Christmas & Harry Potter...

[spotsgal]

No: HPFGUIDX 143697

Abhikush:
> I was reading chapter summary from the HP-Lexicon and one thing I 
> found striking was that there is only one holiday (religious) that 
> is ever highlighted in the series and that is Christmas. I was 
> wondering if there were any such holidays mentioned in the series so
> far. It seems a reasonable to assume that Christmas is celebrated in
> wizarding world with as much enthusiasm as in muggle world. I was 
> also wondering if there are other religions in the wizard world 
> besides Christianity. I would like to know the views of others in 
> the group.

Christina:

Religion in the WW is really very interesting.  IIRC, a couple of
characters have used the word "God" in the books- Fudge is one (when
he sees that Cedric Diggory is dead)...I feel like Draco is the other
but I could be wrong.

As for the celebration of Christmas, I have a feeling it is celebrated
in the wizarding world as a cultural/commercial holiday rather than a
religious one.  I don't know if it's the case in the UK, but here in
the US I know many families that decorate for and exchange gifts on
Christmas even though they are athiest, apathetic, or another religion
entirely.  The HP kids all exchange Christmas gifts, and decorations
are hung, but nobody goes to church.  I don't remember ever seeing a
Nativity scene, or anything else that suggests a religious side to the
celebration of Christmas.  

Although, doesn't Sirius sing, "God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs" when he
hears that he'll have company for Christmas?  It really makes one
wonder if it's just a little funny parody that Sirius made up, or if
it was an actual song.  Sirius has hung around some non-purebloods in
his time (I actually think he went through a period of exploration of
Muggle culture to spite his folks, but that is complete speculation),
so he might know the song "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen."  However, if
the song isn't made up by Sirius, and is an actual wizarding song,
than it would suggest some penetration of religion into the WW.

It's also important to remember that relatively few people in the WW
are considered "pure-blood."  The majority of wizarding folk have
Muggle relatives.  Some overlap between the cultures is expected.

> Abhikush:
> I tried to do a search on the topic but could not find anything so I 
> have opened a new thread. Let me know if this has ever been 
> discussed.

Christina:
The Yahoo search mechanism is horrid.  I cringe every time I find
myself needing to use it.  Ick.


Christina