C. S. Lewis: The Lion, the Witch and the Ogre

Much has been made of the Christian subtext of C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series, especially as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is being promoted by a marketing firm that specializes in Christian entertainment. There is hope among the Christian Right that the “family values” implicit in the film will override the influence of Ang Lee’s gay cowboys.

No doubt, C. S. Lewis intentionally wrote The Chronicles of Narnia as a form of the gospels. Lewis is a Sagittarius; actually, a mega-Sagittarius, as he has a whopping FIVE planets in this sign. Sagittarius rules issues of religious faith, philosophy, higher learning, and travel to foreign lands. These areas permeate Lewis’ life. He was an Oxford fellow who specialized in medieval and Renaissance literature, and he was an atheist all his young adult life, until long conversations with J. R. R. Tolkien resulted in his conversion to Christianity shortly after his Saturn Return. Lewis came to believe in God as transiting Saturn conjoined his Mercury in Sagittarius. Saturn transits force us to take seriously whatever planet he aspects. In Lewis’ case, it forced him to reconsider how he thinks (Mercury) about religion (Sagittarius). Mercury is a mental planet, and Lewis was a sceptic who yearned for evidence of God’s existence.

As a religious writer, Lewis is best known for his apologetic works, defending Christianity against many objections. With Saturn in Sagittarius, he first had a lack of faith. After his Saturn Return, he expressed his Saturn through careful, rigorous explorations of difficult questions like the existence of pain in God’s world. Saturn likes to overcompensate, so it is appropos that Lewis wrote numerous works providing arguments in favor of Christianity. If there is no struggle (Saturn) with regards to one’s faith (Sagittarius), then there is little impetus to write so much about it.

The fantasy elements in Lewis’ chart can be found in the opposition between Mercury in Sagittarius and Neptune in Gemini. Mercury is the planet of writing, communication and thought; Neptune’s dominion is the imagination and the transcendent realms. Lewis’ religious explorations (Mercury in Sag) were permeated by a strong imaginal life (Neptune), which gave him the ability to convey Jesus’ message through talking animals.

The Movie

Having never read the book, I can only say that The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is indistinguishable from most fantasy-adventure movies. Yes, I teared up at all the right moments, and the animation (including talking animals and various mythological creatures) was well done. This is competent filmmaking, but hardly inspiring. There wasn’t much I would call “Christian” in the movie, save a lion coming back to life after making a sacrifice for a child’s betrayal. In nearly every fantasy-adventure, the “family” needs to stick together to defeat the villian and protect the helpless; these are not exclusively Christian values. I don’t think the Christian Right is going to convert anyone with this movie.

One would think that Andrew Adamson, the director of both Shrek films, would be an odd choice to direct the recent film version, despite his talent for computer animation. However, Adamson is also a Sagittarius, with his Sun just one degree away from Lewis’ Sun—they see eye to eye. Additionally, Adamson also has a strong imagination, with Mercury conjunct Neptune. As a filmmaker, his talent is for communicating (Mercury) through images (Neptune). His conjunction is in Scorpio, which may account for the potty humor in Shrek, as Scorpio rules sewage and bodily taboos. Scorpio also rules the death-rebirth mysteries and magic, so perhaps these elements of Lewis’ story appeal to him.

Finally, but not insignificantly, both Lewis and Adamson have Saturn opposite Pluto. The last time Saturn was opposite Pluto, the Twin Towers fell and the world was polarized between Good and Evil. Both the author and director portray this archetypal struggle—but instead of Bush and Bin Laden, we have Aslan and the White Witch. Now, that’s an analogy I won’t touch.

This article originally appeared in the Oct/Nov 2005 issue of Constellation.