It was no coincidence that the London world premiere of the fourth Harry Potter film based on Joanne “JK” Rowling’s successful seven part book series fell on the pagan festival of Halloween, otherwise known throughout Britain as Guy Fawkes or Bonfire Night. Each year on this night, thousands of human effigies are commemoratively burned on bonfires all across the UK.

Going back to book one of the series, the Harry Potter story begins on the same pagan “death and blood” festival of Guy Fawkes amidst exploding firework celebrations. A spiritual and physical battle takes place in the English village where the Potter’s live with Harry, their son who is less than a year old. The evil Lord Voldemort (who represents the dark side of occult magick) has decided to murder Harry and his powerful wizarding parents (referred to as so-called ‘white sorcerers’). In jealous rage, Voldemort attempts to kill the messiah-like Harry, but Harry’s mother, Lilly Potter, manages to save Harry’s life only to lose her own through her sacrificial act of love. Interestingly, according to pagan mythology, the female earth goddess is known as the original ‘potter’ who is said to have created man in the image of god and infused him with the breath of heaven.

On this fearful Halloween night, a major event was taking place in the Potter’s magical world. The one none dare call by name, the “You Know Who” (aka the wicked Lord Voldemort) had his dark power challenged by a baby, the one and only Harry Potter, who was destined to become the most famous orphan and school boy wizard of the magic world. (Ironically, Harry was also to become famous in the real world as the initiator of the re-popularization of witchcraft to millions of children worldwide). Never before had anyone lived after Voldemort had “decided to kill them”. He had already murdered some of the “best witches and wizards of the age” along with Harry’s parents. But even though Harry escaped murder, he got “marked for death” by Voldemort who branded him with a lightning bolt on his forehead (known in the pagan world as the third eye region) the result of when “a powerful evil curse touches you”. From henceforth, both Harry and Voldemort are to share the same dark source of power associated with the potent serpent who communicates in “snake” language with Harry throughout the books.

The night Harry is orphaned, he is also kidnapped by “friends” of his wizardry world. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, Harry is deposited on the doorstep of his muggle (non-occultic) aunt and uncle for his protection. Throughout Rowling’s books, the term muggle is used as a derogatory term relegated to those with non-wizard powers. (The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘mug’ as a fool or gullible person.) Harry is cruelly treated in his muggle world in many ways, such as being forced to sleep in a closet under the stairs. At 11 years old, his coming of age, he is rescued by the wizarding world (invisible to muggles) and recruited to attend the notorious occult school where both his parents were formerly headboy and headgirl. On several occasions to come, Harry will be visited by his dead father who appears as the powerful horned stag-god, consort to the ancient goddess. For the next seven years (the time JK Rowling claims it takes to perfect a wizard), at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Harry, along with over 300 other “witch” students, will be trained as any initiate would be taught in an occult order today.

Although packaged as fantasy and written in humorous and entertaining terms, avid young readers in the real world, along with the fictional students at Hogwarts, are fed a steady diet of true occult disciplines, some overt and others more subtle, but all nevertheless supernatural concepts the Bible warns against being involved in. Throughout the six books already published, Harry learns and practices dark skills forbidden by the Creator God of the Bible such as sorcery, astrology, spell casting, necromancy, and divination to name a few. Furthermore, these books glorify Harry’s participation in unbiblical values. Harry steals, lies, cheats, is rude, rebellious, and even breaks “wizardry” rules which he not only gets away with, but is often rewarded for by his occult teachers. In each book, Harry, his fellow students, and thousands of young Harry fans, are familiarized with a supernatural world of ghosts, terrifying demonic spirits, fearful powers, magical ceremonies, curses, hexes, shape-shifting, time-travel, mediaeval alchemy (the sacred science of transcended experience) and astral projection (an experience of counterfeit resurrection).

The controversy surrounding Harrymania is rife with confusion. Parents, school systems, and a myriad of teachers around the world applaud the Potter books for inspiring the resurgence of reading among younger children, while others, more concerned about the books’ glorification of unsociable behavior and spiritual dangers, condemn the books for their occult teaching and explicit bloody violence.

Many believe the worldwide promotion of Harry Potter’s worldview dovetails perfectly with the global religio-political agenda which leans heavily on edutainment – a favored way to train multicultural citizens for the envisioned 21 century world community. ( See DVD: Gods of Entertainment: The Power of Mass Media to influence and Corrupt)

The global impact of Pottermania, as it marches across time zones and amongst various people groups, is witnessed in its appeal to a generation who is discovering witchcraft as a legitimate alternative spirituality. Witchcraft is the fastest growing religion amongst teens, thriving on college campuses, underground covens, and throughout the Web. The Potter books, tantalizingly written and presented in state-of-the-art virtual reality special effects in the films, have the power to lead and manipulate through occult imagery and suggestions, erase built-in and age-old fears of witchcraft, alter traditional beliefs, and distort values in the Church.

In seven short years since 1998, Harry Potter sales have surpassed all predictions. By the time the sixth book was released in July 2005 more than 300 million books had sold globally. The combined worldwide box office takings of the first three films have amounted to $2.36 billion. Each book and film are praised for getting darker than the previous and the latest film scheduled for release in mid November 2005 is the first to have a PG13 rating, meaning that the film contains material deemed unsuitable for children under 13 by the MPAA. (Motion Picture Association of America).

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire was the fastest selling book in history on the first weekend of publication in July 2000 while in July of 2005, book number six, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince averaged more than 250,000 sales per hour in its first 24 hours. Barnes and Nobles alone reported selling 105 copies per second in the first hour of its release!

Slick advertising and marketing by combined mega entertainment corporations have facilitated the translation of Harry’s books into over 60 languages, four films with several conversions to Imax’s own larger screen format with the hope of reaching all of the 240 Imax theatres in 35 countries, the distribution of Potter trading cards, wizard computer games, clothes, gifts, action figures, audio cassettes, and countless other toys and games. Cyber marketing has broken pre-orders in e-commerce history on a single product. And so it goes, on and on. Nothing is too sacred for Pottermania. Churches also use Harry Potter themed activities for their own programs. Harry Potter Sunday school lessons, small group dialogs, and the preaching of Harry’s virtues from the pulpit is said to be bringing the young to Church.

A deep revolution is taking place in human minds, souls, and bodies as this bombardment and indoctrination is transforming children to not only embrace and accept pagan beliefs and values but to also learn how to combat the supernatural in their own human potential – a futile and dangerous endeavor. Amongst promotional tools is the reading aloud of Harry Potter books by teachers in public (government) school classrooms (1). Children are also being targeted by the glamorization of occultism in the entertainment industry and TV programming (2) along with more and more suggestive, sexually explicit advertising. Even the multi-billion dollar pornography business is attempting to reach a younger audience. Social engineering is remolding the spirit of millions away from Biblical Christianity and preparing the entire world to embrace one who the Bible names the anti-christ; the one world leader who will appear to take the place of Christ and demand all to take his mark of allegiance on their foreheads… an act Harry Potter fans already willingly comply with as they line up for film premiers and book signings, dressed in black, pointed hats, wands in hand, and Voldemort’s mark of death on their foreheads.

God’s Word commands us to guard our hearts against deception:

Caryl Matrisciana, producer of Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repacked. Making Evil Look Innocent .