Harry: “Is this real or is it just happening inside my head?”
Dumbledore: “Of course it’s happening inside your head, Harry. Why should that mean it’s not real?”
– from Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows
Harry is an uncompromisingly courageous character, humble, ballsy and extremely kind, despite the shit load of trauma he has to deal with in his life. Not to mention the deaths of those most dear to him, including his mother and father, he is continuously hunted by the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Voldemort (there, I named him).
I wonder what it’s like to go through life in persecution and fear, haunted by bloody demons, whispering tongues, lightning pain splitting his soul and the melancholic ghosts of his past. He is haunted both in sleep and in waking life.
Having been caught up by the Fantastic Beasts films, starring the wonderful Eddie Redmayne, who I will forever adore since his breaktaking performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, I revisited the Harry Potter films in turn. Waiting for number 4, the Goblet of Fire, I actually forgot how great 3, 5 and 6 are. And 7 and 8. (Just 1 and 2 are a little bit lacking and dated in my opinion, but they begin the journey of falling in love with the characters and this world).
As I re-watch these films, it feels far away, this kind of darkness and fear. Which in turn shows me how incredibly privileged I am. I do not have to fight a war and stare hatred in the eyes of my fellow brothers. I do not have to worry about where my next meal or sip of clean water is coming from. I do not have to worry about knowing where I’m going to sleep tonight or how I’m going to keep warm in the rains. I am extremely lucky and humbly grateful.
These films and this topic touches me in a deep and mysterious place, as I prepare for my upcoming show Mind, Medicine, Madness: The Seven Ravens this Monday and then two weeks later in Tel Aviv.
In the middle of Winter, the story itself unfolds to me with greater depth and meaning as conversations with the past are re-ignited, the language of signs and symbols speaks to me in the form of a white dress, a giant snail on my doorstep and a knowing inside.
The most important message that walks with me through all of my weaving, my mission in this life: transforming dark into light.
Daring to go through and not around it, with courage and my allies of creativity and community to guide the way.
Thank you.
Shabbat Shalom
Hanukkah Sameach
MidWinter Magic Warmth, Cuddles, Candles and Goodness!
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