Harry Potter and the Psychomanteum of Erised
J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is, as we all know by now, the most popular written word since the Bible, having sold about 1 copy for every 12 people on earth and turned Rowling into the first, and to this day only, billionaire author. The Potter series, in addition to being the most popular series of books ever, is also probably one of the most paranormally themed series of books ever, touching upon so many familiar concepts that it’s almost difficult to know where to begin; Plain ol’ magic, or something a bit more esoteric, such as the Hand of Glory or remote viewing?
I’ve read all seven books, and I found the first four to be absolutely phenomenal, with the fifth alternating between great and mind-numbingly frustrating. I don’t know what it is about Rowling’s characters, but they struggle with social situations more than the average mouse at a cat show. I didn’t particularly care for the sixth and seventh books (honestly. Ginny Weasley?), but they did contain a fair deal of interesting paranormal tidbits that are a bit off the beaten path, which we may get into later if I can force myself to dig them out of the back of my bookshelf, where they’re currently stowed behind an immense jar of pennies.
One of the integral, and perhaps most interesting minor scenes in all of the books takes place in the first volume, the Sorcerer’s Stone (Philosopher’s Stone in Britain), where our protagonist has a chance encounter with a certain item in the castle of Hogwarts. Not a moving staircase, flying keys, or a stone that promises eternal life, but something more innocuous; An old mirror.
When Potter stumbles upon this mirror, he becomes interested enough to look into it, and then enthralled, later obsessed, when the reflection that greets him back contains not just his own image, but his deceased parents as well. Hours upon hours go by, and Harry sits there on the floor of this chamber, gazing into this mirror. He loses track of time, awareness of his surroundings, and then her reverie is broken by wise old Professor Dumbledore, who gives him a mystic explanation about the mirror: “It does nothing more or less than show the deepest and most desperate desires of our heart.”
While it is a fantastical object, likely one constructed from Rowling’s own creative mind, it bears some eerie similarities to something that is nearly as ancient in the world of the paranormal as we can get, and something that would immediately strike the mind of someone who is familiar with it: The Psychomanteum.
The Psychomanteum, or Psychomanteion, depending on your preference, is the modern name of an ancient method of communicating with the dead, famously used by the Greek Oracles of Death in Ephyra, the modern city of Parga. Homer wrote about the site, then called the Nekromanteion, in the Odyssey, which featured Odysseus descending into the chamber to converse with the dead. Given this, the practice goes back to at least the 8th Century B.C., and perhaps as far back as 2,000 B.C. when the area was settled by the Thesprotians.
The practice fell by the way side for centuries, though in many cultures mirror gazing remained popular until the advent of the radio, according to Dr. Raymond Moody, perhaps the world’s foremost scholar on the Psychomanteum and life after death. Dr. Moody has re-invented the practice in the modern world, taking the ancient techniques and modernizing them to work in today’s world. I had the opportunity to meet and speak at length with Dr. Moody in February of 2007, when he came to my neck of the woods to conduct a workshop with his followers. It was an enlightening weekend, and included my first experience with the Psychomanteum; I waited my turn and then strode into the dark room, windows covered with heavy drapes and blankets, gap under the door covered by a blanket. The room was comfortable. Not cramped, but cozy. The chair I was to sit in was high backed and full of cushions, and there was a blanket on hand to keep myself comfortably warm.
The mirror itself was atop a table against the wall about five feet in front of me, and I sat back to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness, after the lights went out. A small, flickering electric candle was behind my chair, allowing just the briefest amount of light. A white noise generator began to help put my mind in a relaxed state, and the flickering light finally began to make itself known. As my eyes finally adjusted after about ten to fifteen minutes, I could barely make out the silvery sheen of the mirror’s surface, set to just the right height that I was unable to see my own reflection in it, even if the lights were on. Gradually, my brain activity slowed down until I was in a near trance, my vision began to tunnel, and suddenly it was there. Something, I don’t know what. A flash of a gray scale face with bright green eyes. As soon as I noticed it, I concentrated on it and it was gone. That simple act of raising my awareness level was enough to break the vision.
That is the nature of the Psychomanteum, whether it is something that is merely psychological, or if it truly is a method of contact with the other side, remains to be seen. Other people, close friends of mine even, have reported incredible things within the chamber, so incredible I would scarcely believe them if not for the trust that I place in them. For myself, though, this has so far been the best that I’ve gotten in my experimentation.
Obviously we are not in the realm of Harry Potter, but the similarities between the Psychomanteum and the Mirror of Erised are startling in some capacities, looking at the experiences that some people have had in the real world. It leaves one to wonder, what would happen in the most perfect environment? They say that the dead rose from the polished bronze bowl of oil that the Greeks used for their reflective surface, and walked among the living for brief moments. If a true Nekromanteion were to be constructed today, in an underground cave with walls over the entrance some eleven feet thick, and if the human mind was set to just the right frequency of activity, I truly do wonder if the Mirror of Erised would become a reality to us, rather than a simple magical object in a fantasy world.
This has been an installment of Popular Paranormal, and I thank you for reading.
