Is HP Magic Different across Cultures? (was Re: Diversity in Media)

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 40763

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "naamagatus" <naama_gat at h...> wrote:
> 
> This is an interesting subject. As I see it, magic (within the 
logic 
> of the Potterverse, of course) is quite different from religion, 
> dress, cultural customs, etc. Magic is a practical thing. 

> A more fitting analogy may be engineering. It isn't really 
meaningful 
> to talk of European engineering, Chinese engineering or Aztec 
> engineering, is it? Engineering is the same all over the world, 
since 
> it rests on objective forces and laws of nature. 

>Learning the rules and 
> the various ways of using this force shouldn't differ between 
> different cultures, then. 
> At least, there may be local developments. Wizards from one 
community 
> may find (or make?) spells that are not known in another community. 
> Unlike cultural customs, however, those spells would work just as 
> well in the other community (if practiced there). 


You're right - this is an interesting subject.  I think the 
engineering analogy works to show that, since that laws of 
nature/physics, etc. are the same regardless of location, what works 
in one area of the globe will work in another.  

I wonder about regional differences.  Think about medical 
conditions.  We have been told that there is no cure for lycanthropy 
in Potterverse.  Maybe not.  But, just as different societies have 
developed different methods of dealing with the body's ailments, 
could there not be different ways of dealing with wizard health 
matters?  For instance, western medicine does not have a history of 
using techniques such as acupunture. But, eastern medicine does.  
Would it be out of the realm of possibility that wizards in, say, 
India, have different methods of dealing with health issues than 
Madame Pomfrey?  Maybe no one else has discovered a cure for 
lycanthropy, but it wouldn't surprise me to discover that different 
societies have developed different potions, spells, etc. to tackle 
the same medical conditions.

Marianne