Generation HP: Why growing up with Harry Potter means more than you think

I, like a lot of people my age, grew up with Harry Potter. Harry was 11 when I was 11, at home sick reading “Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone” for the first time. The movies used to always come out in November, the same weekend as my birthday. And when Harry would have been commencing from Hogwarts, I had just graduated from high school (I didn't have to take a year off to destroy Horcruxes like he did). As we matured, we began to have bigger questions in life and face bigger problems. We needed more complicated material, and J.K. Rowling provided. Harry struggled with his identity, with his dark side and his similarities to Voldemort. He dealt with disappointment in his mentor, Dumbledore, and surprisingly saw good in his enemies. As we grew up, so did Harry, and our worlds became more complex, less black and white. Harry is far from perfect — he is a rule breaker, hot headed and quick to react. He isn't the smartest, nor the most physically strong character in the book, but he is the most selfless. Rowling has created a world where the most powerful magic lies not in the violent or arrogant, but in people like Harry. Our hero needs a little help along the way, though — when he first finds out about the Deathly Hallows, he becomes obsessed with finding them for his personal ends. With his friends to keep him in check, (spoiler alert) he ends up wielding them only when he has humbly accepted his fate, willing to lay down his life to save the wizarding world. Harry is not tempted by the lure of the Hallows' power; he is able to master his weaknesses, and them. The world of Hogwarts is a world where the spirit behind one's actions matter. The magic is more than hat tricks, it is much deeper, almost spiritual. Like the force in Star Wars, it influences and changes things. Entering a world like that challenges us to believe that what's inside does matter, to hold ourselves to higher standards. The world of Hogwarts is a place where hope prevails in the most dire circumstances, where a teenage boy can find the strength to do what's right, and anything is possible, from riding a dragon to marrying your true love. The world of Harry Potter may not be real, but like a lot of stories, it is real in our heads. As one wise wizard once told Harry, “Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?

Definitions of Sorcery in Melanesian Society

The practice of witchcraft or sorcery is another dark side of the belief system in Papua New Guinea. Sorcery and witchcraft are common beliefs in Melanesian society. Every society in Melanesia has either one of these forms of sorcery or witchcraft. Each of this practice is different from each other. That is, the practice of sorcery is not same as witchcraft and vise-versa, but the intention is the same as well as the outcome, death, from the practices.

Sorcery is known as destructive black magic. Sorcery can be defined as the ritual employment of harmful substances and objects for malevolent purpose. Sorcery requires the use of external and observable techniques of spells, potions, rites and other malevolent acts against others.

Unlike sorcery, witchcraft is innate and operates without the conscious intention of the witch. Witchcraft is described as the projection of harmful power residing in the agent. A witch can inflict sickness or death on others simply by staring at them or willing evil on them.

Generally, the practice and understanding of sorcery and witchcraft is different from place to place in Papua New Guinea. Thus, terms like magic, sanguma, black power, and posin are used interchangeably to mean either sorcery or witchcraft. Black power is another term that is used to mean posin, which involves potions and rites for harming and killing others.

This is another form of sorcery. It varies from place to place and the terms used are also varies from places. What others have thought or might think about sorcery and witchcraft varies in different places. It is not same, and thus, its understanding and usage is also different.

Another term that is commonly used is sanguma, a Pidgin word. The origin of the term is still unclear today. Today the term sanguma is mostly used to mean either one of sorcery or witchcraft. Sanguma is described as an evil activity that is associated with killing others through some spiritual means.

The victim is poisoned; objects are inserted into the victim’s body, vital organs, causing swelling, causing infection and eventually death. Sanguma is also a form of assault sorcery. The shortcomings of the terms and definitions mentioned, however, may cause considerable misunderstanding since they often do not find a real correspondence in the local terms.

The local terms may have specific meanings at any precise time in their place of origin, but when exported to another language or period, may lose their distinction and meaning.In order to avoid misunderstandings, I have decided to make use of the local terms as much as possible, and to stick to the meaning given by the local people, which have an appropriate usage and meaning in this context.

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