Playing hockey with Harry Potter

Harry Potter has been sufficiently present in my mind both in terms of topics on this blog and as far as our vacation last week that I shouldn't be surprised that I had a dream involving him last night.

In the dream, I was invited to his house.  I don't remember all of the reasons for why I was there in the dream, but at one point it was clear that we were preparing to play a hockey game.  I think we were staying over the night, and then playing the game the next morning, though that detail is fuzzy in terms of timing of the game.

At some point, however, I realized I didn't have hockey skates.  I was told that they probably had some skates that fit me - what was my shoe size?  13, I replied (which is my real-life shoe size in US measurement).  Sure enough, they had a pair of skates that were size 13.  They were brought out, and I was handed a completely white pair of skates.  However, I noticed something odd - the skate blade itself was made out of something like a soft, spongy foam.  It wasn't a metal blade.  I called this out, but there was some assurance or commentary that these were the kind of skates we needed, if I remember right.

A second problem soon presented itself, however.  The skates appeared far too small to fit my feet.   From a visual perspective, there was no way I was going to be able to fit, as they appeared to be less than half the size of my feet.  I pointed this out, and actually held them up next to my feet to demonstrate.  Somebody helped me look at the tag.  Sure enough, the skates were size 13 US, but were labelled "Y" for Youth.  13 is the last size in Youth measurement, before it then restarts at 1 in adult sizes, which is what I needed.  So, yes, technically these were size 13, but not the adult size 13 that I needed.

This seemed to be a problem, but no one else seemed too concerned about it.  I, however, remained somewhat nervous that I had skates with foam blades on them that seemed designed to fit a small child into which it didn't seem possible to fit my large feet.

I am not sure how this was resolved.  At some point, the scene switched to an overview of the 4 Houses of the Harry Potter world:  Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.  In Harry Potter, a Sorting Hat is used to designate children into one of these four houses.  Something like this may have been going on in terms of discussions around which House people fell into (though I don't remember the complete context for what we were doing with these Houses).

What became very clear, however, was that there actually was a Fifth House that apparently was rarely spoken of, or was relatively unknown.  The name of that house was Falcon, and I felt that it had something to do with me, or from my perspective as the dreamer.  As in, this was my House, instead of one of the other four Houses.

I woke up soon afterward.

Like I said at the beginning, I am sure dreams can often be little fragments of our waking life that slip into our brain while sleeping, and so I wasn't surprised to have dreamt of Harry Potter.  And, frankly, hockey and skating have been a theme here as well in the past, and so also shouldn't be surprising to see in my dreams.  The introduction of a Fifth House named Falcon was a bit surprising, though, and I didn't know where that might have come from, so I investigated that first.  I started with name meanings, of course.

Falcon is obviously a bird (and also Han Solo's Star Wars spaceship, I suppose...), but it was interesting to see where the name came from.  It comes from the Latin Falx, which Etymonline has meaning "curved blade, pruning hook, sickle, war-scythe".  Apparently the name was given due to falcon's curved beak and talons.

In seeing this there were several things that stood out to me, and I figured I was on to something in assuming some meaning to the dream beyond random Harry Potter stuff.

First, that Latin word - Falx.  I looked up several Latin sites and dictionaries to verify this, and it seems that this word is pronounced pretty much identically to how one would say Fox, with the a assuming an "ah" vowel sound and L taking on almost a silent quality, depending on speaker.  In any case, I was surprised to see that, just as with Robin Hood the Fox, and Fawkes the Phoenix, I once again had a Fox-Bird combination, of sorts, in the name Falcon.

This has my head then leaning toward another Faramir-related or perspective dream, given the Fox symbolism, and the other details seem to support this.

I have already covered a "Curved Blade" with the Rose Stone, which will at some point be under Faramir's stewardship.  In my post "Circular Saws and 'Will you step through?'', I spent some time on a curved blade in the form of a Circular Saw blade, and observed that it is an apt symbol for a Stone which has also been compared to a Sword or Spear.

Further, the sickle reference points to the "Sheave" commentary from earlier, as well.  Recall that we had the phrase "Balta Sheave", in which I first explored Sheave referring in some way to a sheaf of wheat   To sheave would be to bind cut grain into a large bundles called sheafs.  A sickle is what one uses to cut the wheat in order to gather and bind it.

This then is another reference to the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, which I have used on this blog before.  In doing so, I have called out Joseph Smith's modification to that parable, in that it will be the Wheat that is gathered out from the Tares and brought to a safe place, while the Tares are left behind in the field to be burned.  This further points to Faramir, whom I have suggested or guessed is involved in that gathering of the Wheat to safe and holy places.

Not only does the Falx definition point to this parable, however, but the mention of the pruning hook brought to mind Jacob's Allegory of the Olive Tree found in Jacob 5.  I think this is also relevant to this symbol of the Falcon here, and that House, but will leave it at that so as not to completely overload the point.  I think you get the idea - I have suggested that the Rose Stone and Faramir will be part of the gathering in of the Family of Light - the Wheat - and here we have some pretty clear symbolism that ties not only that Stone but the person of Faramir to that event by means of the Falcon or Falx.

The Falcon reference gets even a little more interesting and more direct, however, in relation to Faramir.  

One of the identities or lives I have given that Being is that of the man Zhera' (or Jared), found in both the Book of Mormon, and also in Doug's books, specifically that first book Words of the Faithful.  That book is essentially the story of Zhera' (Faramir) and Izilba (Eowyn) and their friends and family, which again in my opinion is a story that was not either Pengolodh's or Doug's to tell.  But here we have it now in all of its unreadable glory.

In that book, a woman named Ifariel is introduced.  She will actually turn out to be a reincarnated Melian (Thingol's wife and Queen of Doriath).  For those keeping score of names and relationships, also remember that it is Thingol (John) and Melian that I have as being the parents of Joseph-Ausir and Eowyn-Ilmare from a time long before this world or creation.

Anyway, Ifariel's symbol or mask that she wears in the tribe where Zhera' finds her is the Falcon.  Which is interesting enough on its own.  However, I remembered this detail,  and then did a search of that book to see all other references with that name or mention.  I then found what I was looking for, with a very specific tie between Zhera'-Faramir and the Falcon.  To get straight to it, Melian will literally call Zhera' "Falcon".

Though the woman [Ifariel-Melian] slept nearby, upon her carpet, in the night she moved near Zhera' and thus they awakened, before dawn, by the wails of the twins.  Ifariel called him her "Falcon," and did not stir, though Zhera' arose, and departed....

This is the only instance of a Being in those stories being referred to by that name like that, that I could find.  Though the "Falcon's Catch" did go on to play a role in other parts of the tale, including being the item that Dairon took as a present from Dior (before then stealing the sword).

Strangely, Zhera' would end up playing sort of a Falcon-esque role in Ifariel's life.  She would remember what Zhera' had taught her and write it down on additional Brass Plates (which were to be collected by Ki-Abroam/ Abraham and joined with the Brass Plates that Asenath had written).  These are the plates, of course, that Pengolodh has melted down into nothing in his last jam session with Doug, which is an account I think is suspect.  But, in any case, Ifariel would start to take a different path and approach to many things following her run in with Zhera', one of which included this record that she engraved.

I was going to leave Falcon now and go on to something else, but I thought again of my earlier reference above about Han Solo's Millennium Falcon, and I remembered something.

Speed is associated with the Gim Guru-Faramir Being, if you remember.  There is something about this aspect or characteristic.  Maverick, while flying his Darkstar plane, was called the "Fastest Man alive", and there have been many other references I have given with respect to this.  He is the "Swift Messenger", essentially, a title give to both Hermes of mythology, as well as Jah ni hah of Joseph Smith's Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language.

Do you remember one of the defining characteristics of the Millennium Falcon?  It's speed.  It was called the "fastest ship in the galaxy", solely due to its hyperspace capabilities.  It could do the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs, you know.  This, despite looking like a "piece of junk"... like one of those old minivans I wrote about awhile ago.

Alright, with that I am able to move on.  You get the idea on the Falcon.

The fact that I got so much mileage from Falcon, and that it was unexpected yet worked so well, leads me to believe the other aspects of my dream aren't just random consciousness, either.  So let's look at two other details really quickly, both relating to the Shoes or Skates.

I mean, here we have another dream where I seem to not have the right footwear, or I am looking for the right pair.  Recall my football dream where I was in the locker room looking for my cleats, before being directed to a pair of strange white shoes with the name of "ACE" running down the side of the heel.  The cleats themselves were strange, as the studs were covered in a material I thought looked like they were meant to slide or glide over something (actually bringing to mind right now my mention of "Skis" from the Skee-Ball machine).

In this dream, I have what appear to be skates, but they definitely are not meant for normal skating, as they appear to be almost a toy, with this foam in the shape of a skate.  I don't have much more to say on the actual material or why the skate was made that way, other than later in waking life the strangeness reminded me of those earlier ACE cleats.

Beyond the strangeness of the skates, we have the size themselves.  As I noted, they were clearly not designed to fit my feet, even though they were said to be size 13.  The "Youth" sizing made them a much smaller fit.  For perspective, my 8 year old son wears, I think, something like size 2 or 3 regular.  So, size 13 in youth is almost something more for a 6 year old or something like that.  Very young.

As I thought about this detail, however, it seemed almost a funny reference to the fact that it is little children, or those who become like little children, who enter the Kingdom of God.  It is Tirion that I think these shoes (whether portrayed as cleats, skates, or sandals) take a Being to, and so this reference to little children may make sense.  I've guessed that the "baptism" that we all might need to have might refer, at least on one level, to travelling through the Great Waters back home to Tirion or wherever it is that people will need to go.  In conjunction with baptism, Jesus taught those at Bountiful that everyone must become like little children:

And whoso believeth in me [Jesus], and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

So, while I am not sure that the shoes that they gave me in Harry Potter's house, which were sized for a little child, mean this, it is my best guess I have at the moment and it seems to make sense.