Psychological Healing
in the Roman Catholic Mystic Tradition

Questions and Answers

By the way, I’m curious—what do you think of the Potter and Tolkien fantasy books?

 
In their psychological effect, the Harry Potter books are clearly anti-Christian. It may seem on the surface that the books offer only harmless entertainment, but magic and sorcery have no place in Christianity, and, in fact, the emphasis on self-serving power contradicts basic Christian values of humility and self-surrender to God. How can children learn to value sacrifice and prayer when their heads are filled with fantasies of using magic to get what they want?

Such books really have no legitimate place in a Catholic family—except, perhaps, to illustrate the extent to which our culture in general thrives on anti-Christian lore.

J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is, well, a different story, literally. Tolkien was Roman Catholic, and he attempted in his fantasy writings to convey a sense of underlying Christian values.

But, ultimately, he really wasn’t all that successful, because, if he were, then readers of his books would be flocking to the Church saying, “Well, we’ve seen the faint imitation, now we want the real thing.”

And why aren’t Tolkien’s readers flocking to the Church? Well, they never get past the allure of the fantasy structure itself. Most readers get stuck in the seduction of the Elves’ “natural” purity and magic, or they become fascinated with the grandeur and power of the sorcerers. The self-sacrifice of Frodo, which is supported all along the way by the Elves’ magic and the sorcerers’ protection, comes only at the end of the final book, so it’s more of a denouement in the context of a larger battle than a gripping metaphor for Christ’s journey to the Cross.

So, in the end, all fantasy literature must encounter its own moral failure. It’s just not possible to use glamour and power to convey the deep meaning of Christian humility and self-surrender. And, to be perfectly blunt, a devout Christian life grounded in quiet faith and the patient endurance of adversity is, by entertainment standards, simply boring.

Of course, fantasy literature does have some value. All children need toys and playful fantasy in order to develop a sense of social functioning; but eventually, as Saint Paul said, there comes a time to put away childish things and take up the cross.

Many of those who had become believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices. Moreover, a large number of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in public. They calculated their value and found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces. Thus did the word of the Lord continue to spread with influence and power.

—Acts 19:18-20

 

What the Catechism of the Catholic Church says:

2116  All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to “unveil” the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.
 

 


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