Monday, March 25, 2024

Harry Potter And The Sacred Text

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Harry Potter And The Sacred Text

Doing Somethings
Harry Potter and the Sacred Text
Presentation
  • Casper Ter Kuile
  • Ariana Nedelman
Ivan Pyzow and Nick Bohl
Composed by Ivan Pyzow and Nick Bohl
Audio format
202
Publication
Women of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text
Website harrypottersacredtext.com

Harry Potter and the Sacred Text is an audio podcast founded by Vanessa Zoltan and Casper Ter Kuile, and hosted by Vanessa Zoltan and Matt Potts, in which the Harry Potter books are read as a sacred text. Each episode, the characters and context of one chapter in the Harry Potter series are explored through a different central theme like ‘vulnerability’, ‘betrayal’, or ‘friendship’. The podcast, which charted #2 on the US iTunes Charts a few months after its inception in 2016, has been described as “Bible studies for J.K. Rowling fans”.

We Treat Texts As Sacred To Learn To Treat Each Other As Sacred

Harry Potter and the Sacred Text grew out of a real-life practice begun by Casper ter Kuile and Vanessa Zoltan. In September 2015, at a small community center affiliated with Harvard University, they developed a class called Harry Potter as a Sacred Text. Using the sacred reading practices they had studied at Harvard Divinity School, Vanessa and Casper would put the text of Harry Potter in conversation with the lives of the attendees and the world around them. Every Wednesday night, 30-60 people would gather for two hours to participate, laughing through chapter recaps , working in small groups to closely examine the text, and, over time, growing into a tight-knit community that celebrated birthdays and holidays together.

If you want to know about our journey in greater detail, check out our timeline.

Reading It In Community

Scholars of religion explain that what makes a text sacred is not the text itself, but the community of readers that proclaim it as such. The same applies for us. We started reading Harry Potter in community in Cambridge, Massachusetts in September 2015 and are excited to be expanding that community through this podcast!

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It might sound like a tongue-in-cheek item in The Onion, but a class on reading the Harry Potter books as sacred texts has proven a popular offering for the Humanist Hub at Harvard.

Led by Harvard Divinity School graduates Vanessa Zoltan, M.Div. 15, and Casper ter Kuile, M.P.P. 16, M.Div. 16, the class began as a reading group last summer at the Humanist Hub, where Zoltan is an assistant chaplain. It drew nearly 80 participants on its opening night, and is now starting its second year.

Recognizing the potential reach of their subject, Zoltan and ter Kuile joined with producer Ariana Nedelman, M.Div. 18 to put together a podcast. One successful Kickstarter campaign later, the group worked through final exams and wedding plans to produce the podcast, and the series debuted in May. It has since climbed as high as No. 2 on the iTunes top podcasts, and remains atop the religion and spirituality charts.

A proctor and student, respectively, Zoltan and Nedelman met with the Gazette in the Yard to talk about creating the podcast, the intricacies of reading a text as sacred, and how they see the future playing out.

Creativity: Beauxbatons And Durmstrang

Check out this great Podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/harry ...

This week, Vanessa and Matt explore the theme of Creativity in Chapter Fifteen of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! They discuss Harry and Ron’s creative predictions in Trelawney’s class, Snape’s threatening approach to a potions lesson, and Neville’s involuntary gymnastics. Throughout the episode we consider the question: how can we harness our creativity in order to problem solve? Thank you to Courtney for their voicemail! Next week we’re reading Chapter Sixteen, The Goblet of Fire, through the theme of maturity.–Its two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollars to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Its The English Class You Didn’t Know You Missed And The Meaningful Conversations You Didn’t Know You Craved Join Vanessa Zoltan And Matt Potts As They Bring Thought Reflection And Laughter To Harry Potter Not Just As Novels But As Instructive And Inspirational Texts That Will Teach Us About Our Own Lives Relive The Magic Chapter By Chapter As They Explore Themes Such As Commitment Revenge And Forgiveness This Podcast Creates Time In Your Week To Think About Lifes Big Questions Because Reading Fiction Doesnt Just Help Us Escape The World It Helps Us Live In Ithosted On Acast See Acastcom/privacy For More Information

Description:

Its the English class you didn’t know you missed and the meaningful conversations you didn’t know you craved. Join Vanessa Zoltan and Matt Potts as they bring thought, reflection and laughter to Harry Potter not just as novels, but as instructive and inspirational texts that will teach us about our own lives. Relive the magic chapter by chapter as they explore themes such as commitment, revenge and forgiveness. This podcast creates time in your week to think about lifes big questions. Because reading fiction doesnt just help us escape the world, it helps us live in it.Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The Chance To Discuss ‘harry Potter’ From A Spiritual Standpoint Is What Brought Hundreds Of Fans To A Live Taping Of ‘harry Potter And The Sacred Text’ Last Week In A Sold

INDIANAPOLIS Jessica Kanalos isnt a religious person.

But about a year ago, the 26-year-old Indianapolis resident was going through a difficult time.

Thats when she found a sacred book to lean on.

Harry Potter.

Or more specifically, Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, a popular podcast that uses the seven-book series by author J.K. Rowling as the basis for discussions of virtues and for spiritual practices.

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Finding a podcast that treated the books in a spiritual way meant a lot to Kanalos, who was already a fan of the beloved series about a young wizard and his friends engaged in an epic battle of good and evil.

Ive always kind of looked at it as something that I could relate to, she said. But I never thought about it in these deeper ways.

The chance to discuss the series from a spiritual standpoint brought Kanalos and 300 other fans to a live show of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text last week in a sold-out auditorium at the Indianapolis Public Librarys Central Library.

In the episode, which will be released this summer, co-hosts Vanessa Zoltan and Casper ter Kuile led a discussion of the final chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book of the series.

They were joined by the shows producer, Ariana Nedelman, and YouTube celebrity John Green, an Indianapolis native and author of the best-selling young adult book The Fault in Our Stars.

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Owl Post Edition: An Interview With Stephanie Paulsell

This week, Matt is joined by Stephanie Paulsell to discuss Wizarding supremacy in the Harry Potter series and a recent report on the legacy of slavery at Harvard. The two consider how we might use the Harry Potter series to think through injustices that are deeply ingrained into our buildings and gathering places, and what responsibility we have to name and atone for our shared history of violence and oppression.Thanks to Callie, Jaime, Erica, and our anonymous caller for their beautiful voicemail contributions! Next week we’re reading Chapter Sixteen, The Goblet of Fire, through the theme of maturity.–Its only two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollar to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Intellectual Humility: The Unforgivable Curses

History of the Sacred 28 (All PURE Blood Families) – Harry Potter Explained

This week, Vanessa and Matt explore the theme of Intellectual Humility in Chapter Fourteen of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, with some help from Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren! They discuss Snape’s cruelty towards Neville, the logic behind Barty Crouch Jr. / Moody’s approach to teaching the unforgivable curses, and the early days of S.P.E.W. Throughout the episode we consider the question: how can we use the concept of Intellectual Humility to be more “right-sized” in our everyday lives? We’re taking a break for the holidays, but we’ll be back next year reading Chapter Fifteen, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang through the theme of Creativity!–Its two sickles to join S.P.E.W., and only two dollars to join our Patreon for extra bloopers every week! Please consider helping us fill our Gringotts vault so we can continue to make this show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Harry Potter And The Sacred Text Not Sorry Productions

  • Religion & Spirituality

Its the English class you didn’t know you missed and the meaningful conversations you didn’t know you craved. Join Vanessa Zoltan and Matt Potts as they bring thought, reflection and laughter to Harry Potter not just as novels, but as instructive and inspirational texts that will teach us about our own lives. Relive the magic chapter by chapter as they explore themes such as commitment, revenge and forgiveness. This podcast creates time in your week to think about lifes big questions. Because reading fiction doesnt just help us escape the world, it helps us live in it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Experience A Live Recording Of The Popular Podcast And Meet Other Fans

What if we read the books we love as if they were sacred texts? What would we learn? How might they change us? “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text” is a podcast that uses Harry Potter, the best-selling series of all time, to ask life’s big questions.

Just as Christians read the Bible, Jews read the Torah, and Muslims read the Quran, atheist chaplain Vanessa Zoltan and Episcopalian priest and Harvard professor Matt Potts embark on a journey, chapter by chapter, to glean wisdom and meaning from J.K. Rowling’s beloved novels. In this live event, dive deep into a chapter of Harry Potter, hear stories from the hosts’ lives, and mingle with other fans.

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