Spiritual Education - The Golden Compass

This, is honestly what I've been waiting for in this class.


When I was younger, I absolutely love love LOVED the Harry Potter Series, as well as His Dark Materials (A.k.a. The Golden Compass Series). I mean, who wouldn't want a wand that could pretty much solve all your problems (cleaning, cooking..) and who wouldn't want their soul to be in an animal form for their entire life span? Especially for me, considering that for all of my childhood and most of my adolescent years, I was highly allergic to anything with fur and/or feathers. But I digress...

Witches. Daemons. Giant fighting polar bears.

 That is the world of the Golden Compass.

 I first read this series when, I believe, I was in either the third or fourth grade. It was the journey, the fighting, the action, and adventure to other worlds that drew me to these series like a moth.

Since the third or fourth grade, I haven't revisited the series. However, I was curious to see how the more adult (since I still don't consider myself to be an adult adult) me would view the book.

Boy, was I surprised. 

In the same theory that as children, we relate more to Jerry, from the popular animated TV series, Tom & Jerry, while as adults we relate more to Tom, His Dark Materials, I've found, work in the same way. When I was younger, I focused more on what Lyra had to say, and what she was thinking more so then the adults that she'd interact with. But as an adult, I've really started paying more attention to what the adults were saying and doing, rather then Lyra. The keyword here is "attention"... I'm not sure if it was because I was a child, or if I simply focused and remembered Lyra more, but when I reread the series, I found the adults more interesting then Lyra. A majority of that being due to the fact that I never realized what exactly the adults were saying, which completely blew my mind.

Elementary Particles, applied physics, dark matter... these are all common words and phrases that come up in this book series. Looking back, I'm not sure how I understood these very big and complex ideas. Maybe it was pure ignorance, maybe it was because I just accepted these ideas for what they were, ideas, but now as an adult...I'm shocked that I actually got through these books and understood them so well as a child. Now, while reading, it was harder for me to really grasp what they were saying, and even some of the scenes where these words were being focused on, I had to reread certain passages simply because it's harder for me to understand what's going on. Plus, I never actually realized how much religion plays in this series, it's amazing that I didn't realize it sooner. I wonder if the adults who've read these series as children, lose a certain quality that I can't really place my finger on. Perhaps it's like original sin, in that once we've eaten the apple of knowledge (as in, matured as adults) we gain one point of understanding, while losing another (see Adam and Eve's view of nakedness).