They have released a weekly podcast called "Harry Potter and the Sacred Text."

Vanessa Zoltan and Caspar ter Kuile are both graduates of the Harvard Divinity School.

The podcast answers the question, "What if we read the books we love as if they were sacred texts?"

They compare Harry Potter to Christians reading the Bible

They also compare it to Jews reading the Torah and Muslims reading the Quran.

"We are embarking on a 199-episode journey (one chapter an episode, released weekly)," they say.

Their aim is to glean what wisdom and meaning they can make from J.K. Rowling's beloved novels.

The Potter faithful are interested.

The podcast has soared to the top of the religion and spirituality charts on iTunes.

It draws in about 55,000 to 60,000 listeners each week.

The series has become the best-selling book of all time since the first book's release in 1997.

A film franchise and merchandise worth more than $21 billion plus a theme park have followed.

Much religious debate surrounds the Harry Potter series.

Father Gabriele Amorth, the late Vatican exorcist said the series drove people to witchcraft.

Source

• Quartz
• Wikipedia
• Image:www.mirror.co.uk

Is it just a marketing ploy?

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For the past one year, their self-determined spiritual quest has been to heal illnesses with the help of marijuana.

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Comments from Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, who used to lead the diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, were published last week on a US blog for women.

" ... The practice of yoga, if it does not begin that way, eventually morphs into an acceptance of points of view, and even doctrinal and moral matters that are distant from Catholic truth and from genuine and authentic Christian revelation," Bishop Bruskewitz wrote.

He suggested that there are other forms of exercise that do not present dangers to the faith.

A 2003 document from the Pontifical Councils for Culture and for Interreligious Dialogue stated that people could discern whether New Age spiritual practices are permissible - "provided [it] is severable from the religion or philosophy that first motivated it".

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