Symbolism in The following are a few of my observations and interpretations of the symbolism contained in the film version of this story. I have noticed while perusing the net that there is much debate over how purely "Christian" the allegory in this film actually is. Personally, I don't care. I am simply pointing out a few examples of symbolism which I personally think are interesting. There are plenty of additional examples which I am not mentioning; I am focusing on the ones which I think are important or that other people might be missing. First of all, the Land of Narnia in the story is found only by the children, who are using their imagination. I believe this relates to the following Biblical idea:
According to "Jesus" in the Bible, one must be as humble as a child in order to get to Heaven. So Narnia represents heaven or, more loosely speaking, the spirit world. The children find Narnia to be in a state of perpetual winter. This represents the the rein of the dark side. Narnia, like many real-world countries, is ruled by the decrees of a self-proclaimed "Queen," but whom we soon learn is really a witch in disguise. The endless winter storm (darkness) begins to break once the children (representing innocence and lack of corruption) arrive in Narnia. They find that Narnia is inhabited by a multitude of beings, and the bad beings outnumber the good ones. As the story progresses, however, it becomes clear that numbers are not everything.
In addition to all the nasty creatures, Narnia also has a population of good inhabitants. These consist of more natural animals like beavers, as well as a variety of animal-human "hybrids," like the faun and centaur, whose spiritual composition leans more toward the nobler human characteristics. Despite the multitude of different creatures in Narnia, the children are the only humans present. This is because true, pure, and intact spirits are extremely rare in the spirit world. The spirits of most people are flawed in some respect; the different types of creatures in Narnia represent the various conditions of human spirits. Some, like the faun, are getting close to being fully human, while others, like many servants of the witch, are positively horrific to behold. The one apparent exception to this rule is the white witch herself -- the leader of the dark side. She appears uncharacteristially human -- perhaps even benign at first glance. This relates to another Biblical passage:
The evil Queen seduces Edmund with candy, and only after he has eaten her offering does she take him prisoner. This has relevance in Celtic lore:
The "Queen" (witch) maintains a well-trained pack of vicious attack wolves, who enforce her decrees and whom she refers to as "the police," thereby endowing them in the minds of the population with a false appearance of rightful authority -- when in fact they are the most dangerous creatures anywhere to be found!
This brings us to the following Bible quote:
The evil Queen promises Edmund that she will grant him royal power to rule over others, if he will only pledge obiedience to her. This is an obvious analogy to the following scripture:
The Messianic figure who comes to redeem Narnia is Aslan, the Lion:
Aslan is therefore, like Jesus, the astrological solar deity representing the sun in the sign of Leo. We learn that the four children are essential to the triumph of good against evil in Narnia. Like the four Gospels of the New Testament, the children symbolize the four cardinal directions, the four seasons, etc. This symbolism is stated explicitly at the end of the film. (If you saw the recent National Geographic documentary on The Gospel of Judas, you saw how Irranaeus insisted that FOUR AND ONLY FOUR Gospels be included in the New Testament. This is why.) Edmund, who has "sinned" by betraying his brothers and sisters, but Aslan sacrifices himself on an alter to redeem Edmund. Before Aslan is sacrificed, he is shackled to the altar and the Queen orders him shaved. This parallels the Bible story of Sampson:
The cutting of the hair of solar heroes Aslan and Sampson symbolizes the sun's rays at their weakest point during the winter solstice -- the death of the light. After Aslan is put to death, he returns to life, due to the operation of a higher power which even the leader of evil does not comprehend. Aslan is sacrificed in front of a Sun Door. He returns to life in front of the same.
Aslan's breath is able to restore to life those who have been killed / solidified by the evil one.
As soon as Peter vanquishes the White Witch, the raging battle around him immediately phases out of his perceptive field, and for a few moments before the combatants all disappear, he sees them as mere blurry specters. For him, the (internal spiritual) battle has been won, the battle is over. For many others the struggle continues, but this need no longer be his concern. Only Aslan ("the truth and the light") remains for him to see. Many of the symbolisms in Narnia are universal for the eternal struggle between darkness and light. Other films with similar parallels include the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Harry Potter series. For more on the solar symbolism relating to Jesus, please refer to the work of my teacher Jordan Maxwell, his video The Naked Truth which was my first introduction to many of these concepts, and also the excellent Gerald Massey's Lectures. |
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