From main site OT: Christmas at Hogwarts

[eloise_herisson]

> Geoff:
> "...in the UK, we call our holidays "Christmas"
> and "Easter" because that is what they celebrated.It is only in the 
> last few years that they have become linked with some of the ethnic 
> minorities who have come to the UK largely since WWII."
 
> Meidbh:
> 
> With respect - I think you are wrong here. There is a long history 
> of non christian midwinter and spring celebrations in what is now 
> Britain. These celebrations were in place *long* before the concept 
> of Christianity came to these shores (brought by it's own ethnic 
> minorities!). 

Yes, of course there was and that's why Christmas was timed when it 
was. Easter, of course is calculated by some complicated means which 
I can't remember in the same way or approximately the same way as the 
Passover, with which it is historically linked.

But....
As Geoff says, we *call* them the Christmas and Easter Holidays 
because in more recent historical times, those are the festivals that 
were being celebrated at those times in a largely culturally 
homogenous society. 

The holiday (vacation) aspect, pertaining to school, university and 
legal term breaks is rooted in the practice of institutions which 
were at the time basically Christian foundations. Hence the naming. 
Hence the fact that the the Easter holidays are not fixed, but move 
in accordance with the timing of Easter as, in days gone by, did the 
Whitsun break.*

That historical fact has nothing to do whatsoever with the reality of 
belief patterns in the UK or at Hogwarts. Or with what happened 
before the foundation of the educational and legal bodies which 
shaped the patterns of terms and vacations.

As Geoff says, only in more recent years have many people here become 
aware of others celebrating their own religious festivals at these 
times. In addition to the greater cultural diversity itself, I think 
that awareness of it is greater and of longer standing in the US for 
various historical/sociological reasons. Hence "Happy Holidays" 
instead of "Happy Christmas".

~Eloise

*In fact, state schools in some areas are now fixing the spring break 
without reference to the Easter, though people still seem to be 
referring to it as the "Easter" break.