The Searcher

The Searcher, by sculptor Ross Wilson, represents the narrator of The Magician's Nephew, Digory Kirke. In this story he has a wardrobe made from an apple tree containing magical properties. It is through this wardrobe and the imagination of the heart that C.S. Lewis opens a pathway for all children to see and enter Narnia. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , The Searcher is based on a literary character called Digory Kirke created by C.S. Lewis. In the Magician's Nephew it was Digory who made the wardrobe from a beautiful apple tree that had magical properties, which helped open a doorway to Narnia and Aslan. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Wardrobes C.S. Lewis did not just hang clothes in a wardrobe, he hung ideas - great ideas of sacrifice, redemption, victory and freedom for The Sons of Adam and the Daughters of Eve - Set within the commonplace, revelation within something that looks ordinary on the outside - revelation through investigation. We should not stop looking, some of the greatest things can be found in the most ordinary of places, like a wardrobe. - RW 1998

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Letter to Anne Waller age 10 from C.S. Lewis.

5 March 1951 As from Magdalene College Cambridge

Dear Anne,

What Aslan meant when he said he had died is, in one sense plain enough. Read the earlier book in this series called The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and you will find the story of how he was killed by the White Witch and came to life again. When you have read that, I think you will probably see that there is a deeper meaning behind it, The whole Narnian story is about Christ, That is to say, I asked myself "Supposing that there is really a world like Narnia and supposing it had (like our world) gone wrong and supposing Christ wanted to go into that world and save it (as he did ours) what might have happened?" The stories are my answers, Since Narnia is a world of talking beasts, I thought He would become a talking beast there, as he became a man here. I pictured him becoming a lion because (a) The lion is supposed to be the king of the beasts; (b) Christ is called "The Lion of Judah" in the Bible; (c) I'd been having strange dreams about lions when I began writing the work. The whole series works out like this:

The Magicians Nephew tells the creation and how evil entered Narnia. The Lion etc.------------the crucifixion and resurrection. Prince Caspian-----------restoration of the true religion after a corruption. The Horse and his Boy----the calling and conversion of a heathen. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader-the spiritual life (especially in Reepicheep) The Silver Chair---------the continued way against the powers of darkness The Last Battle----------the coming of the Antichrist (the Ape). The end of the world and Last Judgement.

All clear?

Yours C. S. Lewis , , , , , , , , , , , , , , This is precisely what Christianity is about. This world is a great sculptor's shop. We are the statutes and there is a rumour going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life.

C.S. Lewis . This historical marker was erected in 1998 by Belfast City Council and Concerned Citizens and Organizations. It is in Belfast Northern Ireland United Kingdom