Gnostics and Numbers

Since I have done the big post on the centrality of book 4 to the 7 part series, this post has to do with a contrast in GOF that I think is emblematic to a core tenet of the series as a whole. The Battle of the Classes In book 3 Hermione leaves Divination as a class in favor of Arithmancy and I think there is a huge significance to this for the meaning in the series as a whole. In fact Hermione makes a special point of saying to Ron and Harry, when they are complaining about Trelawney's class in book 4, that they should have taken Arithmancy with her instead (as opposed to something like Ancient Runes, the class she contrasts to Divination on the basis of being really interesting in book 3, or at least in the third movie) Divination So, I have the word "Gnostic" in the title - why? Well, mainly because it provides alliteration with "Numbers" and I like alliteration a lot (the "g" in "gnostic" being silent). But Gnosticism is a trend that goes all the way back past Christianity and the word "Gnosis" itself means "knowledge." In the time of early Christianity the heresy of Gnosticism was a dualist heresy (saying that matter was evil and only spirit was good - a denial of the true redemption of the Incarnation), and they rested their claim for authority to teach this in their claim to possess "gnosis," secret knowledge that had been passed down to them from true secret disciples of the Apostles, stuff the other and larger mass of Christians wouldn't know because they were not chosen like the gnostics. Divination is a grasping at this same type of "gnosis" but in a forward direction (the future) rather than a backward one (the past). Aside: When the term "Agnosticism" was coined the term was developed specifically with these heresies in mind, claiming that it (Agnosticism) was really the answer to such things, rather than an opposition to revealed Truth in Christianity, which was more what it really was. Arithmancy So, what does Arithmancy deal with? We don't get a whole lot of really clear description of the class in the books but the meaning is pretty clear on the surface. You don't even have to go back to the fact that the Greek word for "number" is "arithmos," you can already see the similarity with "arithmetic," which deals with, of course, numbers. I believe I have described somewhere on this blog the role that numerology plays in the Judeo-Christian Tradition (in the Hebrew, for instance, every letter has a numerical value - eg if you add the numerical values of the word for father and the word for mother, you get the numerical value of the word "yeled," or "child"). There is a significance to the fact that God created the world in 7 days and that the 7th day was the Sabbath. When St John begins his Gospel as an account of the New Creation in Christ he does so with a sequence of 7 days, culminating in the wedding feast of Cana on the 7th day; and he picks up this theme of the "wedding feast of the Lamb" in the book of Revelations, which would require a whole upper-level course in Arithmancy to understand (Augustine went round and round in his later life on whether the Eschaton is to be the 7th day/age of the world or the 8th - that which transcends the 7 days of creation like Baptism replacing circumcision as the 8th day ritual - you should be able to tell from that which one I think it is ;) ) Aside: JKR2 will be very interested in the consideration that Chaim Potok, from the contemporary Jewish side of the Judeo-Christian Tradition, uses understanding of math and numerology as a way that Reb Saunders gets to know Reuven Malter in his book The Chosen. So, in short, based in the Biblical and Judeo-Christian mindset, numerology is a much surer path to truth and understanding than Divination is to "knowledge." Dumbledore's Focus and Death - and A Riddle DD, as we all know, dies (or at least appears to) atop the Astronomy tower. Astronomy is a prime example of gaining "gnosis" through the Divination of watching the stars (a pathway to knowledge best reserved to mythic creatures such as centaurs, not to humans) ... Instead of worrying about prophecies DD chose to spend his time unraveling the Riddle of Voldy through uncovering the details of the history of his perverse numerology. I wonder if in book 7 we will learn of some numbers we should have paid better attention to in the "Lightning Struck Tower" chapter? A Riddle? Here's an interesting thing to ponder (and it may sound a little mechanical in places, because I just thought of it, but it sound like fun so I will throw it out there and anyone can feel free to tell me whether they think there is something there or whether I'm barking up the wrong tree): The fountain that is smashed in the ministry had 3 magical creatures aside from the beautiful witch. Centaurs are diviners and house elves are workers - but what about Goblins? What do they do? ... (those among you practiced at puns must to be able to see this one coming) - they "crunch numbers." So, at the top is humanity, the witch, and at the bottom the workers, and in the middle - number crunchers and diviners. We have heard a ton in book four about Professor Binns being droning on about the Goblin wars and rebellions, and they're chasing Bagman around like crazy in book 4 - I wonder if this is a precursor to them playing a role in book 7. If I spoke gobbledygook I might know LOL (I missed that one on the quiz, what language goblins speak, and also what the word "bladvak" means ... Ironically a day later I heard the answer to both questions driving down the road listening to book 4 on tape LOL) Actually I am pretty sure they will play a role in book 7, as will the house-elves and the Centaurs, because now that that fountain has crumbled it must be rebuilt but in a true fashion, it is a central symbol to the series ... it's just in my theory that it will be because they are "number crunchers" that I worry about my thoughts on the goblins holding water - and as we have seen from all the talk of the 4 elements, if it can't hold water it's not much good LOL