Occlumency: Not Just a Harry Potter Reference - A Meditation Trick for Your Mental Health

Today, I'm bringing my absolute favorite fandom into this post. Most of you don't know me, but I'm a major Potterhead. I even have two Harry Potter tattoos: the Dark Mark and the Deathly Hallows. At one point, I even started a trend in one of my HP Facebook groups (#CorruptedHufflepuff and #CorruptedHufflepuffsUnite). One of my fellow Puffs was being made fun of for getting a Dark Mark tattoo, so I posted a picture of mine and added those hashtags. Before I knew it, everyone commenting on the post was proudly sharing their own Dark Mark tattoos with my tags!

In today's explanation of why this technique is beneficial, I will be referencing several sites. However, I will provide the sources at the end since the information is derived from multiple locations, making it challenging to cite them immediately. Without further ado, let's get started!

What is Occlumency?

Occlumency (Aw–clue–men–see) quite literally translates into "to shut up the mind" derived from the Latin words occludere (to shut up) and mens (mind). Some translations will use occulto instead, which means "to hide, conceal, or cover".

According to the series, Occlumency is a way to defend the mind from unwanted intruders; those who are gifted and/or skilled enough to perform Legilimency (Leh–jill–ah–men–see), which is basically the art of mind reading. While the need for Occlumency may not be the same in real life as it is in the world of JK Rowling's Harry Potter, the theory behind how to build your Occlumency walls is very much something that can be applied to our own minds.

In the fifth book of the Harry Potter series (Order of the Phoenix), Professor Snape is ordered by Professor Dumbledore to teach Harry Occlumency to attempt to prevent Lord Voldemort from entering his mind through their shared connection. Those who have a basic grasp of Occlumency are able to clear their mind of thoughts and emotions, so that a Legilimens who is trying to attempt at the very least a "surface scan" cannot see anything, as it blocks emotional ties to memories they are trying to access. Advanced Occlumens, like Professor Snape, have the ability to completely suppress emotions and memories to the point where they can create false memories; this was important for his job as a Double Agent, so that he did not find himself on the wrong side of the Killing Curse.

Another part of more Advanced Occlumency is the sorting of memories; or compartmentalizing your thoughts, feelings, and (in some cases) memories. Keep this in mind, as we will be addressing this a little later.

How do you learn Occlumency?

Since Legilimency is basically mind reading, you must have a clear mind to build your Occlumency walls. Those of us who are deeply ingrained in the fandom have done a lot of research, and I'm sure someone has asked Ms Rowling a question or two about it but I haven't found the reference to it. Despite not being able to find the possible reference, it has become a general consensus that Meditation is the best way to go for learning how to clear your mind. Meditation is not an easy thing to Master, let alone learn in general. I speak from experience on that one.

However, there are different ways to get to that point in meditation where your mind is clear and at peace. A lot of times you will see in movies where someone will sit down with their legs crossed, in complete silence, and just focus; sometimes they will even say "om" while they do it to center themselves. This is a very old, very traditional, way to meditate. When I say very old, we are talking 5,000+ years. It is a part of what is called sound meditation, or Kirtan, and is commonly found to be used by Monks.

Other people will tell you that Yoga is a great way to meditate, and I would absolutely agree. Personally, I struggle with Yoga as it has been years since I have been able to balance properly due to my joint issues. However, I was successful once but have struggled to do it since then.

As meditation is primarily clearing your mind, there are plenty of ways to do it. Special Agent Gibbs from NCIS could potentially be seen as "meditating" when he is working on his boat, as he is doing repetitive and slow motions while he sands and carves; sometimes with music and sometimes without. I'm sure most artists would agree that they meditate while sketching or painting as well; a chef could quite possibly say the same thing when cooking, too. Sometimes, I feel myself slipping into a slight meditative state while reading, because I focus on nothing but the words and all my other thoughts go away.

Keep in mind that meditating does not have to be done in silence. I am someone who cannot focus when it is completely silent, I can't even sleep without some form of noise. I will generally sleep with either music playing or tv shows that I have watched so many times I can quote most the episodes playing in the background. When I attempt to truly meditate, I have to have noise; even if it's going to the park and just listening to the sounds of the city around me. If you need silence, then that is what you need; but for those of us who cannot focus in silence that is okay too.

Now, as Occlumency itself is, by technicalities, "made up" there is no real way for us to tell if we have "mastered" said technique. Therefore, it is my personal theory that mastering Occlumency is based on how you personally feel. That being said, I also believe that if you are in a situation and can "raise your walls" instantly then you can consider yourself a Master Occlumens.

What does it mean to "raise your walls"?

If you recall back at the beginning I reference "building your Occlumency walls". As Occlumency was meant to prevent an unwanted intrusion, you have to theoretically build walls to protect your mind. Now while I may no longer consider myself Christian, I was actually raised in a LCMS (Lutheran Church Missouri Synod) church and school. One of the stories in the Christian Bible was about Joshua and the collapsing of the walls of Jericho.

So, let's take this story as an example of your Occlumency walls. Say that Jericho is your mind; it's full of memories and emotions that need protecting. Joshua is the representation of a skilled Legilimens (like Dumbledore, Voldemort, or even Snape) trying to break in. If your walls are weak, they will collapse and the Legilimens can see anything and everything; your mind is now open for intrusion. Now, imagine that there are no walls; Jericho was completely out in the open, and Joshua walked up to enter without your permission. As he's trying to enter, suddenly walls spring up from the ground; that is the theory of being an Occlumens, and abruptly "raising your walls". If your walls can basically spring up from the ground at a moment's notice, you have mastered blocking your mind.

The whole point to meditating is so that you can learn to build those walls, and by extension to raise them at a moment's notice. Once you have taken those first steps to building those walls, it will inevitably become second nature and you will not have to consciously focus on bringing them up.

How do I initially build those walls?

In the realm of Harry Potter, building Occlumency walls is described as building layers around your mind. However, some techniques that are written about in fanfiction include imagining an area that you feel safe in or represents you. This is where the subject of compartmentalization that I mentioned earlier comes into play.

I read in a fanfic once a way that Hermione built her protections and since I have imagined something similar. I imagine that each of my memories is a book that I place in a shelf in a library, with a locked door. I have to compartmentalize my feelings between what is considered normal and what is a trauma response feeling. When my emotions begin to get the best of me due to a trauma trigger, I slam the library doors shut and lock my feelings away. I come back to them later, as it is very unhealthy not to address them at some point; but I can't always deal with them in that exact moment.

How can the theory of Basic Occlumency help with my mental health?

Locking down on your feelings, especially in a trauma triggered situation, can help protect your mental health because you have everything on lockdown. That lockdown includes the fact that you are basically forcing yourself to not allow the negative feelings in.

I worked in a call center once. During our On Job Training (OJT) I had a call come in with a slightly ruffled customer. I was good enough at my job that I managed to keep the gentleman on the other side calm while we discussed what was going on, and I took a look into the account to see what I could do on my end. Things were going really great until I put him on a brief mute so I could do some deeper digging.

Now, when you work in a call center, depending on the company, there are very few reasons that you are allowed to put a customer on hold. Generally when you are told a representative needs a minute to look through things, we mute our mics. If you don't hear any music, the representative has only muted the mic and not put you actually on hold. The difference between a mute and a hold is that when it's a mute, the representative can hear everything happening on the other side of the phone; with a hold the representative hears nothing, and the customer will hear music.

I had put the gentleman on a mute, and things spiraled for me. He had turned to his wife and verbally went after her in ways that I had been subjected to before. Unfortunately, my trauma response kicked in and I went into a massive PTSD episode while trying to go through this caller's account. It took me a couple minutes to get a trainer over to me, as mine was out on a break. Finally a trainer came over and I quickly explained to him that the caller had triggered my PTSD and I was struggling to breath let alone finish the call. The trainer was great and helped me finish the call before telling me to leave my computer and walk away for a minute.

Your next question is probably what does this have to do with Occlumency? If I had had stronger walls at the time, I would have been able to clamp down on my feelings the second the yelling started and been able to address them at a more appropriate time such as while I was not at work and in OJT. My mental health suffered a bit that day because I had that attack happen and I was unable to protect myself.

Occlumency, in the end, is all about protecting yourself and your mind. No matter what people say, when it comes to your mental health: it is okay to be selfish! You have to protect yourself when it comes to trauma response, because if you don't protect yourself and your own health, it can affect others. It may sound complicated, and truly, it is. However, it can also be highly rewarding as it helps to prevent impulsive reactions in moments of panic while providing personal protection.

A word of warning though, you have to let your walls down and process the feelings that you block in the moments you do. Find time where you can be alone, or with someone you trust to be vulnerable around, and let the walls down. Process any hurt that may come from the things that happened when your walls went up. Humans are meant to have feelings, but sometimes we have to protect them. Sources:

1. "Occlumency." Harry Potter Fandom Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. Accessed 3 JUN 2023.

2. Wizarding World. "A Helpful Guide to Occlumency." N.p., 27 Aug. 2018. Web. Accessed 3 JUN 2023.

3. "Areas of Knowledge: Occlumency." Harry Potter Lexicon. Ed. Steve VanderArk and Jeanne Kimsey. N.p., 2000-2023. Web. Accessed 3 JUN 2023.

4. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Chapter 24. 2003.