore explains: “If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign… to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.”
I love this because it is true that the ones who love us never really leave us - I know this is a quote later on in the series haha - but it really is a mark echoed throughout the entire saga.
Love is the most powerful form of magic. It truly is a strength, and even after our loved ones leave us, there love is still with us. And I know that they are always watching over us and protecting us - they become additional guardian Angels for us. I always encourage everyone to talk to their loved ones on the other side as often as they need to because they absolutely do here - and its always great to ask them for help, because they truly can work their magic to give us beautiful assistance whenever we need. You truly never will be a bother to your angels.
I think too overall, just the theme of Harry discovering he was a wizard is a great metaphor for life - we all have magic within us. It may not be the way it’s presented to us in fictional media, we may not be able to wave wands and turn animals into water goblets, but we definitely have our own human form of magical abilities.
Before most kids get their Hogwarts letters, the sign of being marked as a witch or wizard was that they’d make things happen that they just couldn’t quite explain. Example: Harry’s hair seemed to grow back right after a bad haircut.
But isn’t this kind of true with us and with the Law of Attraction and Vibration all the laws of energy in the universe?
Sometimes we think things and then they happen. We think about a friend and then we run into them. Or we think about an episode of a tv show and then we turn on tv and it just happens to be on. We think about a croissant and then a friend just happens to get us one. We know we’re going to win a contest to win concert tickets and then we do. We wish that the weather is going to be sunny for our birthday despite a rainy forecast and when the day comes it winds up being beautiful sunny weather.
All of these things are the way we create magic. Utilizing universal energy is our magic powers. We live in a world where everything is made up of energy - including not only ourselves but our thoughts and feelings as well. We can use this to our advantage by envisioning and feeling the things we want to happen as if they already happened. We can manifest anything we want into existence. We can see ourselves making our dreams come true and then we can make our dreams come true. This is our form of magic.
So in a way, we are exactly like the kids at Hogwarts. Sometimes we make magic happen without any explanation (other than manifestation!) and then, when we’re trained properly, we can learn to intentionally make magic and make all our wishes come true!
So next time someone tries to tell you you’re a muggle, you absolutely are not. If you have ever manifested anything (and we all have whether we realize it or not)Yer a wizard!
& be sure to follow Erica Haskett on instagram!
