Back in the summer of 2007, after the cover for Deathly Hallows had been revealed, but before the book had been released, I, like many other HP fanatics, was caught up in exploring and speculating on every aspect of the cover for possible clues toward the forthcoming story. I was especially fascinated with that mysterious, geometric symbol on the spine of the Bloomsbury UK cover.
Having already spent a good deal of time analyzing and presenting workshops on the alchemical and Egyptian mythological underpinning of the series, I of course looked there for an understanding of the symbol. I completed an editorial analyzing it as the last segment of a 3-part essay on Egyptian mythology in Harry Potter that was published on Mugglenet.com.
Unfortunately, the editors at Mugglenet were so busy posting an onslaught of last minute theories before the final revelation, that they didn't get the last two parts of my series posted until the comment section had been shut down ahead of DH's release to prevent spoilers. So, I never got feedback on my, of course, brilliant theories! ;-)
But now that I have a blog of my own, I can subject you all to this last, lost speculation! So, if you're ready to revisit those long-gone wonderful times of plastering the Internet with wild theories before the next Harry Potter release, then sit back and grab something good to drink, because when I dip into fan speculation, I tend to get long-winded.
Harry's Sacred Egyptian Triangle
In the introduction to the essay linked above, I said:
And now for what I consider the most exciting part of this three-part editorial -- that symbol on the spine of the Bloomsbury children's cover, the one that has inspired much discussion, sparked such controversy, and appeared as the key into the last round of W.O.M.B.A.T. questions. That sign, in my opinion, is a decidedly Egyptian symbol with some mixed-in alchemical and Masonic esoteric meaning. Essentially, I think it is a composite sign of JKR’s own creation -- an Egyptian Triangle with the Eye of Horus and Tree of Life layered on top.(My editorial is very long, but if you're interested, it will give you greater insight to the theories below).
My argument was thus:
1) the triangle represented the sacred Egyptian Triangle or Golden Triangle, a symbol of the goddess Isis, her deceased husband Osiris, and their child Horus. These three together were the sacred, holy family and thus symbolized eternal love and the new life that is born of that love. (Through earlier parts of my editorial, I'd already analyzed how Isis = Lily, Osiris = James, and Horus = Harry).
2) the circle inside the triangle represented the Eye of Horus, a symbol of Divine protection and restoration, and ancestor of the Eye of Providence watching out from afar, giving guidance.
3) the line bisecting both triangle and circle from top to bottom represented the Tree of Life, a symbol of life, obviously, but also of a central pillar that had roots in the underworld, a trunk in our world, and branches into the realms of the gods.
Now, as it's been over three years since Deathly Hallows has been released, read, reread, and digested, I can look back on this speculation and see how my original theory fit in with the reality of the book (or at least my opinion of it!).
How JKR used this Egyptian symbolism in her created Hallows:
1) The invisibility cloak was the one Hallow handed down from father and son through the generations. It represented love and protection and for Harry was almost always shared among his only living family -- his friends Ron and Hermione. Notice that it was quite frequently the three of them under that cloak, Harry's own golden triangle of friendship and love.
2) The Resurrection Stone had the ability to bring the dead back, just not to real life. For Cadmus, it drove him crazy to be with a love he could never truly possess again. But for Harry, who sought not to possess but to be counseled, the stone brought him the comfort from the guidance of those who had gone before him. Lily, James, Lupin, and Sirius truly gave him divine loving guidance and protection on his walk to meet Death. And of course, we must not forget Dumbledore, who through the blue eyes of his brother Aberforth in the fragment of a mirror, still watched out for Harry throughout this last book.
3) If you look at that line on the Bloomsbury cover representing the wand, you'll see that it's actually a spear, with a pointed tip at its head. As the most powerful wand created, the Elder Wand had the ability to pierce the Veil of Death by both sending its master's adversaries across the veil, and supposedly preventing its master from making the trip himself. Of course, it failed to do the latter. However, the elder wand, this stick from a tree, is an ironic symbol of the Tree of Life in its human-mangled transformation into a Death Stick.
Even back in 2007, I never believed that JKR in her actual text would use any of these words: Egyptian Triangle, Eye of Horus, Tree of Life, but rather that these meaning were subtextual, hidden below the surface, to provide an extra layer of depth and meaning to her rabid readers. Of course, all this is conjecture on my part, and I may be totally off the mark in the meaning and images she was drawing upon when she created her Hallows.
But there is one thing I am sure of...when dealing with an author of JK Rowling's caliber, she most definitely had carefully, thought-out meaning and well-researched imagery behind each of those symbols. And when she finally issues the Harry Potter Encyclopedia, I'm hoping we'll find out these final secrets!
PS: I have more to say on this and will probably add a few more thoughts into the comments as they go. But this post is already very long and not sure how into this stuff anyone else but myself will be!
