Religion

[severusbook4]

No: HPFGUIDX 78857

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, jazmyn <jazmyn at p...> wrote:
> 
> 
> severusbook4 wrote:
> > --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "say543" 
<hesdead_dealwithit at h...>
> > wrote:
> >  > Since religion is basically nonexistent in HP, how was there 
a St.
> >  > Mungo and a Fat Friar? After all, God's miracles wouldn't be 
too
> >  > impressive if you could do the same thing yourself.
> > 
> > They do celebrate Christmas (the birth of Christ), and they 
observe 
> > Easter (the
> > ressurection of Christ), so in my opinion it has a Christian 
base.
> > 
> > I have not seen a wizard or witch create life from clay, or a 
planet 
> > from an empty
> > void, so they are not like Him.  What I have seen seems very 
small 
> > compared to His
> > power and wisdom.
> > 
> > And I am a happy little pagan of Dianic Wicca.
> > 
> > Severus Snape
> 
> 
> They also celebrate Halloween, which is not technically a 
Christian 
> holiday no matter how you argue what its beginnings were.  Many 
> Christian religions in fact reject Halloween as a holiday. Some 
evan 
> claim it is Satanic in nature. (The whole night on Bald Mountain, 
> witches dancing with the devil idea).  It might be the observance 
of 
> 'popular' holidays parallels the muggle schools and in fact, may 
be more 
> an influence from wizards who have come from muggle backgrounds.  
Or the 
> overall influence  of being based in the UK.  If it were wizards 
in 
> China, I am sure they would celebrate popular Chinese national 
holidays. 
>   I would bet that American Wizards celebrate Thanksgiving.
> 
> All I see is the observance of the popular 'national holidays' 
> celebrated in that country (the UK), not evidence that all wizards 
are 
> Christians or any other one religion. I am sure there would be a 
close 
> percentage of the same religions or lack of religion in the WW as 
in the 
> muggle world.
> 
> 
> Jazmyn

Severus here:
    Jazmyn, yes Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, is not Christian, bu 
t rather Pagan.  Samhain (pronounced "Sow win") is what we know as 
modern Halloween.  Samhain is the celebration of the coming winter, 
when all crops must be picked by (they believed evil spirits would 
taint them if left in the ground past this time) and livestock 
slaughtered in a ritualistic manner (to appease the gods for a 
gentle winter). These times were fraught with much anxiety and 
superstition, because if the wrong number of livestock were killed, 
then the people would not have enough to sustain them throught a 
harsh winter, or they would have too many animals to feed and they 
would lose their livestock to starvation.  It is also believed to be 
the time when the doorway between the living and the dead was 
opened, the people would have a large feast and set places for their 
lost family members, and the children would dress in costumes of the 
evil spirits so as to ward them off. I am recalling this from 
memory, but you can find it in "A Witches Bible, Complete"  by the 
Farrars.  It changed my daughter's Christian school's outlook on 
Halloween.  Halloween has always been my favorite.

Severus