Mind: Chronicles of Narnia (re-reading and re-watching movies)

Cover of C.S. Lewis

Generations of readers have fallen in love with the magical world of Narnia. I believe that one of the reasons that they have been so popular for so long is because the characters are always experiencing some sort of freedom through their adventures but are still safe because they ban together. This is a wonderful combination. It is also evident that C.S. Lewis was very rigorous in his work. I recently found out that he was in fact an Atheist when he was a young man. He had lost his Mother at the age of 9 and was shortly thereafter sent away by his father (for a formal education).  He was a cynic, skeptic and people that were "high" on life annoyed him. While at Oxford later in his life he would meet with a group of men to philosophize and bat around ideas for books (one of these men was JRR Tolkein). During this time with all these discussions he surrendered to God and became a Christian. What is so inspiring to me is that we can positively influence someone to change their perspective.
From that point forward he showed gratitude for being saved possibly like no other author since. He wrote alot of books. His most famous by far has been The Chronicles of Narnia.
The newest excitement comes from a discovery that once again exclaims Lewis' genius. He profoundly made the books represent the 7 planets. Before telescopes it was thought that our universe was made up of 7 planets. The Moon and Sun were a part of this scheme. Michael Ward has written a book about this discovery.
His book is entitled Planet Narnia.

The idea that each book represents one of the planets shows that what seems obvious and simple can be layered and complex. The best literature cannot be taken in with a glance but must be digested and thought about until a new meaning is found. I plan on re-reading each book and glean out the hidden symbols, signs and mentionings of each planet.
I watched the documentary called The Narnia Code. Wrapping my mind around all the concepts and history of Lewis' life is great mind work. We should never quit learning!!





here is what each book stands for:

 Image via Wikipedia

                                              = Venus
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                                   = Jupiter
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                           = Mercury
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                      = Mars
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                       = Sun


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Image via Wikipedia

                       = Moon

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Image via Wikipedia

                                    = Saturn

So think about it for a minute there are 3 levels embedded in these books-- Children's book level (fairy tale) and religious parallel level. Now there is the Meaning drenched universe level. Everything has meaning purpose and value!! Just when you think you know the make-up of these stories (and even life concepts) there is more!

Cover via Amazon