[HPforGrownups] Re: Magical Latin

[No Limberger]

No: HPFGUIDX 186113

>BAW responded:
>Harry was baptized.
>The Hogwarts ghosts include monks, nuns, and friars.
>Bible quotes on the Potter and Dumbledore monuments.
>Wizardling families represented in the Christian graveyard in DH.
>Wizards celebrate Christmas, All Saints, and Easter (the only carols
mentioned specifically were religious ones, not secular).

>There is more indication of religious life among the Wizards than among the
Muggles! When did the Dursleys ever go to church,
>or send Dudders to Sunday School?

No.Limberger responds:

I have no recollection of Harry Potter ever being baptized.  If you have a
reference, I would be interested in reading it.  I also have no
recollection of any quotations from the bible on the Potter or Dumbledore
monuments, but would appreciate a reference
so that I could read it.

As for the holidays, Christmas, as it is called today by Christians, is a
much more ancient Pagan holiday that celebrates the
perceived rebirth of the sun as it apparently moves towards the northern
hemisphere shortly after the winter solstice.  The holiday
was adopted and rewritten by the Roman Catholic Church to be a celebration
of the birth of Jesus in an effort to remove Pagan
holidays from the minds of Pagan Europeans, but Pagan symbols such as
evergreen trees, lights and the yule log remain.
Halloween (or what some Christians call "All Saints Day") was originally
called Samhain, and is, again, originally a Pagan
celebration that viewed that day as when the veil between the worlds of life
& death was its thinnest, permitting
communication between the living and the dead.  In Mexico, this is
celebrated as "La Dia de los Muertos" or "The Day of the Dead"
and is a time when families travel to the graves of loved ones to remember
their loved ones.  Easter, as it was renamed by
Christians, was also a Pagan holiday known as Ostara that celebrates the
return of spring and fertility: hence the symbolism of
eggs and rabbits, which remain as remnants of the original Pagan holiday.

My impression of the wizarding world as designed by JK Rowling is that
wizards & witches predate Christianity by countless
centuries.  Thus, while a significant portion of the muggle world adopted a
particular religion, this could easily be regarded
as relatively unimportant in the wizarding world.  While it's possible that
some wizards & witches may be Christian, the fact
that there are wizards & witches in living throughout the world means that
they would also be living in predominantly
non-Christian countries.  Wizards & witches are a minority and my impression
is that they, like other minority groups (in this case,
muggle minorities) are not necessarily going to adopt the beliefs of the
prevailing majority.  Just becuase people put up
Christmas trees doesn't mean that they are Christian.  Christman trees are
very popular in Japan, which is predominantly
Bhuddist/Shinto.

Religion is a topic that is very vague in JK Rowling's Harry Potter books &
universe.  If it is really as Christian as some suggest
here, then it is doubtful that so many Christian churches would be opposed
to them and they would not be having Harry Potter
book burnings as some have done.  Reference:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/pottera.htm.