[HPforGrownups] Religion in HP

[Pen Robinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 40506

>Something that has been bothering me for a while: what is everyone's
>take on religion in the HP wizarding world? They have references to
>and practice such holidays as Christmas and Easter

This probably highlights a difference between UK and US practice (I'm
assuming you are in the USA).

The Christmas holiday is a Big Thing here in the UK.  Christmas Day itself
is a public holiday, as is Boxing Day (26th December), so that the vast
majority of people are on holiday for those days.  Christmas Day combines
the Feast of Turkey with the Grand Gift Exchange, plus every TV and radio
station's best efforts.  (The Queen's Christmas message is broadcast.)
Usually, though, cinemas, theatres and other places of entertainment are
closed (cos the employees are on holiday, natch), so Christmas Day is very
much an 'at-home-with-the-family' day.  (From Boxing Day onwards, the
'January' sales begin, but that's different.)

Some people go to church.  I won't hazard a guess at a percentage, but I do
believe that for most of us, Christmas  does not involve religious practice.

Should Christmas Day fall on a Monday, or Boxing Day on a Friday, we have
in effect a four-day weekend - and then New Year's Day is also a public
holiday.   In fact, for a lot of people, there is essentially a full week
off work at this time of year.  The remnant 'working' days within the
Christmas week are fairly lightweight, by and large, except for those who
work in shops...   Those very shops which have, since perhaps September,
certainly October, been offering Christmas goods for sale.  (You have
Thanksgiving, to stave off the vendors' approach to Christmas.  We don't.)

What this boils down to is that there is culturally an expectation of a
Christmas holiday.  Perhaps I should say, a midwinter festival focused on
the 25th December.   I don't know whether members of non-Christian
religions celebrate the gift-giving season, but atheists do - because it's
a part of our culture, of our annual rhythm.

In other words, Christmas is not primarily a religious holiday for us.  We
understand and acknowledge the religious component (there are carol
services broadcast, and church services, and programmes with religious
content, for instance - and people may go carol singing, or may attend
church), but essentially, Christmas is a _holiday_ rather than a _religious
holiday_.

Easter is not such a grand occasion.  (This is a clue, too - Easter is the
greatest of the Christian festivals, but culturally definitely takes second
place to Christmas.)  We do, again, have Bank Holidays (ie public holidays)
on Good Friday and Easter Monday, but instead of going into mourning on the
former and ecstatic rejoicing on Easter Sunday, we are quite likely to be
out shopping on the Friday and overindulging in chocolate in front of the
telly on the Sunday and Monday.   The religious origins of the holiday are
acknowledged but - to many, if not most people - not particularly important.

The school year, however, is divided into three terms.  Autumn term (Sept -
Dec) ends with the Christmas holidays.  Spring term (Jan - March) ends with
the Easter Holidays.  Summer Term (April - July) ends with the Summer
Holidays.   We could say, the winter holidays, the spring holidays, but we
don't.

So JKR is following UK cultural patterns.

Phew.

As for your further comments on the supernatural...it is my impression that
UK society is a great deal more secular than US society.   It seems
perfectly normal to me that Harry & Co do not, for instance, pray before
bedtime, or say grace before meals, or attend worship regularly.   In fact,
it would surprise me if they did do these things.  So there is no problem
in simply avoiding the whole question of religion in the books - just
ignore it, as so many of us do in our daily lives.

Pen














yet it doesn't
>
>seem to make sense that they would be Christian, since in the Bible it
>
>was said that "You shall not allow a sorcerer/ess to live." Perhaps
>
>wizards are Christian, and regard sorcery as different from wizarding
>
>magic (perhaps sorcery is what the Dark Wizards practice?) and thus
>
>abide by that rule by hunting out the practitioners of sorcery... but
>
>that seems like a stretch, and wizards on the whole seem to be a very
>
>pragmatic people.
>
>
>
>All of the normal things they deal with every day- giants, vampires,
>
>magic itself- are supernatural in Muggle eyes, which perhaps makes
>
>wizards seem beyond Muggle religion as we know it... but do wizards
>
>have their own concept of the supernatural themselves? Is there
>
>anything that is supernatural to -them- (other than Muggle science) as
>
>their world is supernatural to us? Does it seem like wizards would
>
>have/believe in angels? Demons? Gods?
>
>
>
>-Rei
>
>
>
>
>
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