[HPforGrownups] (Not So) Secular Potterverse

[mrgrrrargh at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 34235

Putting a lot of people's posts together, so I'm gonna avoid the quotage:

John:
A lot of food is kosher year round. In the states there is a symbol on many 
brand-name foods that labels them kosher and/or kosher for Passover.

Which brings up the question of whether the house elves do kosher foods for 
some students.

Cassie:
Halloween's door to door thing, I believe has roots in pagan (Celtic 
specifically) tradition. Wicca.com has more on the major pagan holidays if 
anyone wants to read about them.

And I was surprised to read about Halloween in the HP books. I always thought 
it was celebrated more in America than in the UK... but what do I know?

Jenny from Ravenclaw & Judy Shapiro:
About Christmas... I have a Jewish friend who has a Christmas tree and 
celebrates the holiday. The reason that she does it is because when her 
family first immigrated to the states they were very concerned with fitting 
in and assimilating. So they celebrated the holiday without celebrating the 
birth of Jesus. So, the day can be secular as well as religious. (There's a 
play that addresses with this issue called "The Last Night At Ballyhoo").

Eloise:
Christmas presents... The tree itself is of pagan origin, as is the Yule log 
and other things.

-SpyGameFan


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