I've always wondered about this question. We know that they have weddings, & funerals .. & we know that they must believe in the existance of an afterlife, because N.H. Nick in OotP says that Sirius will have 'gone on'.

But are any of them Christians? Jews? Muslims? Buddhists? - Hindus? Or do they have a set of all their own beliefs? This is never touched on, & I've sometimes wondered why. I suppose some far right Christian groups etc. would take offense to witches & wizards being involved in Christianity, so it's only natural for JK to want to steer clear of the subject. But that seems like a cop out to me.

Also - the study of divination at Hogwarts interests me, too. How does divination actually work? Trelawney never really explains how one 'Sees'. She assumes that her students either have the gift, or not. What the hell is that about? What is an inner eye? The centaurs use completely different methods of 'Seeing' to Trelawney. How have they learned what the stars mean?

As far aw wizarding releigion goes i have no idea. But i might be able to explain some of the divination stuff more thoroughly. Mind you this comes from personal researching and trails more than that of any clues from hp books.

As far as "seeing" is concerned most people who claim to see the future, read tea leaves, crystal balls, palm reading, and cards (tarot), most beleive it has to do with energy. All things are conected with powerful energy. This energey is both positive and negative. When performing a magical act such a tarot cards one concentrates ont he question or problem at hand. After concentrating your pour your enrgy into the cards putting faith in the fact that the cards will steer your correctly. then it is up to you to read the signs and use it to your descrepency. with tea reading it follows the same theory that the energy that flows between objects and people will mke the leaves fall a certain way and these forms will lead you to the answer you seek. so basically i would say the ability to see lies in the ability one has to touch the "strings" of energy that flow around you. I beleive with the centaurs they think bigger than simple "will it rain tomorrow" aspects of divination. All history repeats itself because thats is the error of man. the centaurs read the stars because their movements are also connected to the energy that people create. they saw a great war becasue negative energy was flowing into the void.

As far as wizarding religion...my guess would be that they have to beleive in a higher being/beings. But just because they beleive in an afterlife doesnt mean it's the afterlife of heaven or hades. Magic is beleived to be a higher form of thinking and a natural bond between a person and nature.

I hope i didnt offend anyone as this is just what i have learned over the years.

the intelligent wizards much believe in some kind of god because otherwise magic isnt logical, but they might not believe in a god that lets you live after death. Death Eaters either believe in nothing, of some sort of satan.
But their religion probably just depends on upbringing and choices in life like it is in the real world.

Ahh but you say's being logical makes you intelligent?

Logic is highly subjective and depends on the individual so it can never be all bearing. For instance it's perfectly logical for a devote catholic to go to mass every Sunday, as is it in essence it is a huge part of their life.

But anyway back on topic. I think it's probably much the same as 'the muggle world' After all there have been numerous references to the after life in the books as Balderdash has pointed out Nick says Sirius has 'gone on.'

Also Dumbledore says something very interesting in the philosopher’s stone.
'To the well organised mind, death is the next great adventure' (sorry to lazy to actually go up stairs and get my book for the direct quote )
That actually on reflection is probably my favourite quote out of the books. it definitely has to be up there!

Some wizards out there must believe that there is something after life, however not every religion has an after life by any means, so this is only one aspect of a some religions.

A much more useful definition of religion is the difference between the sacred and the profane (everyday). You'd be hard pressed to find a religion which doesn't fall into this category as well as that a few other things are redefined as religion, the free market, capitalism and democracy could all be defined as sacred.

As does Trelawney's Divination. She treats her subject with the utmost reverence as do people who (for want of a better word) believe in the subject (lavender and Parvati). So I definitely agree that Divination could be a very high profile religion (or something people believe in) amongst the magical community.

Well, there may be many religions among the wizards but it seems the major religion atHogwarts would be christian. They celebrate Christmas and Easter holidays and I don't know of any other religion whos celebrates those

The Bible doesn't dismiss the idea of wizardry, it simply says stay away from these kind of people (something it seems the wizards in Harry Potter are more then happy to go along with) and doesn't give a reason. And while the existance of wizards may predate the written books in the Bible, they surely don't predate the events many of these books are written about.

Also, it would only make sense for wizards to have been recognized before and at the same time as the books in the Bible in which they are mentioned were...it doesn't really make sense to tell people to stay away from wizards, if no one even knows what a wizard is

Lastly, I think before thinking too deep into it, we should realize that the witches and wizards in Harry Potter and the type of magic they do and their history is fiction, while the Bible is actual recorded history and fact. So, you can't really expect the two to exactly fit together perfectly.

I've always wondered about that too... there isn't much about religion in the books except Chritmas and Easter but Christmas carols are different- a bit witchy I've come to the conclusion that maybe Rowling didn't want to talk about religion in order not to differ people in believing in a good or bad religion, like happens in this world nowadays.

I think there are wizards who have religious beliefs, and many who may not. Some religions do believe in the existence of magic and will regard it as either a phenomenon beyond mortal understanding, a part of reality that we can use, or a taboo that is affiliated with evil. When the Roman Catholic Church was converting entire nations to Christianity, magic, a significant part of many pagan beliefs became taboo. The fear of magic and the presence of evil in villages began witch and werewolf persecution. We know that JK Rowling’s fantasy is based on the premise that Muggles were persecuting magic folk worldwide during the colonial times to such an extent, magical people gathered as an International Confederation, and decided to hide away from non-magical people, making an illusion magic didn’t exist. It is probable that many wizards when they first went into hiding blamed religion for being prohibited from using magic wherever they wanted, and became Atheist. It is also possible that some wizards yearned for spirituality and a structure to their faiths, becoming members of a church/temple/synagogue while hiding their powers. Or, maybe Wizards and Witches devised their own religious systems that reflected the dominant faiths of Muggles, but with magic involved.

well i'm pretty sure that the muggle-borns do have a religion...
However as for the christmas and Easter thingy...no idea!
But i celebrate Christmas (but not like celebrating the day christ was born) and i'm not christain..

I was going to mention the Christian-based holidays myself - glad someone else brought those up.

Another little tidbit - the name of the hospital is St. Mungo's - as in "Saint". That's primarily a Catholic thing - I wonder what Mungo is the patron saint of? Wizardry?

Belief in an afterlife doesn't necessarily mean belief in a deity or an organized relgion, although the two commonly go hand-in-hand.

Hypothetical: We know that wizardry has been around for over 1,000 years - that's when the founders of Hogwarts built the school. Therefore they had a really good grasp of knowledge of their powers then - I'm willing to bet that it took quite a while to develop "magic" as a science and not a supernatural occurance. Maybe another thousand years?

My hypothetical is that in this fictional world, Jesus was a wizard as well as an intelligent man. His teachings took on two paths - the religion known and accepted by most of the world as Christianity (which focused mainly on his words), and the science known by a select few as Wizardry (which focused mainly on his "miracles"). This is the original divisor that separates the wizarding world from the rest of the world. While at times the two "worlds" collided (Merlin in medieval times, the Salem witch trials, Voldemort's rise to power, etc), they are forever separated by basic beliefs.

This would explain why both worlds could celebrate Easter and Christmas, but why you never hear about wizards going to church on Sunday or praying. While wizards may have similar beliefs as Christians, how they act on them would be very different.

I welcome comments and thoughts!

**HBP spoiler included**

I don't think religions are relevent to the septology but here are my thoughts.

I don't think wizardry is a religion itself because nowhere in the school are they being taught to pray or worship anyone. I think witches and wizards would belong to their own organized religion of their choice.

Sirius Black is Hary's Godfather which points us to some type of christianity.

The school observes both Christmas and Easter as Holidays (our schools now say Winter and Spring Holidays)

And what someone mentioned earlier about St. Mungo's being considered a catholic belief is also true.

At DD's funeral, Harry see's someone go up and talk during the ceremony, this may be a religious figure.

As far as Fleur and Bill's wedding, there may be a civil ceremony in which a wizard and witch (or in this case, part veela withc) are joined and recognized in their world.

the problem is that religion is not mentioned. there are holidays, but every school gets those off in christian nations. there is no st. mungo according to catholic.org. anglicans, the major religion in England, also have saints. at Dumby's funeral, the person who spoke was never identified and did not say anything about religion. he just talked about Dumby's admirable qualities. the fact of the matter is that JKR leaves religion out of her world. so why worry about it?

I get confused when i think about this, not anything new i promise

*Well im Aethist and i still celebrate Christmas and Easter, so do many other people. Yes, these are religious holidays but their messages are so different now-adays? Fat guy in a red suit and a giant pink bunny!

*And they never say anything about any kind of wizarding church.

* I also have a godfather, who is my father's best friend. And now adays godfather is more of a title than any actual duty, though in some cases they are called upon.

What confuses me is that all these heavily religious people (some not all) say that Harry Potter is evilor something

It's late not typing cleary, time for me to be off

this is something i always struggle with. OK i can understand doing christmas for the presents and feasting, but having easter holidays seems strange. there is anything special about easter without it being religious. i understand how it can work as a time marker for the readers but it still seems strange. hey, maybe hogwarts takes off time at easter so that the muggle-borns can celebrate?

I'm going to go on a whim and say that they might just have religions, although Jo might not want to focus on religion all too much.

The only reason I think this is because of Parvati and Padma Patel. They both have Hindi names, which only implies that their religion is Hinduism. It can be argued that they were named those names strictly because of ethnicity/race, but I myself have Indian friends who are given Christian names because their religion is Christianity. But, who knows, Parvati and Padma might not be Hindus.

Interesting topic! The Christian holiday thing - I know many atheists who celebrate Christmas, but just the presents and family and stuff, and Easter, mostly I guess because of the chocolate eggs. If there were another random general holiday that involved chocolate eggs, you could count me in!

I agree with Titania, that Jo doesn't want religion focused on. It's not really primarily what the books are about, though being a Christian I can find many themes that are parallel to Christianity. It's like she doesn't want to write about Communism or sexism or gay rights or whatever. She doesn't have to, because it might do more damage to the series than good. She might make people angry who would otherwise have enjoyed the books. She's getting pretty awful reception with some churches anyway, I don't think she would want to stoke that fire any more than it has been.

I think it's basically just like Muggles. Most religions will be present, though I must say, there might be a deeper common understanding of the divine because magic is supernatural, which means that wizards and witches all have extra supernatural powers. That doesn't mean that can't be atheists and agnostics in the wizarding world of course, but ecumenically (<- can that be applied to many religions?) it would be a bit smoother.

I think magicians are normal people like muggles (with magic!),but they have different religions like us.
I think a lot of people in the Wizard World are christians,because they celebrate parties like christmas,but they don't go to the church.

I also think that they can have special religions with magic gods.

They are probably all Christians, though it would be cool if there was a new religion which included magical gods, like the Ancient Egyptians.

I am a Hindu and I celebrate Christmas. It's not that I am half christain or anything but there is no holiday to celebrate in December. As for religion, I think they have religion because when it comes down to it, they are all humans. It's just that JK doesn't make it a big deal, she focuses on the plot. If she did write on religion as well....well the book is already long... not that i mind or anything

I agree with the fact that there may quite possibly be different religions in the book, but I can understand why JK wouldn't want to touch on the subject. So many times when authors write about different religions in their books, they could either lose fans of different religions who would have otherwise read the books, but they can also catch a lot of flack if it comes across that they may be preaching.... it can be a very touchy issue and I completely understand why JK wouldn't touch on the topic... then again... maybe she just overlooked it and decided that it wasn't of much importance in the book. Who knows... anywho! Ciao for now!

It doesnt make a difference to me really,
i am a muslim but i still celebrate Christmas, Halloween and every celebration..they're all fun and as long as the christmas tre is loaded with presents and the halloween outfits are spooky enough, then everything is fine!!
I think they're Christians but in the story they dont go Sunday School adn all the things Christians do so how come?
Well anyway its a fictional story and JKR doesnt talk about it so its not a big deal!

Hmmmmm... good topic! I haven't really thought about it, but I guess wizzards do have religion. They do mention saints and stuff in some of the books...

Well, I always assumed that Wizards and Muggles had the same religions. Just like in the Muggle UK, most of the characters are Christian and celebrate Christmas, hence the Christmas break from Hogwarts to spend time with family. On Wikipedia, they list Anthony Goldstien, a Hogwarts Ravenclaw (probably one of Allie's favorite characters ), as a "Jewish character from literature." Goldstien surely is a Jewish name. I am pretty confidant that the characters do have religions...some of the characters may be Hindu or Muslim, etc. The students celebrate Halloween each year, which has Pagan roots. I connot think of any other mentions of Holidays in the books (with the exception of Boxing Day, which to my knowledge is not even celebrated here in the U.S.).

As Capricorn stated, tehir belief in god(s) or a higher being or diety may vary. They may be more religious, or less. We just cannot tell. Their magical powers may make them feel "blessed" or believe that they were "chosen" to lead a life of magic. Or, they may feel that muggles are "naive" or something for believeing in a higher power. This is not my believe, just a speculation.... .......I do not think that JK Rowling ever had any of this in mind when she was writing out the books....




_daviD

Just to provide some informations, here are some pagan and christian festivities, to show how religions are very close on the same territory...When christian belief started to spread across europe, the pagan peasants resisted in giving up their beliefs, so christianity resulted in being a mix-up of various religious habits, previously inherited from persians, egyptians, etc..

YULE, winter solstice = Christmas
IMBOLC = Candlemas
OSTARA, spring equinox = Easter
(BELTANE = May Day)
SAMHAIN/Halloween = All saints'

Yule is the pagan festivity for Christmas, the winter solstice. The birthday of Christ was at first celebrated on Epiphany day (jan.6). Then, to cancel successfully the pagan celebration of Mithra's birthday (Sol Invictus=victorious sun), the birthday of Christ was set on dec.25. Mithra was a Sun God. It happens that even Krishna is born the 25th of december and in ancient Egypt Ra, the Sun god, was celebrated the same day. All during the solstice days, from 22 to 25.
Easter comes from the name of the Goddess Eostre. The egg is one of the symbols of rebirth, in many religions.
Summer solstice is celebrated on St.John's night.
About Halloween...I think the whole world knows about it. It was the Celtic new year's eve.

I agree that JKR didn't want to specify any religion. The matter is, that for sure the muggle-born wizards and witches come from different beliefs; don't know about the purebloods. My personal idea is that they're pagans because there were wizards and witches -who were also shamans, links between gods and humans- who practiced magic in the tribal groups from prehistoric times.

What about the good and evil? in my opinion, they're the two faces of the SAME coin. In each one of us there's good and evil. It's our choice which one to prefer. And no-one is perfectly good or totally bad (of course there are exceptions).

About Christmas break, I don't see there a proof for the students being christian, just the muggle world outside Hogwarts.

For any anthropological-historical question please ask...I'm here.

Witchmom )O(

I always have found this strange. I remember reading Harry Potter for the first time when I was about 7 years old. I read that they had Christmas presents and Easter, and was extremely confused. I thought to myself: "They're wizards for goodness sakes, why do they celebrate muggle holidays and practic muggle religion."
Then I got this crazy idea that Jesus was a wizard. Now I laugh at that. Nowadays I just accept that it's a book and J.K. obviously needed something to make it seem not so devil-worship-y. That didn't work. I don't think it's devil worship-y or anything, but I'm sure she just wanted respect from Christain parents.

i don't think they do actually. some of the stuff they focus on in hogwarts or the wizarding world makes some definte references to druids/celtics and stuff like that. i think that in the wizarding world they can be more spiritual than religious.

hey.. well i just wanted to say really that i'm a christian and ive thought about this quite abit.. but i have come to a few.. "conclusions".

1. i dont agree with people who make harry potter out to be some kind of parody for religious things.. like voldemort is the devil and harry is Jesus or anythigm.. because thats obviously not what JK intended it to be.

2. neither do i agree with those (my parents among them) lol.. who think its a really bad book bcos its a bout withcraft n wizrdy... helloo.. how old am i.. io think i can tell the difference between fact and fiction!! i no hogwarts dusnt really exist etc etc. and i am not about to run off and start devil worshipping...

3. and i presume .. like quite a fe other people have said// that there are other religions in the scl.. tho i think its probably only from those students who are either muggle born, or habve a muggle parents.. or... like th name anthony goldstein... muggle ansestors somewhere in their family tree... i would say i reckon most wizards n witches tho... from the wizard world.. might not have a religion?... or some new form of religion... like what is their "creation" story? .. where did magic come from?? why do sum people have it and others not??

oh and 4. someone else salso said.. they really cant all be christians jus bcos they celebrate christmas and easter i dnt think cus looooooooooooads of people celebrate christmas and easter with presents n trees n eggs n wot not hu rnt christians... christian has jus turened into a word really for anyone who .. for example.. lives in england which claims to be a christian country. or who kind of believes in God but not too sue... or even definitely believes in God.. it still doesn't make you a Christian..

anyway... jus thort id say those things and now i'm done...

x

I think they simply believe in the magic they produce, i mean it hides them, it makes their entire way of life possible, and since they know they can create this force from them i believe that the most logical explanation for the wizard community is that they would go on to some after life

but the wizards at hogwarts at the very least celebrate christmans and easter. doesnt that make them christian? i think the religions practiced would vary by region but yes i do think wixards practice religion. theres no proof in the books to the contary saying that they are atheists or anything. or as some would say...that they worship satan or something. they do celebrate christian holidays and thats enough proof for me.

As far as religion goes, i have no idea. It's never something i've had to think about.

Maybe they just believe in magic, like what Albus Dumbledore said. And maybe celebrating Christmas and easter makes them Christin, i don't really know. Maybe it depends on your cultural background. Like it does with muggles.

But i've always wondered-is Divination something of a religion? Bacause Divination is predicting the future and so maybe seers have the Divination religion?

here is what I think:

1. HP series is like a metaphor: Good fighting Evil (Harry Potter fighting Voldemort)

2. There is no real religion in the Harry Potter series, since Christmas and Easter are celebrated for presents and eggs by many people.

3. Earlier, some people were saying that it is against the Christian religion because of the magic, but Christianity is against people who worship Satan. Those people have sayaunces (sp?) and they talk to the Devil, but in HP, all they do is perform the magic they were born with.

4. This is just a fictional books series that just doesnt mention religion. Not all books will mention religion for the authors' sakes.

I have pondered that question myself a bit, but I realized that everybody has a different religion. Because there are just so many people at Hogwarts, Jo just doesn't mention it. Does everybody understand where I'm going?

potter_is_mine i get what you're saying, there are many different kind of people at hogwarts many of them grew up as muggles so i guess they must have a religon but hey it's really not that important in the story

I agree religion has nothing to do with the books. But I think they kinda are religious in a way, just because of some of the stuff they say. I'm acctually a really strong chirtian myself and sometimes it does seem like they are religious but it really isn't important to the story anyway. Also the whole magic being evil thing is stupid because ok Disney came up with stuff like peter pan and all of that and no one had a problem with the wizard of oz but then Harry Potter comes out and everyone has a cow. potter_is_mine is right it comes down to the good vs. evil thing. When the author of Star Wars wrote the books he was acctually refering to the fight of good vs. evil between god and satan, and in the Harry Potter books it kinda seems that way to me (sorry kinda off topic) Anyway I'm not trying to turn this into a religious debate or anything I'll stop!

-Kelso

p.s. - again not trying to turn it into a debate just my opinion

i agree kelso i just didn't think that it's like a extremly important subject inside the actually harry potter world
i am also very christian and well i work with the youth of my church and when i have to give a class sometimes i think of a phrase that i read in hp and it applys

They celebrate Christmas in the same way "Muggles" celebrate Christmas and get it off in school as a Holiday, the same goes for Easter. They follow basic Christian principles and law (as apposed to Laws in mostly Muslim Nations etc.) added to the fact that J.K Rowling is Christian and I think it's safe to say that the Wizarding World, in the UK anyway in the Harry Potter books, is predominantly Christian.

I just think it's to so with the said person's cultural backgroud. Like in the muggle world, lot's of people believe in different religions, so maybe that's what the HP world is like as well?

I think most people can conclude that the books are christian, as they celberate christmas and easter, but i think it's just safe to assume until JKR confirms anything.

Sorry if this was mentioned, and I don't think it adds much to the discussion but maybe somebody will get something out of it. In Goblet of Fire, there was the constant use of the term "the devil with..." so and so, mostly Barty. As in, McGonnagal would say "The devil with Barty" after allowing him into the tournament. This was also shown in the movie. Perhaps it was mere foreshadowing, or something to go back on and say that it actually happened. The devil, aka Barty Crouch, Jr., was indeed with Barty since they were present in many scenes in the book together. Or maybe it was cryptic for Barty Crouch Jr. himself, because he was with Voldemort or in league with him.

Christmas and Easter are also secular holidays and sometimes bound to no religion. Their presence in the book does not prove their religious orientation.

I believe that wizards believe in themselves and in magic. They see the world in good and bad, and magic is the way they live their lives. You can see that they appreciate magic as a gift and they honor and respect those who are highly skilled at it (Merlin and Dumbledore, etc). The wizards religion is basically non-existant, and I am not sure the term exists for many of them.

~Albus

Come to think of it, I don't think the entire school celebrates Christmas and Easter. While there are decorations, it does not mean everyone there partakes in the events, similarly to what may happen at any school...or airport.

If memory serves me right (whenever I type that I think of the Iron Chef), we've only seen Harry celebrate it with Hermione and Ron/the Weasleys'. Do the teachers say they're going on Christmas break or Winter break? Easter break or Spring Break? We see it from Harry's perspective, who lived with the Dursely's, who are Christian, or at least celebrate Christmas.

And I agree with Albus Dumbledore to a certain extent. There seems to be an overall pride in magical tradition. Perhaps there is a lost religion in there, something that Merlin started or ended with. Maybe their Wiccan? Maybe they're nothing.

I dont know if it exists a topic alrady like this, i try to find and i did not foud nothing, but if it is one i am sorry.
I was just wondering about wizards religion, well is just because i rather think they dont have one, but they have Christmas wich is a Christian tradition, so does that mean that they are Christians then??

And what does it mean, believing in magic? Believing in themselves,... in their will. Because, easily put, to make a good spell "you have to mean it".

Christmas and Easter are certainly not secular holidays in any sense, they may be materialised by some but they are holidays celebrating the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Predominantly Muslim nations do not celebrate these holidays in the way they are celebrated in predominantly Christian nations; the main reason some claim Christmas, Easter and the likes sometimes lack the "true message" of the holidays is because of the materialism, but the wizarding world that is so less applicable than in the muggle world. Wizards exchange gifts, but not the extent muggles do, they do it as it should be: a few gifts between family and friends. They have their Christmas and Easter feasts and get the days off school.

Witches and Wizards in JK Rowling's books are no less humans than muggles and squibs, they have their religious beliefs like any human being.

Yeah, I think that they don't have a religion. The fact that they celebrate Christmas and Easter doesn't prove that they have a religion, as it has been said before, people who are not religious still celebrate the material side of it. I have a few friends who are atheist and they still celebrate it. They probably think of it as a muggle tradition that they decided to adopt.

I would have to agree. The celebration of Christmas and Easter, to me, is clearly Christian, as Jewish and Muslim people do not normally celebrate the birth of Christ. I would say that predominantly there is Christian background to the wizarding world, and that they do believe in an after life that the dead would prefer to go on to rather then stay and haunt like some ghosts do. To question this aspect in the wizarding world would be the same as questioning it in the muggle world, why do some people stay and haunt and why do some go on? I would have to say that more likely then not, the religious tone of the books would be Christian as most celebrate the Christian holidays, and believe in an after life. As for the most part, Harry's parents are there for him in very tough times, like guardian angels, such as they were guardians of him when they were alive, they are his angels after their deaths. I would have to say that the majority of the wizarding world would have a Christian based religion.

Because of all the things said before, by Killian and Potterwatch, I do agree that there is a remarked Christian tone in the whole series. Of course JKR wouldn't refer to a specific religion, but there is a clear mention of things regarding Christianity in the books.



For me, that states the fact that some of the wizards do have certain specific religious beliefs. They might not be the same for all, but I do think that they have them. Take for example the Patil sisters, they are regarded as from hindu tradition.
Also, like someone above said (sorry, I can't remember who), some of the wizards are brought up muggles, just like Harry and Hermione, which gives them a specific religion.
Of course, the school celebrates this holidays, I believe that in order to give kids a chance to celebrate with their relatives in their own specific way.

What I think is that although the books have a heavily emphasised theme of good vs. evil, they are not necessarily religiously tied (representing Jesus vs. devil)

And the fact that they celebrate Christmas and Easter does not mean anything, friends of mine that have no religion or even an opposing religion still celebrate those holidays, just not for a godly meaning.

What did catch my attention is that they use "Merlin!" as an exclamation rather as we use "God!" whether we are religious or not. (Example: "Merlin! What was that for?" as compared to "God! What was that for?") It is simply something we shout in surprise, realization, or in place of cursing.

Also, Harry and Hermione say things such as "Oh my god!" and "Thank god!" in addition to saying "Merlin!" while Ron does not. I think this has to do with their Muggle upbringing, where that is used as a common exclamation.

If I've gone too far into it, let me know!

Great topic!

In fact, it is weird that Potter and co celebrate Christmas and Easter. The books never state that wizards are religious and it certainly doesn't state that they are Christians. So why do they then celebrate? Would wizards even know who Jesus Christ was? And if they did, what would they think of Him? Would He then like be a Muggle with exceptional abilities or something?

I still don't know why Rowling mentioned Christmas and Easter if the wizarding world doesn't really seem to have any religion.

I don't think they 'believe in magic', I never had the impression that magic abilities were seen as 'divine', 'religious', or anything like that. It's just something you have, or you don't... just like there are people who have a high IQ and others who don't.

So I'm still troubled about this topic: are they religious or not? I would say 'no', but the Christmas and Easter thing are just not logical. Even if they are only seen as 'a holiday where you get presents', wizards would still know the real origine of these holidays... It's just plain weird

Hmm this is very interesting and thought provoking. I'm going to lean along the lines that wizards generally don't have a religion and they participate in Christmas and Easter mainly because the vast populace of muggles participate in those holidays. I think that these holidays are only associated (officially that is) with the wizarding world through the muggle wizards. To most wizards I'm betting it's just a chance to get presents and candy and there's no real religious meaning behind the festivities.


-Nick
HJP