The Harry Potter books have conjured up everything from record book sales to toil and trouble — and many self-proclaimed real-life witches are loving it!
The fictional 11-year-old wizard has brought them newfound respectability.
Local adherents of Wicca — a religion linked to paganism and witchcraft — say the popularity of the Harry Potter series of children’s books is correcting misconceptions about a belief system that’s been much maligned in pop culture and often linked to black magic and devil worship.
In Harry Potter’s world, the witches are the normal ones — a welcome change for real-life witches who are generally portrayed as evil in children’s tales and movies.
Joe Zuchowski, 43, a Wiccan high priest who lives in Manhattan, said the books not only portray witches in a positive light, but also teach children valuable lessons.
“Children can learn from them,” he said. “The books say we are all different [and] at the same time that we shouldn’t be afraid of those differences. It actually portrays witches in a different and good way.”
The books — the fourth volume is scheduled to be released at 12:01 a.m. next Saturday– don’t actually deal with the philosophical aspects of Wicca. Instead, they focus on Harry, who practices witchcraft while combating evil with magic spells.
Local Wiccans scoff at the schools and libraries across the country that have banned the series and at parents who fear the books will encourage children to seek out paganism or show an unhealthy interest in the occult.
“I grew up reading about ghosts and goblins and I developed an interest in them, but my brother who grew up in the same house didn’t,” Zuchowski said.
“It’s up to each individual child. There have been fairy tales for hundreds of years and that hasn’t done anything negative to children who’ve read them.”
Mary Alagna, part-owner of Enchantments, a store on East 9th Street that specializes in witchcraft paraphernalia, said people who condemn Harry Potter without reading the series are misguided.
“Contempt for something without investigation is a sin,” said Alagna, who sells the Potter books in her witchcraft shop amid shelves containing jars of colored powders and liquids, candles, and trinkets used in casting spells.
“The message in these books are different,” she said. “They’re magical and fun — that’s what scares people.”
Amy Sapphire, 37, a Druid priestess who lives in Manhattan, said even though the books have little to do with actual beliefs, they help children understand that not all witches are evil.
“What better way than through children to teach future generations that practicing witchcraft has nothing to do with flying around on a broom,” she said.