Reality vs Fantasy



  " Confronting reality by reading fantasy in Harry Potter" 



One thing we cannot deny is the popularity of fantasy in our modern culture. For confirmation, just look at the sales of fantasy video/ computer games, the popularity of the television show The X-Files, or the box-office draw of Star Wars and its related merchandise sales. Why are fantasy items so popular? While some educators write off fantasy as escapist and not sufficiently serious for young people to read (Charnas), others suggest that fantasy replaces the boredom of everyday life with the strange and unusual and provides an escape from the problems of modern society (Sanders). With its appeal to the senses, fantasy may provide adolescents with a feeling of overcoming the odds and being triumphant at a time when their own lives are often a series of "battles" that they lose or never even get to fight.

There is fantasy and good story telling in the Harry Potter books. At the same time, the stories are infused with references to actual occult practices,  some of which I once studied and practiced. But since these practices are mixed in with fantasy, readers may think these practices are fantasy, too.


The hero of the book is a wizard who attends a school, Hogwarts, where he is learning how to use his powers through studying and learning occult arts such as divination, casting spells, astrology, magical potions, and others. He is not a figure of contemporary pagan religions (such as Wicca), nor is he an imaginary wizard, but he is presented as a real boy who comes to the school to hone his innate magical abilities and develop into a practitioner of occult arts.


That Harry was born as a wizard is fantasy (though there are Witches today who believe they are born that way), but several occult arts referred to in the books are part of the real world and are not fantasy. In addition to those already mentioned above, other real occult practices in the books are: the Runes, numerology (arithmancy), and crystal gazing (scyring). The books also refer to alchemy, amulets, charms, contact with the dead, Nicolas Flamel (a real historical alchemist), the Dark Side, and many other occult practices or concepts. Using "good" magic to fight "bad" magic is a major component of the plot.


fiction and fantasy can be powerful vehicles of ideas and beliefs. The issue is not whether readers know the difference between reality and fantasy, but whether they realize that some things in these books are not fantasy and are used by real people in the real world as a good thing. 

Works Cited

Chris Crowe, Katherine T. Bucher and M. Lee Manning. "Young Adult Literature: A Boy's Alternative to Bodice-Rippers. Harry Potter Update: Is It for YAs?" The English Journal 89 (2000): 135-138.

Montenegro, Marcia. THE HARRY POTTER BOOKS: Just Fanasy? February 2007. 14 February 2018 <http://www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_HarryPotter.html>.


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