Happy Birthday, Remus
Mar. 9th, 2007 03:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stuttermoanI'm trying to get a few more of these birthday posts finished before Book 7 comes out. At some point I may go back and make them DH-compliant.
All of the birthday posts I've done so far have had a degree of accuracy. However, Lupin's birthday is one of those uncanny ones (like Snape and Harry) that honestly make me believe she used this book (The Secret Language of Birthdays by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers) as an aspect of character development.
Pisces - March 10 - The Day of the Soul Searchers
"Strengths: Sensitive, Empathetic, Soulful
Weaknesses: Long-suffering, Withdrawn"
Definitely.
"Those born on March 10 are deep, emotional individuals. Their drive for success is often rather low-key and they may be more concerned with understanding themselves and coming to grips with their complex personalities than they are with fortune, power or fame."
In school, he showed enough aptitude and responsibility to be a prefect, and yet his adult accomplishments seem fewer in comparison. However, they are limited somewhat by discrimination.
"This does not mean to say that March 10 people are overly self-involved or somehow self-indulgent. On the contrary, they love to have fun, particularly in an intimate social setting with close friends and are most happy when they occupy a central position in their families, surrounded by nurturing and protective influences."
He does seem to gravitate toward closed, supportive groups (the Marauders, the Order, Hogwarts, the Weasleys) as a means of sheltering himself.
"The sensitivity of March 10 people is pronounced. They are easily hurt, feel rejection keenly and want little more than to live in peace with their fellow human beings."
This part really stood out to me. He only spends a small margin of his time in werewolf form, and yet the bias is always there. The rejection of werewolves by much of the wizarding world seems to translate into fear and prejudice, and shaky human rights for those with the condition. JKR has even stated that she wrote Remus in such a way to address intolerance.
"However, those born on this day who have experienced traumatic childhood episodes, deep psychological wounds inflicted by a hurtful parent or overly rigid moral systems placed on them early in life, can retreat from the world into a private, in accessible emotional space and stay there."
In the literal sense, he has both the trauma (being bitten by Greyback) and the private place (the Shack). In a more emotional sense, he was burdened with a dreaded condition from an early age, and thus he had to learn to put distance between how the world viewed him (through his condition) and who he knew he actually was inside.
"Because March 10 people are so sensitive, they experience the highs and lows of life as few others do, and therefore are more likely to turn inward and search their souls, to try to understand themselves. Through this inner development they cultivate empathy to the pain and suffering of the misfortunate, and for this reason, many born on this day opt for a service-oriented career. The more highly evolved of March 10 people show great sympathy and kindness for others, even to the point of being self-effacing and saintlike. As parents March 10 people tend to be nurturing and understanding, but must beware a tendency to be overprotective and subtly manipulative."
He does serve as both a teacher and somewhat of a father-figure to Harry, especially in PoA.
"In putting emphasis on internal rather than external values, March 10 people are oriented toward an idealistic, non-materialistic value system. Yet they nonetheless display a great need for security and a marked desire for simple comforts, which becomes more evident with advancing age."
Seems accurate to me.
"The danger here is that they will stagnate and fail to carry their personal development any further. It is true that their exploration of inner emotional worlds (theirs and others'), deepens their sensitivity and makes them more soulful, but they must not use this activity as an escape from expressing themselves outwardly or making crucial decisions."
This makes me think of his hesitance to get involved with Tonks. Despite wanting to be with her, he was reluctant to burden anyone else with his problems.
Numbers and Planets (1, the Sun, and Neptune)
"...warm and well-developed ego, with a distinctly human, positive orientation to life."
"...a tendency to be a bit scattered, impressionable and fanciful."
I can picture him as a closet romantic.
Tarot
"The 10th card of the major Arcana is The Wheel of Fortune, which symbolizes the ups and downs, wins and losses, and successes and failures of life. (Those ruled by the numbers 1 and 10 focus on seizing opportunities; indeed, acting at just the right moment is the key to their success.) The card signifies a reversal of fortune and teaches that there is nothing permanent except change."
As someone who has seen his best friends die or betray, and been alternately accepted and shunned by those around him, I'd say he's pretty familiar with reversal of fortune.
Advice
"One soul may inhabit many bodies."
Taken out of the context of a pseudo-spiritual book, this is pretty darn appropriate.
All of the birthday posts I've done so far have had a degree of accuracy. However, Lupin's birthday is one of those uncanny ones (like Snape and Harry) that honestly make me believe she used this book (The Secret Language of Birthdays by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers) as an aspect of character development.
Pisces - March 10 - The Day of the Soul Searchers
"Strengths: Sensitive, Empathetic, Soulful
Weaknesses: Long-suffering, Withdrawn"
Definitely.
"Those born on March 10 are deep, emotional individuals. Their drive for success is often rather low-key and they may be more concerned with understanding themselves and coming to grips with their complex personalities than they are with fortune, power or fame."
In school, he showed enough aptitude and responsibility to be a prefect, and yet his adult accomplishments seem fewer in comparison. However, they are limited somewhat by discrimination.
"This does not mean to say that March 10 people are overly self-involved or somehow self-indulgent. On the contrary, they love to have fun, particularly in an intimate social setting with close friends and are most happy when they occupy a central position in their families, surrounded by nurturing and protective influences."
He does seem to gravitate toward closed, supportive groups (the Marauders, the Order, Hogwarts, the Weasleys) as a means of sheltering himself.
"The sensitivity of March 10 people is pronounced. They are easily hurt, feel rejection keenly and want little more than to live in peace with their fellow human beings."
This part really stood out to me. He only spends a small margin of his time in werewolf form, and yet the bias is always there. The rejection of werewolves by much of the wizarding world seems to translate into fear and prejudice, and shaky human rights for those with the condition. JKR has even stated that she wrote Remus in such a way to address intolerance.
"However, those born on this day who have experienced traumatic childhood episodes, deep psychological wounds inflicted by a hurtful parent or overly rigid moral systems placed on them early in life, can retreat from the world into a private, in accessible emotional space and stay there."
In the literal sense, he has both the trauma (being bitten by Greyback) and the private place (the Shack). In a more emotional sense, he was burdened with a dreaded condition from an early age, and thus he had to learn to put distance between how the world viewed him (through his condition) and who he knew he actually was inside.
"Because March 10 people are so sensitive, they experience the highs and lows of life as few others do, and therefore are more likely to turn inward and search their souls, to try to understand themselves. Through this inner development they cultivate empathy to the pain and suffering of the misfortunate, and for this reason, many born on this day opt for a service-oriented career. The more highly evolved of March 10 people show great sympathy and kindness for others, even to the point of being self-effacing and saintlike. As parents March 10 people tend to be nurturing and understanding, but must beware a tendency to be overprotective and subtly manipulative."
He does serve as both a teacher and somewhat of a father-figure to Harry, especially in PoA.
"In putting emphasis on internal rather than external values, March 10 people are oriented toward an idealistic, non-materialistic value system. Yet they nonetheless display a great need for security and a marked desire for simple comforts, which becomes more evident with advancing age."
Seems accurate to me.
"The danger here is that they will stagnate and fail to carry their personal development any further. It is true that their exploration of inner emotional worlds (theirs and others'), deepens their sensitivity and makes them more soulful, but they must not use this activity as an escape from expressing themselves outwardly or making crucial decisions."
This makes me think of his hesitance to get involved with Tonks. Despite wanting to be with her, he was reluctant to burden anyone else with his problems.
Numbers and Planets (1, the Sun, and Neptune)
"...warm and well-developed ego, with a distinctly human, positive orientation to life."
"...a tendency to be a bit scattered, impressionable and fanciful."
I can picture him as a closet romantic.
Tarot
"The 10th card of the major Arcana is The Wheel of Fortune, which symbolizes the ups and downs, wins and losses, and successes and failures of life. (Those ruled by the numbers 1 and 10 focus on seizing opportunities; indeed, acting at just the right moment is the key to their success.) The card signifies a reversal of fortune and teaches that there is nothing permanent except change."
As someone who has seen his best friends die or betray, and been alternately accepted and shunned by those around him, I'd say he's pretty familiar with reversal of fortune.
Advice
"One soul may inhabit many bodies."
Taken out of the context of a pseudo-spiritual book, this is pretty darn appropriate.
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no subject
Date: 2007-03-10 02:24 pm (UTC)I think he became a prefect because the alternatives were James, Sirius and Peter, not because he deserved it with a capital d, like Hermione or Percy, and he saw it more as a responsibility he more or less failed, than as a reward. Same with the Hogwarts 'career', although there he had probably more to be proud of. His judgment of everything is completely introspective, most of the time.
I wonder if this permanent change of fortune suggests that JK will kill Tonks off. Personally I'd say the emphasis is very much on the negative side so far.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-11 03:47 am (UTC)I always kinda thought he was overcompensating for his condition by being teacher's pet, to prove that he 'belonged' there. Either way, you're right, compared to the alternatives, he was definitely the obvious choice.
"I wonder if this permanent change of fortune suggests that JK will kill Tonks off."
Yeah, that's the direction I was thinking also. Poor Remus.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-11 01:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-11 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-11 08:06 pm (UTC)I thought of another example supporting this part:
Through this inner development they cultivate empathy to the pain and suffering of the misfortunate</>
In Book 6, Remus says that he had sympathy for the werewolf who bit him (before he knew that it was Greyback who bit him deliberately).
I had a similar idea to yours. I wondered if writers might use personality analysis books to help guide them in creating consistency in their characters. I've been interested in a system called Eneagrams and I was thinking of trying to poll people in some way to see how they thought different characters might fit their categories.
Did you feel that the birthday book was on the mark for you?
Thank you for posting this. It's the most fun Remus birthday thing that I've seen this year.
no subject
Date: 2007-03-11 08:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-03-11 11:07 pm (UTC)That character poll idea sounds really interesting! I have seen some people do character comparisons to Myers-Briggs personality types, although that's a bit more psychological.
"Did you feel that the birthday book was on the mark for you?"
Yep. Mine is November 5, and it seemed to match fairly well. I don't take astrology quite as seriously in a real-world comparison setting, but it's still neat.
"Thank you for posting this. It's the most fun Remus birthday thing that I've seen this year."
And thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. =)