Magic walks among us. We have learned to overlook it. Magic wands in our common story go all the way back to Moses’ and Aaron’s staffs in the Bible, and to every great wizard in every great story.
The pastor, Biblical student, philosopher and historian in me sees the parallels between magic wands, kings' scepters, and Moses' staff. My spiritual training teaches me that all wands and staffs simply represent an extension of ourselves---a reaching out of our power into the world to create change.A snake (or 2 snakes) wrapped around a staff is an ancient symbol called the "caduceus." It comes to us from Greek mythology (both the stories of Asclepius and of Hermes), as well as the Biblical story of Moses. We read in Numbers 21:9 "So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived."
The image of serpents wrapped around a staff is a familiar one in the medical field as well, decorating pharmaceutical packaging and hospitals alike. Snakes bites are generally bad news, thus the reptile might seem ill-fitting as a symbol of the medical profession, but the ancient emblem comes to us from many years of history and legend.
There are two versions of the symbol. The winged version is known as a caduceus, and the stick is actually a staff that was carried by the Olympian god Hermes. In Greek mythology, Hermes was a messenger between the gods and humans (which explains the wings) and a guide to the underworld (which explains the staff). Hermes was also the patron of travelers, which makes his connection to medicine appropriate because, in the olden days, doctors had to travel great distances by foot in order to visit their patients.
In one version of Hermes' myth, he is given the staff by Apollo, the god of healing. In another version, he receives the staff from Zeus, the king of the gods, and it is entwined with two white ribbons. The ribbons were later replaced by serpents, as one story tells that Hermes used the stick to separate two fighting snakes, who then coiled around his staff and remained there in balanced harmony.
Another, earlier depiction of the medical symbol is the staff of Asclepius, though it has no wings and only one snake. The son of Apollo and the human princess Coronis, Asclepius is the Greek demigod of medicine. According to mythology, he was able to restore the health of the sick and bring the dead back to life.
The Greeks regarded snakes as sacred and used them in healing rituals to honor Asclepius, as snake venom was thought to be remedial and their skin-shedding was viewed as a symbol of rebirth and renewal. This is a good thing to keep in mind the next time you spot a medical alert bracelet featuring the seemingly sinister serpents.
The Dementors in the Harry Potter stories stand out as symbols for deep depression and suicidal ideation. Our beliefs become tangled up with an overwhelming negative affect in depression, and the two feed on and reinforce each other. Depression drains us of hope and any sense of agency. The more helpless we feel, the less able we are to imagine any solutions. We become trapped in a cycle of hopeless thoughts and feelings of despair, so much so that we lose the ability to fight for our own wellbeing. Our hope and zest for life are drained away to the point of complete incapacity. It often takes the powerful support and positive action of friends and loved ones to save us. Very few people have the ability to escape such darkness without help.
Those of us prone to toxic shame are at the greatest risk of dementor attacks. Toxic shame arises if we come to fear that there is something terribly wrong with us---something we didn't cause and something we cannot cure. It is the idea that we are too evil or broken or stained, and that everything we do will be marred because we are so . It is the difference between, “I have done some bad things and therefore feel remorse” vs. “I am innately evil and worthless and unlovable and don't deserve to live.”
It is surprising how many of us fall victim to such irrational thinking. But toxic shame comes from shaming we experienced when we were little children, when we are not yet rational, when we trust what our siblings and teachers and parents tell us. Toxic shame can be a killer. It is very important that we learn how to recognize it so that we can get help. It often takes the strength of others to drive it away, though in time we can develop the skills to hold it off for a while, and eventually to drive it away completely.
Expecto Patronum!
"Expecto Patronum!" is the charm for driving away dementors. It takes tremendous practice, repeated effort, and the ability to recall wonderful and joyful memories. My battle with dementors in my life has required that I develop strong stories of being worthwhile to counteract the depressive thinking and suicidal ideation. To quote professor Lupin in Prisoner of Azkaban, a Patronus is, "'a kind of
Anti-Dementor – a guardian which acts as a shield between you and the Dementor.’
It’s also ‘a kind of positive force, a projection of the very things that the
Dementor feeds upon – hope, happiness, the desire to survive – but it cannot
feel despair, as real humans can, so the Dementors can’t hurt it.’''Therefore, summoning a Patronus requires recalling strong, overriding memories that stand strong against toxic shame. It requires the ability to connect to inner joy and hope, which can often spring from the things we most love and the moments of greatest happiness with friends. Depression is a muggle's dementor, and it takes time and effort, and the love and support of friends to be able to drive them away. Love and joy and the memories of deep friendship help us create our personal Patronus.
May you find good teachers and good companions to help you in your battles against dementors. May you find your powerful love, your way to extend it into the world, and to drive away the darkness with light.
With luck, I will also one day write about "Riddikulus" for muggles, and “Protego” for muggles, as well as review some of the most potent chocolates for recovery from Dementor attacks.
Until then, Expecto Patronum!
