I enjoyed this post. I also liked your pointing out the Gnostic aspect of His Dark Materials, which i quite enjoyed. I didn't really enjoy Narnia, although, maybe i would have if I had read it in childhood. My parents (I'm a priest's kid, remember) never frowned on fantasy like Oz or stuff about magic and sorcery. I think perhaps Lewis' use of magic in telling a christian story took the pressure off of Harry Potter and Miss Osborne the Mop. :)

The mystical aspects of modern day Christianity, especially in the Catholic sects, can predispose children to imaginative tales like Oz and Potter, methinks.