Author: Maryh
Hogwarts is divided into four houses, for the four elements that make up the world according to astrology: fire, air, earth, and water. JK Rowling tells us that Gryffindor is fire, Ravenclaw is air, Hufflepuff is earth, and Slytherin is water.
According to astrology, the fire temperament shows itself in a drive for freedom and action, vitality, and generosity. It is the most daring of the elements. This sounds very much like Gryffindor, the house for the brave and bold, who perform brave deeds.
Earth is hard-working, practical and conventional. Astrology calls it the "common sense" temperament. This is Hufflepuff, for the loyal, hard workers not afraid of toil.
Ravenclaw is air, the temperament of intellectual pursuit and objective, unemotional logic. The Sorting Hat calls them the cleverest, the wise, and those with a ready mind.
And then, there is Slytherin.
In astrology, water is guided by emotion and intuitive knowledge or "hunches". This temperament values strong emotional bonds with others above all. How does this fit with the power-hungry, ambitious Slytherins, who will do anything to achieve their goals?
JK Rowling chose Water as the symbol for Slytherin, knowing what it stood for. I believe the water description fits, but it will require a different approach from the other houses. Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff were described positively. Slytherin's water temperament is put negatively.
Slytherins are me-first people. The Water temperament, grounded in subjective emotion and inexplicable hunches, starts from the self out. But the Slytherin doesn't get beyond the self. Other selves are just the material for working out their subjective goals.
Slytherins are cold people, ruled by their heads. Well, not exactly. Slytherins are in strong control of the expression of their emotions; this does not mean they are not guided by them. In fact, many Slytherins seem to be strongly guided by the emotions of hate and anger.
Slytherins are obsessed with purity of blood. Is this a perversion of the need for strong bonds with others? Has it been reduced to the ties of ancestry? And the Death Eaters have one of the strongest emotional bonds, fear, with Voldemort.
Why describe Slytherin in the negative?
First of all, the water temperament makes for great villains. Most in tune with emotions, the temperament best fitted to understanding others produces superb manipulators when the goal of that understanding is unlimited ambition rather than the good of everyone.
Secondly, to be guided by emotions is often depicted as being unable to reason clearly, or being flighty and unfocused. But lack of control and inability to reason are not inherent with this temperament, nor are they the biggest danger. JKR seems to say that it really comes down to choice: which emotions will you choose for your guide?
Lastly, this leaves an option for Slytherin to unite with the other houses without remaining "evil". Slytherin will always be dark, not in the sense of evil, but in the sense of hidden, because emotions and hunches do not arise out in the open. But a Slytherin guided by love instead of hate, able to connect with others in ways most other can't, with intuitive knowledge of what is hidden to others, could be a formidable ally.
Then maybe Slytherin will no longer be described in the negative. Perhaps the Sorting Hat will change its song, and Slytherin will be "the sages of the hidden and the masters of the human soul".
Posted by Madmaxime at August 12, 2005 07:01 PM