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Another example of Christianity in Harry Potter is Nicholas Flamel. He was a devout Catholic and friend of Dumbledore. Perhaps Dumbledore was Catholic too? He also cared a lot about the state of one’s soul, which is of major importance in Christianity. Even Harry tried to give Voldemort one last chance to repent
dumbedores not catholic, its said in one of the books he reads from the new king james version of the bible, since its not a catholic bible i doubt hes catholic hes likely anglican
@@InitialPC Yes, he is Anglican. He and Harry Potter - member of the same Church - Saint Jeromy Church in Hodric Hollow. Because this Church have Cemetary, where buried Kendra, Ariana, Lily and James. Its make Pervival, Kendra, Ablus, Aberforth, Ariana, James, Lily, Harry, Ginny, ALL Weasley, Sirius, Remus and Nimfadora Members of THE SAME Religion. Dumbledores and Potters - Members of Saint Jeromy Chuch. Saint Jeremy - Saint in BOTH Catholic and Anglican Faith. Its make Saint Jeromy Church part of Catholic Church or Anglican Church. Albus have King James I Bible. Its make him Anglican. Its means Saint Jeromy Church - its Anglican Church. Its means Dumbledores and Potters - its Anglicans. The Same as Dursley, because they are Potter Relatives. Sirius Black is Godfather of Harry Potter. Its means he must be THE SAME Religion with Potters. Its means Sirius Black are also Anglican. Harry Potter - Godfather of Teddy Lupin. Its make Harry Potter, Teddy Lupin and his Parents Remus Lupin and Nimfadora - they all member of THE SAME Religion. Harry Potter - Anglican. Its means Teddy Lupin, Remus and Nimfadora also Anglicans. And its TRUE. Why? Because Nimfadora are cousin of Sirius Black. Its means ALL Black Family are Anglicans. Its make Anglicans also Malfoy Family and Lestrange Family, because they are Relatives. Harry Potter married with Giny Weasley. Its means Giny Weasley must be the same Religion like Harry Potter. Its means Ginny Weasley is also Anglican. Its means ALL Weasley are Anglicans. And its TRUE, because Weasley Family are relatives with Black Family. Hermione Granger also Anglican, because she married on Ronald Weasley. But in Weasley case we have one Problem. Albus is Anglican. Why? Because he is English man. Nicolas Flamel - Catholic. But WHY is Catholic. Because he is French man. Delacours Family also French Family. Its means Delacore Family are also Catholic Family. William Weasley and Flear Delacore are married. Are Anglicans and Catholics can be marry with each other???
@@InitialPC As a former Catholic, I remember us students in my all-girls Catholic high school reading Good News for Modern Man at our leisure in the early 1970s. I don't know if we were reading the Catholic edition or not. I'm just saying that Catholics sometimes choose to read non-Catholic translations of the Bible. As Dumbledore was not acting under the auspices of the Catholic Church, he may have felt free to use a non-Catholic translation. Also, the Dumbledore family members, as well as Lily and James, were buried in a church graveyard. We don't know of which denomination the host church is.
It'd honestly be weird if there wasn't, seeing as J. K. Rowling inspired parts of the story on her own Christian faith, such as Harry's sacrifice and ressurection in Deathly Hallows.
Voldemort reminds me of the serpent, Satan.....and Dumbledore seems very God like and then Harry like Jesus but I don't know really. Just made me think that way.
@@thegoblinsteed3558 Yeah, snakes being so symbolic of evil, death and destruction in the Wizarding World is most definitely derived from the Luciferic Serpant interpretation of the story of Genesis. I wouldn't really call Dumbledore a God-like figure, since unlike the almighty, Albus is a flawed individual with a long history of morally gray actions. I could, however, see him being compared to a sort of guardian angel type figure in relation to Harry. Not perfect, nor omnipotent, but someone who looks after him.
I've heard the phrase "you never discuss religion at the dinner table." That leads me to believe that witches and wizards are simply more private about their faith or lack thereof, whereas many muggles are openly religious or openly not religious. It's simply a difference in lifestyles that evolved over centuries of magical and muggle separation. Part of it may be that medieval witches and wizards had to unite regardless of faith, and so they may have kept their beliefs private to keep disagreements from starting between the handful of magical families in a community
Marketing is why they didn't really discuss religion in the book. If the story came off as being preachy it would turn readers away. However if someone who happens to be a Christian reads the book they would understand what certain things mean. Serious black being here he's godfather. Would mean Harry was baptized when he was a baby.
I think perhaps - and forgive me if I’m wrong - that you’re not considering the cultural differences between the US and Europe when you say muggles are open about their beliefs or lack thereof. I would say this is incredibly true in the US but in Europe it’s very much “you never discuss religion at the dinner table”. We’ve had centuries of war over religion and mostly variants of the same one! Here one’s religious beliefs are no-one’s business but ones own.
I grew up in a rather Christian Household and my family never had any problem with Harry Potter. Matter of fact, we saw the first two films in theaters together as a family. It was more shows with Stupid and/or Inappropriate Humor, like Ren and Stimpy, that my parents were strict over.
I went to catholic school and most of my fellow students, the teachers and even our nun principal read them. She found them quite good as it is mostly about the struggles of good vs evil (external and internal), tolerance vs bigotry and love vs hatred. The wizard magic is a genetic tool.
CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia books were one of the big inspirations for the Potter books, and his writings had a heavily Christian tone after his good friend JRR Tolkien got him to convert back to Christianity. It would only make sense.
@@abcxyz- They were both on the faculty at Oxford University. Lewis' most famous book after the Narnia books, The Screwtape Letters, was even dedicated to Tolkien. Lewis is a very interesting character to read about but that is a pretty deep rabbit hole
I remember my kids not being allowed to read Harry potter books at school in the beginning but by the time order of the phoenix was released the school had softened on this after many parents pointed to the fact the books were not evil in any way.
I think it makes a big difference that the good guys generally use a positive form of magic. Healing potions, disarming spells, time turners, etc are a lot less offensive than the traditional "newt's eyes and chicken blood" depiction of magic/witchcraft in a lot of stories
It's funny that the school softened up after the books started to become a lot darker. Sorcerer's Stone is a lot more kid appropriate than Deathly Hallows
I remember growing up in an evangelical church, a lot of families in the church had banned HP and even went as far as to tell my mom that it was evil and she shouldn't let me read it.
I think most people realized it but words such as witch or similar had and still have a very negative connotation even in supposedly secular asian countries.
@@josephang9927 In the beginning it was Catholics saying there was nothing wrong with it. Like what happened with pokemon, American protestants created a trend of calling these things evil which led to publicity which led to American Catholics asking their hierarchy to address the controversy which of course led to the hierarchy essentially saying "Are you stupid? Of course its fine". The reason for this difference is because their tradition has already addressed the question of fictional works forever ago, that they are fine, hence how LOTR was made by a Catholic despite having its own separate theology in universe.
It always made sense to me (although never directly addressed) that the magical community of Britain must also be mostly "Christian", at least nominally, and that this probably happened in roughly the same way that it happened in the Muggle world, though I figured that the religion would have developed differently amongst wizards and have a few significant differences in doctrine. The reason for this, of course, is that Christmas is celebrated at Hogwarts, they get a break at Easter, wizards seem to know religious carols, one of the ghosts at Hogwarts is literally a Friar and Harry's parents are buried in a church graveyard. I also figured that there would probably also be quite a few witches and wizards who still practice pagan faiths as well as other major religions of the world and the wizarding versions of these religions would probably also have some significant differences to their real world versions. The Patil twins, based on their names, are most likely Hindu, for example. Harry himself is obviously not religious, and religion never becomes the focus of any conflict in the books and probably would've been extremely controversial at the time if it was, so it makes sense why it's never directly brought up.
For Harry not being religious, I can see the Dursleys going to their local Anglican Church weekly because they want to appear normal and to bring Harry along to make themselves look good they act like hypocrites and Harry sees this. I don’t see him subscribing to organised religion after the way the Dursleys act. I think Harry was baptised though in the Church at Godrics Hallow most likely at Lily’s insistence where his parents are buried but I have no evidence.
I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and I'm one of the most pious Christians you'll ever run into. My parents, my church, my pastor, the elders at my church, my family, and my Christian friends never had any problem with me being a big Harry Potter and every single one of them knew about it because I told them. So not all Christians have a problem with it. It just never occured to me that Harry Potter had any negative or positive impact on my faith. It didn't change my faith at all. I was happy that Christmas was celebrated at Hogwarts and that Bible verses were quoted in Harry Potter. The magic in Harry Potter never felt out of place or at odds with any of my religious beliefs. And why should it, considering that other big Christian novels like Narnia and LOTR also have magic being practice by both heroes and villains. And those books were never condemned by any church, just Harry Potter is condemned. Makes you wonder what is going on there, but this is just my experience and it may not be reflective of all the Christian experiences with Harry Potter.
Just to add to your point on Narnia and LOTR: it is pretty interesting how Lewis and Tolkien respectively disagreed on the role christianity would perform in their literature. For Lewis' part, he clearly envisioned a saviour, messianic figure in the form of Aslan who was explicitly meant to embody Christ in the world of Narnia which was not-christian. In fact it was not-christian but not UN-christian, filled to the brim with classic christian philosophy on the nature of the soul, mortality and good and evil. Tolkien for that matter, was entirely opposed to metaphor and symbolism where it was not poetically meaningful. I.e. war being described as evil in his work is not a metaphor: he means to literally say war is a great evil that is often fought because of the corrupting influence of power (hence the Ring of Power and its corrupting influence even on those "who would intend to use it for good"). It is often said Tolkien figuratively portrays his WWI experiences throughout the LOTR, but he himself would likely have disagreed with this statement. His writing is meant to make us relate directly to those things in the LOTR+ that reflect things of our own life. The Shire represents the English countryside not in a symbolic, but a literal manner: the small life lead by the hobbits is the life Tolkien nostalgically saw as directly opposed to the destruction of rapid industrialisation. In that sense Saruman's clearing of Fangorn is not meant to be symbolic at all, but a direct reference to the felling of the ancient forests of England (and the Old & New Worlds in general) to fire the fuels of industry. Whereas Lewis meant to write a new world, a true fiction at its core, Tolkien explicitly set out to write a version of the historicised mythology of the Saxons that was lost in the wake of the 1066 Norman Invasion. It was surely a fiction, but also a version of 'a truth' as the Saxons might have seen it in their own minds. Somewhat like how the Exodus story has been proven to be historically unlikely, but is nonetheless culturally and therefore historically significant. It has been a core 'story' around which many communities constructed their identities and while it may be a historical fiction, it is still held to be true (if only in terms of meaning) by some. Hope this was interesting, if not helpful!
I ended up getting the opposite treatment, as a kid. I was part of a homeschool group when I was in kindergarten where I was the only kid who wasn't religious. We'd always play star wars games with lightsabers, but when I suggested we play Harry Potter with sticks, their parents made them stay away from me because supposedly Harry Potter was satanic
I immediately thought of Ron and his Deluminator when I read "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Ron spends six years pining after material wealth and superficial fame, but his real treasure is his friendships and relationships, and his Deluminator (his heart) leads him back to them.
Both Harry Potter and Lord Of the rings have a connection to Christianity. It's perhaps even more true for the latter, considering that JRR Talking was vocal about practising his catholic fate. (From what I've read).
@@antmanatthemoment7233 Anglican Lewis was absolutely clear that his Narnia work was a Christian allegory. If you know the Christian story, it jumps right out at you very loudly. Devout Catholic Tolkien described his work as Christian, indeed as Catholic, but he reject the allegorical style of Lewis, so his religious themes are harder to pick up, being more subtley interwoven with the story.
@@antmanatthemoment7233 Quite true, especially for Tolkien, who represented that strain of Catholicism which is very respectful of non-Christian myth as a form of natural revelation and sees the Gospel as the culmination, not the enemy, of myth. The Catholic Renaissance shows this strain as well. He battled with the Protestant Lewis, who was very suspicious and skeptical about non-Biblical revelation, which was why he chose allegory.
Given that celebrations much like what is now called Christmas far predate Christianity in the British Isles, it would be weirder if they didn't celebrate the season in some way. Its just likely that Christmas, Yule, Saturnalia, Hanukah and the like have all been conflated into "Christmas", much like in our world. As for religions on the whole, my closest analogue would have to be a non-religiously affiliated University. Room could be made for any and all religions, but there might not be a dedicated chapel. For all I know, Proffessor Bins' classroom might double for temple on Saturday nights, and the Room of Requirement might put out mats for anyone who needed them for morning prayers.
Yes pagan celebrations predated Christmas celebrations in England. A lot of what we would call Christmas traditions have roots from those celebrations, however it is important to note that those are dead holidays in England (excluding Hannukah, which is Jewish). Thus it’s inaccurate to say that all the seasonal holidays have been conflated into “Christmas,” because Christmas is the only one to still be practiced widespread as a religious celebration.
@@ComicRaptor8850 Yule and Saturnalia were celebrated on winter solstice. Celebration of birth of Christ was arbitrarily put on winter solstice. It is easier to rename existing tradition than to eradicate it all together.
Muslim here. I imagine it would be fairly easy for students of our faith to pray, given extra effort. Prayer times are always at specific times of the day, generally dawn/morning, noon, afternoon, evening and night. If a student woke up early, just before breakfast, they can get a prayer in. Maybe one before lunch too, but that means missing part of lunch- not sure this part is feasible. But afternoon, evening and night are easy. And worse case scenario, you pray the second and third together, back to back in the afternoon. Place is easy as well. Just any empty, unused classroom. Magically lock the door and take your time.
From the get go the wizarding world should be full of religion. With there been ghosts everywhere and echos of loved one's in stressful moments. It would suggest to wizards there is some "Great beyond" and they'd strive to find that world through a religion
what i love about Harry Potter is that everyone can descipher in it hidden meanings according their background. I am a Christian and graduated from the Orthodox Theology Faculty. Funnily enough, i started it in 2001, so my years of study pretty much coincided with the HP franchise. BUT I DID NOT watch the movies then. i had read a silly article saying it was full of real dark magic, etc, so i avoided them. a pitty really.... I watched the series for the first time in 2019 and was MESMERIZED. i instantly fell in love with all the characters and the story. I found it immensely relatable. It reminded me A LOT of my time in Faculty - best years of my life> we were the weird ones in the huge university campus, studying from big old books with strange writing, using strange words and symbols, our professors were all dressed in black robes, i sang in the choir (my music professor was a combination between Bellatrix and Snape. He became the dean in the end. but of course, the real ruler was the archbishop with his long white beard and his piercing eyes, a true magnificent personality with an interesting past (he even spent time in jail because the Communists feared his amazing influence over people.) . anyway, there were so many similarities, i'd need a few days to write them all. we even had some stairs that in my imaginative mind moved, and paintings on the walls that watched your steps. anyway, good times.
It's so very odd that I just never thought about this. For me, it is called Yule. I remember Hermione saying, "Happy Christmas,' which is a British thing I think. Sacrifice is an act of love, not any specific religion. I suppose any book is influenced by it's author, but honestly it's a timeless good vs evil tale to me.
Exactly. There are a lot of books that depict people dying and coming back from death in various ways, and religion is a part of culture and therefore is bound get a mention in books from time to time. That doesn't necessarily make a book essentially religious. Christmas is depicted in Harry Potter in a very secular way. There is no real depiction of religion in any way, and it's kind of grasping at straws to really assume any religious content at all in Harry Potter. Religion isn't a part of the essential story like it is with Tolkien and C S Lewis. A mention twice removed doesn't make a book religious, lol!!
Ok the confusing thing about saying that it is "Yule" is that Yule was still a religious celebration and ritual. I understand what you are saying though you do not think of it as religious, that is fine, the Yule thing is a pretty peeve of mine
Christmas comes from yule, I always thought that it would make sense that the wizarding world would have predominantly pre abrahamic beliefs. Especially outside of europe and the middle east. But then again many witches and wizards are muggle born or have muggle relatives so who knows.
@@CorpseBride64 sometimes it is used in passing reference as a non-religious version of Christmas rather than worship of another religion, your point, in the original post seemed to indicate you saw Harry Potter (the book) as non Religious and more of a story of good and evil, my comment was just due to me having friends and family who misuse Yule as a non-religious term for the celebration of Christmas
I personally have no religious beliefs, however in the wizarding world and muggle worlds most people celebrate Christmas as a holiday with family members and give/receive gifts! The religious aspect is not important to most people.
Sorry I'm late to the game (how did I not see the notification for this earlier?) but I'm glad I saw this! I grew up in the Christian church and I always say to fellow believers that they have nothing to fear by reading Harry Potter. I tend to include this series with other British fantasies like Lord Of The Rings and The Chronicles Of Narnia, which also have religious roots. For a deeper dive into these themes in Potter (including the difference between incantational and invocational magic, an important distinction!) I highly recommend reading How Harry Cast His Spell by John Granger.
According to McGonagall's backstory, her father was a Presbyterian minister. You also have Wendelin the Weird who allowed herself to be caught 47 times because she enjoyed being "burned" at the stake so much.
I really like the part in deathly hallows, we’re Harry burys Dobby, “properly” without magic this I really thought was very respectable and a religious aspect in Harry Potter
Not trying to defend Christianity or anything, but….suits of armor were bewitched to sing “O Come All ye Faithful” and Sirius was singing “GOD rest ye Merry Hippogriffs”. And they also had Easter Holiday. Not spring holiday, but Easter.
Mind you, most Christian dominant nations have those breaks as well. I'm American, and even with other religions, those are the big holidays for school vacations.
@@robertgronewold3326. But that would be due to the fact that the US was founded on JudeoChristian values. As most early Americans were Christian, it only leads to celebrating those holidays as we do today.
I deal with a Wiccan, my daughter. She says it's all about being spiritual, I am skeptical since she thinks some things are bad luck or crystals empower as do pyramids. I asked her if she actually believed this, she did.
@@MountainFisher If I may ask, why do you struggle? :) (Just curious.) Wicca (although in some countries being recognized as a "religion") is a system of many different spiritual philosophies. Some follow in the footsteps of pre-Christian beliefs (where actually most modern Christian rituals have derived from) like Greco-Roman or Norse religions, but in theory it really is compatible with any religion, so there are also Christian Wiccans out there. It is a pantheistic approach of spirituality, meaning that the divine is to be found in all of nature & flows through every living being. It's purpose is usually to see yourself as a part of the whole, to re-connect with our roots & the earth. Some Wiccans include magical practice in their daily life, others don't & just use it to honor nature & feel closer to it. Most Wiccans also follow the "Wiccan Rede" (a.k.a. "The Threefold Law") which states, 'Do what ye will, but harm none. What ye send forth comes back to thee, so ever mind the Rule of Three. Follow this with mind & heart, merry ye meet & merry ye part.' Which means even when including it, they work with so-called white magic that is in tune with natural laws & does not bring harm onto anybody. For what you send out, according to the rede, will come back to you times 3, affecting body, mind & soul. By doing something harmful or without consent, one will face the consequences of one's actions. Therefore they honor the natural order & often harness Wiccan traditions to study & explore old traditions & civilizations, as well as being more grounded in humanity's elemental state of origin. It's got nothing to do with "devil worship" or anything similarly dark, there really is nothing to fear with your daughter trying/finding out if Wiccan philosophies enrich her life. :)
As a fellow Christian Wizard myself (I'm in Hufflepuff) I attended a Christian based private school (K-12) in my town and my school never had a problem with the Harry Potter Books, there were a lot of fans of the book series and among the fans were teachers as well. Even in my Church there are a lot of Harry Potter fans.
Don't forget that Hermione, who would digest any book placed under her nose, didn't know that the quotes on the graves was from the Bible. Obviously, Hermione was an atheist.
@@barbiquearea considering magic in their universe is real, she could still be an atheist. You can be an atheist and still "believe" in anti biotics because they might as well be
Her argument for excluding Wiccans would easily also exclude Christians. the bible does talk about magic a lot more, and makes it clear all magic either comes from Yahweh (the god of the Jewish people, and later Christians.), his angles, other gods (the Wizards who served Ramsey were not magicians, they did have real magic, Yahweh is just stronger, though some will argue it is demons in this case), Lucifer or Demons. Each time we see magic it is from one of those places. meaning in Christianity, Magic comes from higher powers, same as Wiccans. her argument is strangely the greatest prof to say why Religions should not be at Hogwarts at all. Ironic.
Seems like they even brought back the ancient Greek religion that we in our world call mythology, because in Hogwarts Mystery, one of the Chocolate Frog cards is of I think Circe, who was a Greek goddess
@@Kostadinoss actually she’s been known as a goddess, immortal sorceress and nymph. It’s in all ancient writings especially since she’s the granddaughter of the titan Helios.
I always felt like Harry Potter’s view of magic was, “some people are born with magical/mystical abilities, and it isn’t religious”. It’s another universe after all.
Rowling has said that magic is more of a Scientific natural phenomenon that can be harnessed by certain genetic traits. In which case it is a natural part of the world, and if the world is created by god, so too is magic.
@@pogicus89 Yes, and the magic banned by the Abrahamic religions is banned because it takes items that are in God’s hands into our hands, like knowing the future without scientific predictions, or moving objects without touching them, or controlling demons without God’s hand. That is either a usurpation of power that is rightfully God’s, or the turning to false gods, which is idolatrous. As we both know, Harry Potter is not about this magic.
Hi. I've watched a lot of ur videos and i enjoy them a lot. I would really love to see hpmor theories/ lore or just videos about hpmor in general. Keep up the good work
I have been waiting for this video for a long time, being a pastor myself. Did you notice that Harry is like Jesus giving his life the save the world? And there are so many other beautiful messages resembling Christian faith. Well, now, another question: if JK Rowling's magic is not religious, how could magic possibly relate to science?! Could you please dive into that question, too? Thanks so much for your research and beautiful developments.
Magic is same as miracle which we call now as Science the property of energy and the use of plants and microorganisms In modern words are now more acceptable which we rename as Science, study of Plants, study of Energy Study of heavenly bodies, so on and so forth the magic wand will be usable and will be possible in the future since that's science of channeling energy.
I find the idea that wizards celebrate the religion of Christianity interesting, though it would also be kind of ironic, seeing as it was Christianity that persecuted anyone suspected of being able to use magic
That is not true in this absolutivity. Where the Inquisition ruled, like in Spain or Italy, there were no witch trials. Witch trials in Europe f.e. were mostly done by secular courts.
It actually gets a passing mention in one of the books that witches and wizards largely saw the witch trials of europe as a joke, and another reason to thumb their noses at muggles. As most apprentice wizards were taught various spells to overcome the trials easily. Such as things to make the fire not harm then, then couple it with a minor illusion. Tucking Gillyweed in the cheek is mentioned as a way to avoid drowning. So most of those who were killed by paranoid theological mobs were muggles, and all were innocent.
I'm not as well studied as many people on the subject, but usually the charges made were those of heresy, which doesn't require magic use. Of course, the events most commonly referenced are the Salem witch trials. Nineteen people were hanged, or otherwise punished, because they refused to confess to witchcraft. Europe also had a similar hysteria, with equally bloody results, however, most of the motivation behind such events are greed and politics. As usual. Not that it makes a difference. It didn't require much to be accused, and once accused, one was usually doomed. A lot of devout Christians were accused, by other Christians, of witchcraft and heresy. So, there's plenty of irony to go around.
In the scenes before the Quidditch World Cup in the Goblet of Fire book, there are some wizards from the Arab world appearing, they even mention flying carpets like in the traditional Arab tales (and that those carpets are not allowed to use in Britain while in their countries they are a perfectly acceptable and legal, popular means of transport). It's not mentioned directly, but it's quite likely they may be Muslim.
Every religion is welcome at Hogwarts except Wicca. I find this hilarious. Do you think this is what JK really intended in her HP universe, or is she just trying to prevent or deflect extreme religious attacks?
She didn't say it wasn't welcome. The video clearly says that she can't imagine in there, probably because there are two different types of magic from two different ways- Science vs Spiritual. I mean, same with Christianity in the sense that you never directly bring up Jesus or faith based "magic" in that way.
Absolutely not. It was definitely because of the religious backlash she was getting, and not bc Wicca or pre-Christian witchcraft is incompatible. If anything it's SUPER compatible. When you talk about paganism or neopeganism, you are talking about the folklore and practices that existed before the church went on a conquest of converting people, or burning people. Who were they burning???? They were burning the heretics, and the witches of course! Why does the Statue of Secrecy exist???? Because they were burning the witches! So an entire magical community went into hiding bc of how hostile Christianity was becoming towards them. If anything anti-muggle, anti-Christian is the foundation of a lot of European wizarding society. If they had a religion it's going to be something that predates Christianity. It should also be noted that the hypocritical JKR HEAVLY uses Celtic, Norse, and even Greek folklore and mythology for all her magical creatures, spells, and magical concepts! It's practical flowing with these pagan influences. I think however these pagan beliefs would be strongest with pure blood families as they are already very anti-muggle and probably have great interest in preserving the culture and practices of wizard. However I think the reason we see Christmas celebrated in Howarts instead of Yule is because of the influences of Muggleborn or related witches and wizards bringing in their own religious beliefs and practices into the magic world. Notice how in the video every magical person connected to being Christian also had a muggle connection. If anything Howarts celebrates Christmas to be more inclusive to muggle born students.
Does seem odd. A Wiccan family has a child who becomes a witch or wizard at 11, isn't going to drop their beliefs, neither is their family. They are most likely to now find actual, factual evidence to back up their beliefs (i.e. Magic is real and so are Spirits).
The reason Wiccanism wouldn't make any sense in Harry Potter is because magic is real in HP, and Wicca teaches that magical powers are obtained from the devil (which obviously isn't the case in HP).
While the Christian religion denounces witchcraft as evil, the magic in the Potter universe is NOT witchcraft as described in the Bible. Witchcraft in the Bible is the manipulation of evil spirits, which is definitely NOT what happens in the Potter universe. In Potter, magic is a natural property of certain people, an innate skill that needs to be honed through study & exercise. Just like Rowling said she intended it to be. Magic in the Potterverse from the muggle perspective is what the current use of electricity would be like to a person born 200 years ago. Which is why I as a devoted Christian can wholeheartedly recommend the Potter books.
Also, witch trials didn't even really start until the late 1500's after the reformation. In the so called "dark ages", the prohibition on witchcraft was because it was believed to be a form of fraud, and those who claim to practice it are lying. Charlemagne even made it illegal to say that real witches exist.
I think their traditions originated in 17th century Britain? After the statute of secrecy, wizards carried on their traditions similar to muggles but, perhaps it stayed in family homes? Only recently had Britain gone through Cromwell's ban on Christmas. Wizards and witches could still go to places of worship in their nearest muggle communities for centuries. Muggle influences brought over by generations of intermarriage influenced the development of Christmas and other festivals in wizarding society as depicted in the books? They may diverge somewhat but that continuous contact with the muggle world keeps them from drifting too far apart?
I would like to say I have been a practitioner of Wicca since before Harry Potter came out. I do practice witchcraft, yes. Real witchcraft is more similar to Christian prayer than anything else. It is offensive to some witches when you have movies like Harry Potter that make people think that witchcraft is fictional because it accomplishes impossible things only found in movies. I’ve learned to take this in stride and accept that what is real and fantasy are separate and I can appreciate both. That said, I will say us Wiccans do celebrate the winter Solstice which is on December 21. It’s much like Christmas, we decorate a tree we have feasts, we celebrate the coming of winter we pray we have fun we cherish time with family. That tradition goes back thousands of years before Jesus’ birth. Christians essentially took the winter solstice celebrations and added in Jesus’ birth in them and called it theirs. Wiccans and other pagans have become so used to it that we call our solstice “Christmas” at this point even though it’s not. So the Christmas in Harry Potter is not implausible. In addition, there are those who are Christian who practice witchcraft in addition to their Christian faith. Witchcraft is not a religion by itself, but can be added to Wicca or any other religion. So even if the people in the Harry Potter world are Christians, they can still be witches and wizards.
No, we don't call the winter solstice christmas. We Pagans call it Yule. I've been on the witchcraft path for about 25 years as well and am an Eclectic Christian Witch now. So yes, practicing witchcraft is separate from religion, but it's also still a spiritual practice that I've made part of my religion. So instead of working with Pagan deities, I work with the Abrahamic ones (The Mother, The Father and The Son). What bothers me about her saying that Wiccanism isn't welcome at Hogwarts is that it's an opinion based on her hateful Christian Ideals. Why 'appropriate' everything of another belief systems practices and then still look down upon it and say they aren't welcome? As a witch, I am offended.
I found this very interesting but at the same time it felt like it ended at the midpoint. It could just be the way you edited it, or it could just be me.
I just googled this topic like an hour ago and now I find your video! I do wonder, does the wizarding world believe that Jesus was a wizard? I mean he did perform miracles so it would make sense but at the same time it wouldn't make sense because even in the wizardry world its impossible to bring back the dead, which Jesus did in the bible..so who knows?! Happy Christmas! 🤗
Remembering that the Patel twins walked around the school with their bindi, at least in the films which show Hinduism is followed by Indian students at least
Video idea for you to do: What additional effects do spells have that are not seen in the movies? For instance, what else can the patronus charm do besides ward off dementors?
Honestly, I always just saw the stories as a reflection of British culture in the 90s and 00s, which of course had influence from Christianity as it was at the time still assumed that everyone was Christian by default. As you pointed out, Christmas and even Easter to some extent have become secular celebrations. They also have their roots in pre-Christian traditions of mid-winter and early spring celebrations. Personally, I also don't think that anything the author says outside of what's written in their books counts as part of the stories themselves. Regardless of what an author meant when they wrote something, readers can take it to mean whatever they like. I don't think there are explicit references to religion or religious practices in the wizarding world. Harry was raised in the muggle world in the UK in the 90s, so it makes sense that he would have godparents because most people did at that time even if they weren't particularly religious. Just because the author used metaphors of her own faith as a story writing technique, doesn't mean that the characters depicted are religious - especially if they are not read that way by those outside of the author's own religion.
In terms of references, absolutely Harry Potter has religion in it. But not in the ideological way, at least the way I see it. I think it's a more secular interpretation of religion we experience in Harry Potter. Religious holidays and traditions have morphed in time in western society and become more like cultural traditions. If Rowling was pushing her faith on to the reader, I don't think the books would've been popular at all. I for one wouldn't have read them as a kid since my parents were very much against any sort of religious indoctrination, which is what I am very greatful of.
I always wondered if the wizard/witch is actually DNA based and hereditary, the person is born with their abilities, since their magical side become evident as they grow. Note how Harry's skills become more apparent as he gets older and needs a place like Hogwarts to learn not just the history and culture, but also how to control and properly use his magic.
Yes, it is a hereditary gene, you can read more about it on 'blood status' on the Harry Potter wiki. This is based on the real life concept that if witches (or just about anyone) pass on their knowledge of the craft to their descendants, a bloodline is established that becomes more powerful with every new generation adding their part to the family heritage. Does this mean they are better than or more entitled to the use of magic? I'll let you read the books for that 😅
Wizards are genetic, not religious. In this way, they're far closer to Jedi (Star Wars) or Mutants (X-Men). This is a major theme in the books as racism and blood-purity would be an absurd thing to focus on if magic in Potter was supernatural or demonic. This is why it makes sense how 'magic' could coexist with real world faiths that in principle comdemn it.
There may have been Christians at Hogwarts, but it would not seem that Harry was one of them. I know of no evidence that the Dursleys were practicing Christians, and it would seem Harry did not know much about it. When he read the quotation on his parents' tombstone, he thought it was something a Death Eater would say. Hermione corrected him but didn't say where the quotation was from.
I have a request for a somewhat related topic: We know, that there are prophecies in the wizarding world. What do you think is the role of „fate“ in the series? What kind of plan does providence have? Does the universe want the good guys to win? For example in the Lord of the rings universe Iluvatar is practically identical to the christian god. In the Percy Jackson universe thee are several polytheistic pantheons deciding the fate of the characters. Who or what takes this place in Harry Potter?
I'm pretty sure I know why they don't want us using magic that's supposedly a god ability and we are no God so it's like a touchy subject with them especially if you bring up all the purging
I always found it odd that the British Wizarding community celebrated a religious tradition from the people who drove them into hiding and began the Blood Purity Conflict!
You do understand that religion comes from the belief in God, right? And that people have fought one another who held the same religious beliefs correct? I don’t mean that rude at all and I apologize if it comes out that way. Your statement is just seemingly from someone who is an atheist and doesn’t understand that God is real. This is a fictional universe but if you try to apply the same kind of thinking history here. Then yes, they would be Christian as well.
@@pendragonshall 1. I'm not am Atheist 2. Early Christians coalesced around Christianity out of Hope for salvation from their oppression in the next life. So it seems a little counter-intuitive that the Wizarding community which would have been a lot more liberated like Many westerners today should have been so inclined to even develop a Strong relationship with a religion like Christianity. Some eastern religions..Maybe would have fit a lot more logically...but i understand In real life it's simply J K Rowling's prerogative as a Christian woman.
@Curtis Langford wizards have undeniable proof of the afterlife in ghosts, and so, in a way, it makes even more sense that they'd develop spiritual beliefs to make sense of life and death and existence itself.
@@sanaa94b17 Practicing Religion isn't a surprise! Practicing a religion that hunted the 🧙♂️ Wizarding community into hiding IS curious! Christianity isn't the ONLY religion!
I’m a Christian myself and I’ve had people give me plenty of flack for liking Harry Potter. I’ve even bought a lot of Harry Potter stuff and Harry pulled off a Christ move. He died to save his friends and there’s so many parallels with that and there’s also so many parallels between Lord Voldemort and Satan, I mean Satan used to be Lucifer Lord Voldemort used to be Tom Riddle. I mean if you see the parallels and I’m a Christian myself I’ve read the Bible so many times but I love Harry Potter I love I love the story I have never hated the story. Sure there were times when I would you know be away from it because I feared other people and I feared man but as long as I don’t idolize it, I know it’s not a big deal as long as I put God first I know it’s not the biggest deal. I have a lot of Christian friends like myself who adore these books and we all joke about it and we joke about who’s who some of us even like playing the villains cause we’re just we love to goof off, so thank you for making this and I’ve met Wickens I’m not their biggest fan either. I don’t hate them because that’s wrong but I’m not their biggest fan either just saying so if anyone wants to hate on Harry Potter, I keep telling people don’t hate the book unless you’ve read the book then you could hate all you want.
Catholic Apologist Mark Shea from the very orthodox Catholic Answers did a great article a number of years back called Harry Potter and the Christian Critics where he not only highlights the Christian themes in the series but also makes a similar distinction you did between Harry Potter magic, which he dubs incantational and is a natural force of her world, vs invocational which calls on supernatural forces other than God and is what is condemned by Scripture. All in all a very good article for anyone who wants to hear a defense of the series from a conservative Christian perspective.
Thanks for this one; it's a question I've had for a while. Your point that Christmas has become less about the religious facet is well said. I also wonder about various characters' use of phrases like "good lord" or "my god", are these indicative of religious belief or just words and phrases that have religious origins, but are now commonplace, like saying "bless you" after someone sneezes. I'm also curious about the wizard concept of the afterlife. Did Voldemort go to the same place as Sirius? Could Voldemort be called back with the resurrection stone as Harry's parents were? Inquiring muggle minds want to know!😁
Hey Andrew, thanks for your comment! I've got a video coming out on the wizarding afterlife on the 24th. As for the expressions you mentioned, I don't believe their usage suggests any ties to religion.
What was left of Voldemort’s soul was stuck in limbo for eternity so I don’t think he would be able to pass on to the afterlife. I also think that there’s probably so little left of his soul that the resurrection stone wouldn’t be able to bring him back. Even if it could it would just be that shrivelled baby thing
One interesting addition (that you could have mentioned) is Jk Rowling's fascination with Hindu goddesses and using their names for the Patil twins Parvati (Goddess of Nutrition - Annapurna and wife of Shiva), and Padma (Goddess of wealth - Lakshi, wife of Vishnu).
A lot of people don’t understand that religion stems from the knowledge God exists. The Harry Potter universe is based on this universe with a what if the wizarding world existed. So yes, they would know God is real I mean they see ghosts for God’s sake. So yes, they most certainly would be Christians and such. The difficult question would be to ask is anyone stupid enough not to be religious when they can see a persons soul. I’m surprised the atheist community didn’t just go rheeee as the very reason Christianity wasn’t named specifically with any verve is because they didn’t want to “offend” anyone. Which is also stupid as that is offensive now.
Christmas was actually adapted from pagan tradition of yule. So in all honesty Christians are the ones practicing a pagan holiday not the other way around. The Christmas tree comes from a pagan practice of going out and decorating tress to pay respects to nature spirits. Mistletoe actually is a plant used to keep bad energy and negative entities from the home and bring blessings and good energy.
It’s a lot like the Lord of the Rings there are plenty of Christian themes without someone saying the obvious. Harry saving Jenny is basically st George slaying the dragon. For my part I always saw the way she used magic in Harry Potter reminded me of the Force in Star Wars. I even thought it took place in the same universe as Star Wars when I was a kid.
Harrys sacrifice which made the order of the phenoix and the hogwarts students more resilient to dark magic is also a bit of a Jesus parrallel but on a smaller scale, same with his mom’s sacrifice blood magic that protected harry.
I think this analysis misses the idea that Christmas is a pagan holiday. Saturnalia is something that would fit much more obviously with the Wizard world’s holiday. Easter too.
If Christianity exists in the Wizarding World, then the wizards who do practice would assume magic was involved in most of the Bible (ex. Jesus and Moses would be wizards in the Harry Potter universe)
Oh imagine if a muggle family who were against magic and witchcraft through their religion found out their child was magical and had been accepted to Hogwarts. How confronting that would be. I imagine Dursley like reactions.
Interest in this particular upload has to do with the idea that J. K. Rowling has insisted that magic in assemblage of the Harry Potter series is meant to be science centric and not spiritual. One of the arguments I have formulated which I hope would fly in the face of the fundamentalist Christians set is as follows: The new testament clearly states that when Christ walked the Earth, he endowed the 12 Apostles with his powers to heal and expand or transfigure materials. Assuming the Apostles had descendants of their own, who is to argue those descendants were not endowed with those same abilities? If there really was magic in the world, who is to say that magic is not descended from the powers of the Apostles? I realize that theory probably gives too much weight to the argument against muggle borns. However, Rowling wrote the prejudice against muggle borns on the part of purebloods as a way of outlining for the general reader how inappropriate it is to be prejudiced. That is a lesson many people claiming to be “Christians” still haven’t learned up to the present. In the back of my head, I have long wondered whether one of Harry‘s Hufflepuff contemporaries, Anthony Goldstein, was bar mitzvahed in between Hogwarts terms.
Kinda messed up that Rowling singled out Wiccans in her Twitter posts like that. They're a genuine religious tradition, no less so than Christianity, Hinduism, or any other. Just because they happen to use the same terms for different things isn't a valid reason for singling them out.
I have two theories… first, wizards learned to practice local religions to blend in with muggles. Second, in the Wizarding World… Jesus was a wizard. Holy people who managed miracles in many religions were all wizards. To avoid persecution or to get power, they told non-magical peoples that they got power from a god, or perhaps were gods, and warned their followers of rival witches and wizards. All religions are partially correct, because Zeus was legit a Greek dude living up on Mt Olympus. Heracles, his son, was strong because he was a half-blood and he learned how to use his magic to enhance his strength. Osiris was ripped apart by his brother, Seth, but he still barely held on with magic. The plagues Moses used to free his non-magical people was all magic. Even Jesus’ miracle with loaves and fishes follows Gamp’s third law of transfiguration, in that he couldn’t create the loaves and fishes from nothing, but multiplied it.
Just imagine a hardcore atheist being sent to Hogwarts. Tells everybody in their compartment on the train that there is no afterlife and we are worm food after we die. Then after the Sorting they meet Nearly Headless Nick, the Fat Friar, The Gray Lady, or The Bloody Baron
i could see the wizard comunity accepting it slowely, specialy how it is now. maybe less when it was all the burning of witches and all the symbols and hige religious meanings etc but slowely over time absorbing some parts of it that they wanted. partly with the mugleborn and half bloods (the half bloods that had a wizard and a muggle parent atleast) bringing it to the comunity to. like i could see some student ask the teachers about it, and they thought it was something nice for the students, it stats beeing a thing at the school, and over time its accepted by the larger comunity,
I don’t know that I’d call it a condemnation of Wicca, just that she doesn’t see how they could coexist. For example if the series was about some humans being “angels” and going to an angel school, it wouldn’t exactly be easy for them to reconcile that reality with the Abrahamic faiths.
True, except Wicca is confused here with witchcraft, which are two separate things. Not all wiccans practice witchcraft and vice versa, so it's strange to say there would be no-one at Hogwarts who would for example pray to the Wiccan Goddess.
I would have thought that they would have followed a more pagan religion as Christmas adopted many pagan traditions eg bring green leafed plants in the house
Interesting how three big author of the fantastic/fantasy have been heavily influenced if not totally inspired by Christianity to write their best selling novels, it seems to me that once again whether one wants to take the Bible literally or figuratively that it is still a pretty neat and entertaining book
J. R. R. Tolkien wrote LOTR. C.S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. Both are Christian apologists. Now J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is inspired by those two authors. Isn’t it weird that Christians wrote about witches and wizards that their fatih spoke negatively?
It would make sense that Jesus was a wizard too and claimed to be the savior and son of god and used his magic to create “miracles” and muggles of course believed it. That makes more sense.
One interesting thing about Christianity is that Christmas is not the most important holiday, it's Easter, where they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, which is the most important part of Christianity where Jesus defeats death and proves that he's the son of God. Whereas in the West, Christmas has become the most important and celebrated holiday. And of course, the date on which we celebrate Christmas has pagan origins since we don't actually know what date or even what year Jesus was born.
Regarding people of different religions: due to Christianity till quite recently being the most common faith in uk most schools celebrated Christmas in uk. Especially primary schools (age 5-11) will put on a nativity. Everyone in the school will participate no matter what religion they are from. Then in secondary school (11-16 & with form 16-18 years old) there is less emphasis but still you will often see decorations up+ Christmas trees, people giving Christmas cards and Christmas presents. So I expect in Hogwarts everyone celebrates Christmas (no matter their religion) because that’s just tradition.
Characters I know for a fact that practice a religion Badeea Ali: Islam Minerva McGonagall: Presbyterian Queenie Goldstein: Judaism Padma and Parvati Patel: Hinduism Anthony Goldstein: Judaism Fat Friar: Christianity The Potters: Christianity
In harry Potter honestly it bothers me how little development is given to religion in the Harry Potter universe. For a world that looks out of the middle ages its is REALLY weird how little we are given.
It's pretty obvious that there's no religion specific to wizards, but that wizards can and do choose to adhere to existing religions. Anthony Goldstein was confirmed to be Jewish (not that with a name like Goldstein it wasn't already obvious).
'Hopefully her comments will open up the story to many fans'.. I don't think her tweets nowadays are exactly bringing us together lmfao. Sad... On the religion part though, my fosterfamily were deeply devoted christians and they let me read the stories. We weren't allowed to watch cartoons or access the internet besides schoolwork but the HP series was welcomed and i'm very glad they were. This series helped me a lot in dealing with my imposter syndrome coming from a non standard home life.
As you said at the end of the video, the series is told through Harry's perspective. Even with an awareness of other faiths from his Muggle background, the Dursleys do not appear to have been a very inclusive lot and would likely never associate with groups such as Muslims or even Hindus at least on a regular basis. It makes sense that the wizarding world would adopt the Muggle traditions just as any other culture does. To use Christmas as an example as well, look at how Japan celebrates it and it is a Shinto/Buddhist nation yet seems to go nuts for it more than Americans do. That said, I also imagine that even the topic of religion would be a sensitive issue to tackle in the Wizarding World. Just imagine how a heated debate between a Sikh and a Jewish wizard might devolve into a duel. Then again, it could be that personal beliefs are something that is extremely private for being ostracized in the wizarding community. Just look at the Lovegoods and how they are considered strange even by wizard standards. It is an interesting question in the end.
Fun fact, one of the implications of "thou shall not take the lord's name in vain" is that only the Jewish high priest could call him by the name YHWH, and only on Yom Kippur. Makes me wonder, if it's an incantation, what the hell does the spell do?
The thought came to me while listening to a catholic priest talk about Thomas Aquinas on Lex Friedman's show. Part of the theology is that God spoke the universe into existence.
I would think the exclusion of wiccans is more due to it being a relatively new religion that would be practice by muggles and not witches. Because if there’s room for other religions at Hogwarts that would mean that mystical variants of abrahamic religions would be practice, polytheistics and general paganism even druidism
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I'd like to hear more about why hogwarts is against wiccans. I know it'd just be theory but i can't find anything anywhere that breaks it down.
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I like the connection you made it is very unique not too well look into thanks for the content
I know them already
Another example of Christianity in Harry Potter is Nicholas Flamel. He was a devout Catholic and friend of Dumbledore. Perhaps Dumbledore was Catholic too? He also cared a lot about the state of one’s soul, which is of major importance in Christianity. Even Harry tried to give Voldemort one last chance to repent
Dumbledore Religion the same with Harry Potter Religion, because they are both from Godric Hollow.
another example, the hufflepuff ghost, Fat Friar, is a Catholic friar
dumbedores not catholic, its said in one of the books he reads from the new king james version of the bible, since its not a catholic bible i doubt hes catholic
hes likely anglican
@@InitialPC Yes, he is Anglican. He and Harry Potter - member of the same Church - Saint Jeromy Church in Hodric Hollow. Because this Church have Cemetary, where buried Kendra, Ariana, Lily and James. Its make Pervival, Kendra, Ablus, Aberforth, Ariana, James, Lily, Harry, Ginny, ALL Weasley, Sirius, Remus and Nimfadora Members of THE SAME Religion. Dumbledores and Potters - Members of Saint Jeromy Chuch. Saint Jeremy - Saint in BOTH Catholic and Anglican Faith. Its make Saint Jeromy Church part of Catholic Church or Anglican Church. Albus have King James I Bible. Its make him Anglican. Its means Saint Jeromy Church - its Anglican Church. Its means Dumbledores and Potters - its Anglicans. The Same as Dursley, because they are Potter Relatives. Sirius Black is Godfather of Harry Potter. Its means he must be THE SAME Religion with Potters. Its means Sirius Black are also Anglican. Harry Potter - Godfather of Teddy Lupin. Its make Harry Potter, Teddy Lupin and his Parents Remus Lupin and Nimfadora - they all member of THE SAME Religion. Harry Potter - Anglican. Its means Teddy Lupin, Remus and Nimfadora also Anglicans. And its TRUE. Why? Because Nimfadora are cousin of Sirius Black. Its means ALL Black Family are Anglicans. Its make Anglicans also Malfoy Family and Lestrange Family, because they are Relatives. Harry Potter married with Giny Weasley. Its means Giny Weasley must be the same Religion like Harry Potter. Its means Ginny Weasley is also Anglican. Its means ALL Weasley are Anglicans. And its TRUE, because Weasley Family are relatives with Black Family. Hermione Granger also Anglican, because she married on Ronald Weasley. But in Weasley case we have one Problem. Albus is Anglican. Why? Because he is English man. Nicolas Flamel - Catholic. But WHY is Catholic. Because he is French man. Delacours Family also French Family. Its means Delacore Family are also Catholic Family. William Weasley and Flear Delacore are married. Are Anglicans and Catholics can be marry with each other???
@@InitialPC As a former Catholic, I remember us students in my all-girls Catholic high school reading Good News for Modern Man at our leisure in the early 1970s. I don't know if we were reading the Catholic edition or not. I'm just saying that Catholics sometimes choose to read non-Catholic translations of the Bible.
As Dumbledore was not acting under the auspices of the Catholic Church, he may have felt free to use a non-Catholic translation. Also, the Dumbledore family members, as well as Lily and James, were buried in a church graveyard. We don't know of which denomination the host church is.
It'd honestly be weird if there wasn't, seeing as J. K. Rowling inspired parts of the story on her own Christian faith, such as Harry's sacrifice and ressurection in Deathly Hallows.
Voldemort reminds me of the serpent, Satan.....and Dumbledore seems very God like and then Harry like Jesus but I don't know really. Just made me think that way.
@@thegoblinsteed3558 Yeah, snakes being so symbolic of evil, death and destruction in the Wizarding World is most definitely derived from the Luciferic Serpant interpretation of the story of Genesis.
I wouldn't really call Dumbledore a God-like figure, since unlike the almighty, Albus is a flawed individual with a long history of morally gray actions. I could, however, see him being compared to a sort of guardian angel type figure in relation to Harry. Not perfect, nor omnipotent, but someone who looks after him.
@@shyguymike Pretty interesting. Good comment.
Always felt like peter represented Judas as 'the betrayer.'
@@loganjohnson4209 oh wow, that actually makes a lot of sense.
I've heard the phrase "you never discuss religion at the dinner table." That leads me to believe that witches and wizards are simply more private about their faith or lack thereof, whereas many muggles are openly religious or openly not religious. It's simply a difference in lifestyles that evolved over centuries of magical and muggle separation. Part of it may be that medieval witches and wizards had to unite regardless of faith, and so they may have kept their beliefs private to keep disagreements from starting between the handful of magical families in a community
From my experience studying abroad in Europe. I think this is more an American vs. Europe/England thing.
Marketing is why they didn't really discuss religion in the book. If the story came off as being preachy it would turn readers away. However if someone who happens to be a Christian reads the book they would understand what certain things mean. Serious black being here he's godfather. Would mean Harry was baptized when he was a baby.
I think perhaps - and forgive me if I’m wrong - that you’re not considering the cultural differences between the US and Europe when you say muggles are open about their beliefs or lack thereof. I would say this is incredibly true in the US but in Europe it’s very much “you never discuss religion at the dinner table”. We’ve had centuries of war over religion and mostly variants of the same one! Here one’s religious beliefs are no-one’s business but ones own.
@@esther87 that's a good point. I'm American so I wasn't aware of that difference
@@esther87 Yes, You are rigth. Harry Potter Time Hogwarts represent BRITISH Society in 90s. Harry Potter is TOTALLY BRITISH Story.
I grew up in a rather Christian Household and my family never had any problem with Harry Potter. Matter of fact, we saw the first two films in theaters together as a family.
It was more shows with Stupid and/or Inappropriate Humor, like Ren and Stimpy, that my parents were strict over.
I think it's more of an American Protestant thing
I wasnt able to watch it until I became an adult
I went to catholic school and most of my fellow students, the teachers and even our nun principal read them. She found them quite good as it is mostly about the struggles of good vs evil (external and internal), tolerance vs bigotry and love vs hatred. The wizard magic is a genetic tool.
CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia books were one of the big inspirations for the Potter books, and his writings had a heavily Christian tone after his good friend JRR Tolkien got him to convert back to Christianity. It would only make sense.
Aslan is the Christ figure.
I never knew tolkein converted Lewis! Or that they were even friends!
@@abcxyz- They were both on the faculty at Oxford University. Lewis' most famous book after the Narnia books, The Screwtape Letters, was even dedicated to Tolkien. Lewis is a very interesting character to read about but that is a pretty deep rabbit hole
Aswell as LOTR too... JRR tolkien was a devoted catholic & put hints & concepts of his faith to his books,
Modern Western fantasy stories like LOTR and Narnia do have Christian themes
I remember my kids not being allowed to read Harry potter books at school in the beginning but by the time order of the phoenix was released the school had softened on this after many parents pointed to the fact the books were not evil in any way.
I think it makes a big difference that the good guys generally use a positive form of magic. Healing potions, disarming spells, time turners, etc are a lot less offensive than the traditional "newt's eyes and chicken blood" depiction of magic/witchcraft in a lot of stories
It's funny that the school softened up after the books started to become a lot darker. Sorcerer's Stone is a lot more kid appropriate than Deathly Hallows
I remember growing up in an evangelical church, a lot of families in the church had banned HP and even went as far as to tell my mom that it was evil and she shouldn't let me read it.
I think most people realized it but words such as witch or similar had and still have a very negative connotation even in supposedly secular asian countries.
@@josephang9927
In the beginning it was Catholics saying there was nothing wrong with it. Like what happened with pokemon, American protestants created a trend of calling these things evil which led to publicity which led to American Catholics asking their hierarchy to address the controversy which of course led to the hierarchy essentially saying
"Are you stupid? Of course its fine".
The reason for this difference is because their tradition has already addressed the question of fictional works forever ago, that they are fine, hence how LOTR was made by a Catholic despite having its own separate theology in universe.
It always made sense to me (although never directly addressed) that the magical community of Britain must also be mostly "Christian", at least nominally, and that this probably happened in roughly the same way that it happened in the Muggle world, though I figured that the religion would have developed differently amongst wizards and have a few significant differences in doctrine. The reason for this, of course, is that Christmas is celebrated at Hogwarts, they get a break at Easter, wizards seem to know religious carols, one of the ghosts at Hogwarts is literally a Friar and Harry's parents are buried in a church graveyard. I also figured that there would probably also be quite a few witches and wizards who still practice pagan faiths as well as other major religions of the world and the wizarding versions of these religions would probably also have some significant differences to their real world versions. The Patil twins, based on their names, are most likely Hindu, for example. Harry himself is obviously not religious, and religion never becomes the focus of any conflict in the books and probably would've been extremely controversial at the time if it was, so it makes sense why it's never directly brought up.
For Harry not being religious, I can see the Dursleys going to their local Anglican Church weekly because they want to appear normal and to bring Harry along to make themselves look good they act like hypocrites and Harry sees this. I don’t see him subscribing to organised religion after the way the Dursleys act. I think Harry was baptised though in the Church at Godrics Hallow most likely at Lily’s insistence where his parents are buried but I have no evidence.
In the phone game there was even a girl with a headscarf, a Muslim. So I think religion is also a part in the wizarding world.
It would be. I bet whatever Middle Eastern schools there are, they have breaks during the day for the prayers.
I have my portrait at the official potterhead website with a headscarf as well.
I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and I'm one of the most pious Christians you'll ever run into. My parents, my church, my pastor, the elders at my church, my family, and my Christian friends never had any problem with me being a big Harry Potter and every single one of them knew about it because I told them. So not all Christians have a problem with it. It just never occured to me that Harry Potter had any negative or positive impact on my faith. It didn't change my faith at all. I was happy that Christmas was celebrated at Hogwarts and that Bible verses were quoted in Harry Potter. The magic in Harry Potter never felt out of place or at odds with any of my religious beliefs. And why should it, considering that other big Christian novels like Narnia and LOTR also have magic being practice by both heroes and villains. And those books were never condemned by any church, just Harry Potter is condemned. Makes you wonder what is going on there, but this is just my experience and it may not be reflective of all the Christian experiences with Harry Potter.
Good point about Narnia and LOTR.
Just to add to your point on Narnia and LOTR: it is pretty interesting how Lewis and Tolkien respectively disagreed on the role christianity would perform in their literature.
For Lewis' part, he clearly envisioned a saviour, messianic figure in the form of Aslan who was explicitly meant to embody Christ in the world of Narnia which was not-christian. In fact it was not-christian but not UN-christian, filled to the brim with classic christian philosophy on the nature of the soul, mortality and good and evil.
Tolkien for that matter, was entirely opposed to metaphor and symbolism where it was not poetically meaningful. I.e. war being described as evil in his work is not a metaphor: he means to literally say war is a great evil that is often fought because of the corrupting influence of power (hence the Ring of Power and its corrupting influence even on those "who would intend to use it for good"). It is often said Tolkien figuratively portrays his WWI experiences throughout the LOTR, but he himself would likely have disagreed with this statement. His writing is meant to make us relate directly to those things in the LOTR+ that reflect things of our own life. The Shire represents the English countryside not in a symbolic, but a literal manner: the small life lead by the hobbits is the life Tolkien nostalgically saw as directly opposed to the destruction of rapid industrialisation. In that sense Saruman's clearing of Fangorn is not meant to be symbolic at all, but a direct reference to the felling of the ancient forests of England (and the Old & New Worlds in general) to fire the fuels of industry.
Whereas Lewis meant to write a new world, a true fiction at its core, Tolkien explicitly set out to write a version of the historicised mythology of the Saxons that was lost in the wake of the 1066 Norman Invasion. It was surely a fiction, but also a version of 'a truth' as the Saxons might have seen it in their own minds. Somewhat like how the Exodus story has been proven to be historically unlikely, but is nonetheless culturally and therefore historically significant. It has been a core 'story' around which many communities constructed their identities and while it may be a historical fiction, it is still held to be true (if only in terms of meaning) by some.
Hope this was interesting, if not helpful!
I ended up getting the opposite treatment, as a kid. I was part of a homeschool group when I was in kindergarten where I was the only kid who wasn't religious. We'd always play star wars games with lightsabers, but when I suggested we play Harry Potter with sticks, their parents made them stay away from me because supposedly Harry Potter was satanic
A pious Christian would never dare label themselves pious because they would be by their very nature humble.
So you're a liar
I immediately thought of Ron and his Deluminator when I read "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Ron spends six years pining after material wealth and superficial fame, but his real treasure is his friendships and relationships, and his Deluminator (his heart) leads him back to them.
Matthew 6:21
Both Harry Potter and Lord Of the rings have a connection to Christianity. It's perhaps even more true for the latter, considering that JRR Talking was vocal about practising his catholic fate. (From what I've read).
Also C S Lewis, from what I heard, Aslan is supposed to be an allegory for Jesus
@@antmanatthemoment7233 Anglican Lewis was absolutely clear that his Narnia work was a Christian allegory. If you know the Christian story, it jumps right out at you very loudly. Devout Catholic Tolkien described his work as Christian, indeed as Catholic, but he reject the allegorical style of Lewis, so his religious themes are harder to pick up, being more subtley interwoven with the story.
@@polemeros true, but they're both also interwoven with European folklore
@@antmanatthemoment7233 Quite true, especially for Tolkien, who represented that strain of Catholicism which is very respectful of non-Christian myth as a form of natural revelation and sees the Gospel as the culmination, not the enemy, of myth. The Catholic Renaissance shows this strain as well. He battled with the Protestant Lewis, who was very suspicious and skeptical about non-Biblical revelation, which was why he chose allegory.
ugh here we go, inserting out imaginary friends where they don't belong.
Given that celebrations much like what is now called Christmas far predate Christianity in the British Isles, it would be weirder if they didn't celebrate the season in some way. Its just likely that Christmas, Yule, Saturnalia, Hanukah and the like have all been conflated into "Christmas", much like in our world.
As for religions on the whole, my closest analogue would have to be a non-religiously affiliated University. Room could be made for any and all religions, but there might not be a dedicated chapel. For all I know, Proffessor Bins' classroom might double for temple on Saturday nights, and the Room of Requirement might put out mats for anyone who needed them for morning prayers.
Castles were built with chapels as an important part.
Yes pagan celebrations predated Christmas celebrations in England. A lot of what we would call Christmas traditions have roots from those celebrations, however it is important to note that those are dead holidays in England (excluding Hannukah, which is Jewish). Thus it’s inaccurate to say that all the seasonal holidays have been conflated into “Christmas,” because Christmas is the only one to still be practiced widespread as a religious celebration.
@@ComicRaptor8850 Try telling 100,000s of UK pagans that Yuletide is a dead celebration.
@@ComicRaptor8850 Yule and Saturnalia were celebrated on winter solstice. Celebration of birth of Christ was arbitrarily put on winter solstice. It is easier to rename existing tradition than to eradicate it all together.
Muslim here. I imagine it would be fairly easy for students of our faith to pray, given extra effort. Prayer times are always at specific times of the day, generally dawn/morning, noon, afternoon, evening and night. If a student woke up early, just before breakfast, they can get a prayer in. Maybe one before lunch too, but that means missing part of lunch- not sure this part is feasible. But afternoon, evening and night are easy. And worse case scenario, you pray the second and third together, back to back in the afternoon. Place is easy as well. Just any empty, unused classroom. Magically lock the door and take your time.
I think that's how it would happen if a Muslim was at Hogwarts.
There is the room of requirement at Hogwarts which becomes what you want when you need it..
@@mjspice100 not every student knows about that room though.
From the get go the wizarding world should be full of religion. With there been ghosts everywhere and echos of loved one's in stressful moments.
It would suggest to wizards there is some "Great beyond" and they'd strive to find that world through a religion
what i love about Harry Potter is that everyone can descipher in it hidden meanings according their background.
I am a Christian and graduated from the Orthodox Theology Faculty. Funnily enough, i started it in 2001, so my years of study pretty much coincided with the HP franchise. BUT I DID NOT watch the movies then. i had read a silly article saying it was full of real dark magic, etc, so i avoided them. a pitty really....
I watched the series for the first time in 2019 and was MESMERIZED. i instantly fell in love with all the characters and the story. I found it immensely relatable.
It reminded me A LOT of my time in Faculty - best years of my life> we were the weird ones in the huge university campus, studying from big old books with strange writing, using strange words and symbols, our professors were all dressed in black robes, i sang in the choir (my music professor was a combination between Bellatrix and Snape. He became the dean in the end. but of course, the real ruler was the archbishop with his long white beard and his piercing eyes, a true magnificent personality with an interesting past (he even spent time in jail because the Communists feared his amazing influence over people.) .
anyway, there were so many similarities, i'd need a few days to write them all. we even had some stairs that in my imaginative mind moved, and paintings on the walls that watched your steps.
anyway, good times.
The things they don’t seem to understand at the time is in the series dark arts do exsist but are not celebrated, it is vilified.
It's so very odd that I just never thought about this. For me, it is called Yule. I remember Hermione saying, "Happy Christmas,' which is a British thing I think. Sacrifice is an act of love, not any specific religion. I suppose any book is influenced by it's author, but honestly it's a timeless good vs evil tale to me.
Exactly. There are a lot of books that depict people dying and coming back from death in various ways, and religion is a part of culture and therefore is bound get a mention in books from time to time. That doesn't necessarily make a book essentially religious. Christmas is depicted in Harry Potter in a very secular way. There is no real depiction of religion in any way, and it's kind of grasping at straws to really assume any religious content at all in Harry Potter. Religion isn't a part of the essential story like it is with Tolkien and C S Lewis. A mention twice removed doesn't make a book religious, lol!!
Ok the confusing thing about saying that it is "Yule" is that Yule was still a religious celebration and ritual. I understand what you are saying though you do not think of it as religious, that is fine, the Yule thing is a pretty peeve of mine
@@beartankoperator7950 a pet peeve, why?
Christmas comes from yule, I always thought that it would make sense that the wizarding world would have predominantly pre abrahamic beliefs. Especially outside of europe and the middle east. But then again many witches and wizards are muggle born or have muggle relatives so who knows.
@@CorpseBride64 sometimes it is used in passing reference as a non-religious version of Christmas rather than worship of another religion, your point, in the original post seemed to indicate you saw Harry Potter (the book) as non Religious and more of a story of good and evil, my comment was just due to me having friends and family who misuse Yule as a non-religious term for the celebration of Christmas
“To the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” Ohhh I like that.
I personally have no religious beliefs, however in the wizarding world and muggle worlds most people celebrate Christmas as a holiday with family members and give/receive gifts! The religious aspect is not important to most people.
Sorry I'm late to the game (how did I not see the notification for this earlier?) but I'm glad I saw this! I grew up in the Christian church and I always say to fellow believers that they have nothing to fear by reading Harry Potter. I tend to include this series with other British fantasies like Lord Of The Rings and The Chronicles Of Narnia, which also have religious roots. For a deeper dive into these themes in Potter (including the difference between incantational and invocational magic, an important distinction!) I highly recommend reading How Harry Cast His Spell by John Granger.
According to McGonagall's backstory, her father was a Presbyterian minister. You also have Wendelin the Weird who allowed herself to be caught 47 times because she enjoyed being "burned" at the stake so much.
Not to mention the aspects of God Parents, with Harry becoming a God Father to Tonks and Remus’ son.
God parents is just a saying in UK though, people that choose God parents aren't necessary religious
@@edenmoon8275 harry potter was christened as a baby, sirius being his god father is not just a uk saying
@@InitialPC I know that god parent isn't just UK, what I meant is that most people see god parent as just a title not anything religious
@@edenmoon8275 Becoming a Godparent is a religious act and ceremony mostly done as part of a Christening, so it's defiantly religious.
@@Thurgosh_OG it's just a title for most people in UK, not taken seriously or anything religious or legal
I really like the part in deathly hallows, we’re Harry burys Dobby, “properly” without magic this I really thought was very respectable and a religious aspect in Harry Potter
Not trying to defend Christianity or anything, but….suits of armor were bewitched to sing “O Come All ye Faithful” and Sirius was singing “GOD rest ye Merry Hippogriffs”. And they also had Easter Holiday. Not spring holiday, but Easter.
What's wrong with Christianity? It offers a stability, sanity and sense of purpose that is sadly lacking today.
“Not trying to defend Christianity or anything” what would be wrong with defending Christianity?
@@kellysouter4381 I am not even a Christian but you're actually right.
Mind you, most Christian dominant nations have those breaks as well. I'm American, and even with other religions, those are the big holidays for school vacations.
@@robertgronewold3326. But that would be due to the fact that the US was founded on JudeoChristian values. As most early Americans were Christian, it only leads to celebrating those holidays as we do today.
Rowling herself said so: Yes. There is every religion present apart from Wicca, because Wicca has a different understanding of magic.
I deal with a Wiccan, my daughter. She says it's all about being spiritual, I am skeptical since she thinks some things are bad luck or crystals empower as do pyramids. I asked her if she actually believed this, she did.
@@MountainFisher Wccns make even batshit insane christianity look normal.
@@MountainFisher If I may ask, why do you struggle? :) (Just curious.) Wicca (although in some countries being recognized as a "religion") is a system of many different spiritual philosophies. Some follow in the footsteps of pre-Christian beliefs (where actually most modern Christian rituals have derived from) like Greco-Roman or Norse religions, but in theory it really is compatible with any religion, so there are also Christian Wiccans out there. It is a pantheistic approach of spirituality, meaning that the divine is to be found in all of nature & flows through every living being. It's purpose is usually to see yourself as a part of the whole, to re-connect with our roots & the earth. Some Wiccans include magical practice in their daily life, others don't & just use it to honor nature & feel closer to it. Most Wiccans also follow the "Wiccan Rede" (a.k.a. "The Threefold Law") which states, 'Do what ye will, but harm none. What ye send forth comes back to thee, so ever mind the Rule of Three. Follow this with mind & heart, merry ye meet & merry ye part.' Which means even when including it, they work with so-called white magic that is in tune with natural laws & does not bring harm onto anybody. For what you send out, according to the rede, will come back to you times 3, affecting body, mind & soul. By doing something harmful or without consent, one will face the consequences of one's actions. Therefore they honor the natural order & often harness Wiccan traditions to study & explore old traditions & civilizations, as well as being more grounded in humanity's elemental state of origin. It's got nothing to do with "devil worship" or anything similarly dark, there really is nothing to fear with your daughter trying/finding out if Wiccan philosophies enrich her life. :)
@@-lorepheus- There cannot be Christian Wiccans. That's an oxymoron.
@@-lorepheus- Because it is deceitful and demonic in many cases.
As a fellow Christian Wizard myself (I'm in Hufflepuff) I attended a Christian based private school (K-12) in my town and my school never had a problem with the Harry Potter Books, there were a lot of fans of the book series and among the fans were teachers as well. Even in my Church there are a lot of Harry Potter fans.
Don't forget that Hermione, who would digest any book placed under her nose, didn't know that the quotes on the graves was from the Bible. Obviously, Hermione was an atheist.
An atheist who believes in magic. Maybe she was a deist.
@@barbiquearea considering magic in their universe is real, she could still be an atheist. You can be an atheist and still "believe" in anti biotics because they might as well be
Her argument for excluding Wiccans would easily also exclude Christians. the bible does talk about magic a lot more, and makes it clear all magic either comes from Yahweh (the god of the Jewish people, and later Christians.), his angles, other gods (the Wizards who served Ramsey were not magicians, they did have real magic, Yahweh is just stronger, though some will argue it is demons in this case), Lucifer or Demons. Each time we see magic it is from one of those places. meaning in Christianity, Magic comes from higher powers, same as Wiccans. her argument is strangely the greatest prof to say why Religions should not be at Hogwarts at all. Ironic.
Sometimes I think that Christians practice their own form of witchcraft.
Exactly! It's very weird and ironic to exclude Wicca above all.
Seems like they even brought back the ancient Greek religion that we in our world call mythology, because in Hogwarts Mystery, one of the Chocolate Frog cards is of I think Circe, who was a Greek goddess
Harry Potter was MASSIVELY Inspired by Greek Mythology, I'm planning on making a video on it
Circe was a witch who turned men into pigs. Rowling put her in as a witch, not a goddess.
I'm Officialy Greek and Circe is a Greek witch in Greek mythology not a goddess 😁
@@Kostadinoss Yes oh my gosh someone who knows things ily
@@Kostadinoss actually she’s been known as a goddess, immortal sorceress and nymph. It’s in all ancient writings especially since she’s the granddaughter of the titan Helios.
I figure that they celebrate the secular, rather than religious aspect of holidays as you mentioned.
I always felt like Harry Potter’s view of magic was, “some people are born with magical/mystical abilities, and it isn’t religious”. It’s another universe after all.
Rowling has said that magic is more of a Scientific natural phenomenon that can be harnessed by certain genetic traits. In which case it is a natural part of the world, and if the world is created by god, so too is magic.
@@pogicus89 Yes, and the magic banned by the Abrahamic religions is banned because it takes items that are in God’s hands into our hands, like knowing the future without scientific predictions, or moving objects without touching them, or controlling demons without God’s hand. That is either a usurpation of power that is rightfully God’s, or the turning to false gods, which is idolatrous. As we both know, Harry Potter is not about this magic.
Hi. I've watched a lot of ur videos and i enjoy them a lot. I would really love to see hpmor theories/ lore or just videos about hpmor in general. Keep up the good work
At the Quidditch World Cup, there was a mention of an Egyptian wizard who was a Muslim. I forgot the name of him but it is true.
This channel is amazing, any question or debate i have considered can already be found in ine of the videos. Love it.
I have been waiting for this video for a long time, being a pastor myself.
Did you notice that Harry is like Jesus giving his life the save the world? And there are so many other beautiful messages resembling Christian faith.
Well, now, another question: if JK Rowling's magic is not religious, how could magic possibly relate to science?! Could you please dive into that question, too? Thanks so much for your research and beautiful developments.
I've read that magic is the movement of energy, via the will, to create needed change.
Magic is same as miracle which we call now as Science the property of energy and the use of plants and microorganisms In modern words are now more acceptable which we rename as Science, study of Plants, study of Energy Study of heavenly bodies, so on and so forth the magic wand will be usable and will be possible in the future since that's science of channeling energy.
I find the idea that wizards celebrate the religion of Christianity interesting, though it would also be kind of ironic, seeing as it was Christianity that persecuted anyone suspected of being able to use magic
Vatican was a menace back in the day. They were intolerant of any faith outside their own. Even other Christian groups. Thankfully they changed.😆
That is not true in this absolutivity. Where the Inquisition ruled, like in Spain or Italy, there were no witch trials. Witch trials in Europe f.e. were mostly done by secular courts.
It actually gets a passing mention in one of the books that witches and wizards largely saw the witch trials of europe as a joke, and another reason to thumb their noses at muggles. As most apprentice wizards were taught various spells to overcome the trials easily. Such as things to make the fire not harm then, then couple it with a minor illusion. Tucking Gillyweed in the cheek is mentioned as a way to avoid drowning.
So most of those who were killed by paranoid theological mobs were muggles, and all were innocent.
Which is ironic in itself, because as “divine” as the magic in the bible may be, it’s still magic.
I'm not as well studied as many people on the subject, but usually the charges made were those of heresy, which doesn't require magic use. Of course, the events most commonly referenced are the Salem witch trials. Nineteen people were hanged, or otherwise punished, because they refused to confess to witchcraft. Europe also had a similar hysteria, with equally bloody results, however, most of the motivation behind such events are greed and politics. As usual. Not that it makes a difference. It didn't require much to be accused, and once accused, one was usually doomed. A lot of devout Christians were accused, by other Christians, of witchcraft and heresy. So, there's plenty of irony to go around.
During the quidditch world cup Mustafa who was Muslim was the referee
In the scenes before the Quidditch World Cup in the Goblet of Fire book, there are some wizards from the Arab world appearing, they even mention flying carpets like in the traditional Arab tales (and that those carpets are not allowed to use in Britain while in their countries they are a perfectly acceptable and legal, popular means of transport). It's not mentioned directly, but it's quite likely they may be Muslim.
Every religion is welcome at Hogwarts except Wicca. I find this hilarious. Do you think this is what JK really intended in her HP universe, or is she just trying to prevent or deflect extreme religious attacks?
She didn't say it wasn't welcome. The video clearly says that she can't imagine in there, probably because there are two different types of magic from two different ways- Science vs Spiritual. I mean, same with Christianity in the sense that you never directly bring up Jesus or faith based "magic" in that way.
Absolutely not. It was definitely because of the religious backlash she was getting, and not bc Wicca or pre-Christian witchcraft is incompatible. If anything it's SUPER compatible. When you talk about paganism or neopeganism, you are talking about the folklore and practices that existed before the church went on a conquest of converting people, or burning people. Who were they burning???? They were burning the heretics, and the witches of course! Why does the Statue of Secrecy exist???? Because they were burning the witches! So an entire magical community went into hiding bc of how hostile Christianity was becoming towards them. If anything anti-muggle, anti-Christian is the foundation of a lot of European wizarding society. If they had a religion it's going to be something that predates Christianity. It should also be noted that the hypocritical JKR HEAVLY uses Celtic, Norse, and even Greek folklore and mythology for all her magical creatures, spells, and magical concepts! It's practical flowing with these pagan influences. I think however these pagan beliefs would be strongest with pure blood families as they are already very anti-muggle and probably have great interest in preserving the culture and practices of wizard. However I think the reason we see Christmas celebrated in Howarts instead of Yule is because of the influences of Muggleborn or related witches and wizards bringing in their own religious beliefs and practices into the magic world. Notice how in the video every magical person connected to being Christian also had a muggle connection. If anything Howarts celebrates Christmas to be more inclusive to muggle born students.
Does seem odd. A Wiccan family has a child who becomes a witch or wizard at 11, isn't going to drop their beliefs, neither is their family. They are most likely to now find actual, factual evidence to back up their beliefs (i.e. Magic is real and so are Spirits).
The reason Wiccanism wouldn't make any sense in Harry Potter is because magic is real in HP, and Wicca teaches that magical powers are obtained from the devil (which obviously isn't the case in HP).
While the Christian religion denounces witchcraft as evil, the magic in the Potter universe is NOT witchcraft as described in the Bible. Witchcraft in the Bible is the manipulation of evil spirits, which is definitely NOT what happens in the Potter universe.
In Potter, magic is a natural property of certain people, an innate skill that needs to be honed through study & exercise. Just like Rowling said she intended it to be.
Magic in the Potterverse from the muggle perspective is what the current use of electricity would be like to a person born 200 years ago.
Which is why I as a devoted Christian can wholeheartedly recommend the Potter books.
Well light magic doesn’t count, dark arts are another story.
Also, witch trials didn't even really start until the late 1500's after the reformation. In the so called "dark ages", the prohibition on witchcraft was because it was believed to be a form of fraud, and those who claim to practice it are lying. Charlemagne even made it illegal to say that real witches exist.
I think their traditions originated in 17th century Britain? After the statute of secrecy, wizards carried on their traditions similar to muggles but, perhaps it stayed in family homes? Only recently had Britain gone through Cromwell's ban on Christmas.
Wizards and witches could still go to places of worship in their nearest muggle communities for centuries.
Muggle influences brought over by generations of intermarriage influenced the development of Christmas and other festivals in wizarding society as depicted in the books?
They may diverge somewhat but that continuous contact with the muggle world keeps them from drifting too far apart?
I would like to say I have been a practitioner of Wicca since before Harry Potter came out. I do practice witchcraft, yes. Real witchcraft is more similar to Christian prayer than anything else. It is offensive to some witches when you have movies like Harry Potter that make people think that witchcraft is fictional because it accomplishes impossible things only found in movies. I’ve learned to take this in stride and accept that what is real and fantasy are separate and I can appreciate both. That said, I will say us Wiccans do celebrate the winter Solstice which is on December 21. It’s much like Christmas, we decorate a tree we have feasts, we celebrate the coming of winter we pray we have fun we cherish time with family. That tradition goes back thousands of years before Jesus’ birth. Christians essentially took the winter solstice celebrations and added in Jesus’ birth in them and called it theirs. Wiccans and other pagans have become so used to it that we call our solstice “Christmas” at this point even though it’s not. So the Christmas in Harry Potter is not implausible. In addition, there are those who are Christian who practice witchcraft in addition to their Christian faith. Witchcraft is not a religion by itself, but can be added to Wicca or any other religion. So even if the people in the Harry Potter world are Christians, they can still be witches and wizards.
No, we don't call the winter solstice christmas. We Pagans call it Yule. I've been on the witchcraft path for about 25 years as well and am an Eclectic Christian Witch now. So yes, practicing witchcraft is separate from religion, but it's also still a spiritual practice that I've made part of my religion. So instead of working with Pagan deities, I work with the Abrahamic ones (The Mother, The Father and The Son). What bothers me about her saying that Wiccanism isn't welcome at Hogwarts is that it's an opinion based on her hateful Christian Ideals. Why 'appropriate' everything of another belief systems practices and then still look down upon it and say they aren't welcome? As a witch, I am offended.
I’d like to imagine there’s a banner hanging outside Hogwarts that reads “This is a Wiccan free school”
I found this very interesting but at the same time it felt like it ended at the midpoint. It could just be the way you edited it, or it could just be me.
I just googled this topic like an hour ago and now I find your video! I do wonder, does the wizarding world believe that Jesus was a wizard? I mean he did perform miracles so it would make sense but at the same time it wouldn't make sense because even in the wizardry world its impossible to bring back the dead, which Jesus did in the bible..so who knows?!
Happy Christmas! 🤗
Remembering that the Patel twins walked around the school with their bindi, at least in the films which show Hinduism is followed by Indian students at least
Video idea for you to do:
What additional effects do spells have that are not seen in the movies? For instance, what else can the patronus charm do besides ward off dementors?
Honestly, I always just saw the stories as a reflection of British culture in the 90s and 00s, which of course had influence from Christianity as it was at the time still assumed that everyone was Christian by default. As you pointed out, Christmas and even Easter to some extent have become secular celebrations. They also have their roots in pre-Christian traditions of mid-winter and early spring celebrations.
Personally, I also don't think that anything the author says outside of what's written in their books counts as part of the stories themselves. Regardless of what an author meant when they wrote something, readers can take it to mean whatever they like.
I don't think there are explicit references to religion or religious practices in the wizarding world. Harry was raised in the muggle world in the UK in the 90s, so it makes sense that he would have godparents because most people did at that time even if they weren't particularly religious.
Just because the author used metaphors of her own faith as a story writing technique, doesn't mean that the characters depicted are religious - especially if they are not read that way by those outside of the author's own religion.
Excellent exposition. Thank you for presenting it.
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@HarryPotterTheoryi for sure do
In terms of references, absolutely Harry Potter has religion in it. But not in the ideological way, at least the way I see it. I think it's a more secular interpretation of religion we experience in Harry Potter. Religious holidays and traditions have morphed in time in western society and become more like cultural traditions.
If Rowling was pushing her faith on to the reader, I don't think the books would've been popular at all. I for one wouldn't have read them as a kid since my parents were very much against any sort of religious indoctrination, which is what I am very greatful of.
I always wondered if the wizard/witch is actually DNA based and hereditary, the person is born with their abilities, since their magical side become evident as they grow. Note how Harry's skills become more apparent as he gets older and needs a place like Hogwarts to learn not just the history and culture, but also how to control and properly use his magic.
Yes, it is a hereditary gene, you can read more about it on 'blood status' on the Harry Potter wiki.
This is based on the real life concept that if witches (or just about anyone) pass on their knowledge of the craft to their descendants, a bloodline is established that becomes more powerful with every new generation adding their part to the family heritage. Does this mean they are better than or more entitled to the use of magic? I'll let you read the books for that 😅
@@mauritsponnettewhich actully also destinqueses it from real witchcraft being real witchcraft is using demonic power
Wizards are genetic, not religious. In this way, they're far closer to Jedi (Star Wars) or Mutants (X-Men). This is a major theme in the books as racism and blood-purity would be an absurd thing to focus on if magic in Potter was supernatural or demonic.
This is why it makes sense how 'magic' could coexist with real world faiths that in principle comdemn it.
There may have been Christians at Hogwarts, but it would not seem that Harry was one of them. I know of no evidence that the Dursleys were practicing Christians, and it would seem Harry did not know much about it. When he read the quotation on his parents' tombstone, he thought it was something a Death Eater would say. Hermione corrected him but didn't say where the quotation was from.
I have a request for a somewhat related topic: We know, that there are prophecies in the wizarding world. What do you think is the role of „fate“ in the series? What kind of plan does providence have? Does the universe want the good guys to win? For example in the Lord of the rings universe Iluvatar is practically identical to the christian god. In the Percy Jackson universe thee are several polytheistic pantheons deciding the fate of the characters. Who or what takes this place in Harry Potter?
I'm pretty sure I know why they don't want us using magic that's supposedly a god ability and we are no God so it's like a touchy subject with them especially if you bring up all the purging
I always found it odd that the British Wizarding community celebrated a religious tradition from the people who drove them into hiding and began the Blood Purity Conflict!
You do understand that religion comes from the belief in God, right? And that people have fought one another who held the same religious beliefs correct? I don’t mean that rude at all and I apologize if it comes out that way. Your statement is just seemingly from someone who is an atheist and doesn’t understand that God is real. This is a fictional universe but if you try to apply the same kind of thinking history here. Then yes, they would be Christian as well.
@@pendragonshall 1. I'm not am Atheist
2. Early Christians coalesced around Christianity out of Hope for salvation from their oppression in the next life. So it seems a little counter-intuitive that the Wizarding community which would have been a lot more liberated like Many westerners today should have been so inclined to even develop a Strong relationship with a religion like Christianity. Some eastern religions..Maybe would have fit a lot more logically...but i understand In real life it's simply J K Rowling's prerogative as a Christian woman.
@Curtis Langford wizards have undeniable proof of the afterlife in ghosts, and so, in a way, it makes even more sense that they'd develop spiritual beliefs to make sense of life and death and existence itself.
@@sanaa94b17 Practicing Religion isn't a surprise! Practicing a religion that hunted the 🧙♂️ Wizarding community into hiding IS curious! Christianity isn't the ONLY religion!
I’m a Christian myself and I’ve had people give me plenty of flack for liking Harry Potter. I’ve even bought a lot of Harry Potter stuff and Harry pulled off a Christ move. He died to save his friends and there’s so many parallels with that and there’s also so many parallels between Lord Voldemort and Satan, I mean Satan used to be Lucifer Lord Voldemort used to be Tom Riddle. I mean if you see the parallels and I’m a Christian myself I’ve read the Bible so many times but I love Harry Potter I love I love the story I have never hated the story. Sure there were times when I would you know be away from it because I feared other people and I feared man but as long as I don’t idolize it, I know it’s not a big deal as long as I put God first I know it’s not the biggest deal. I have a lot of Christian friends like myself who adore these books and we all joke about it and we joke about who’s who some of us even like playing the villains cause we’re just we love to goof off, so thank you for making this and I’ve met Wickens I’m not their biggest fan either. I don’t hate them because that’s wrong but I’m not their biggest fan either just saying so if anyone wants to hate on Harry Potter, I keep telling people don’t hate the book unless you’ve read the book then you could hate all you want.
Catholic Apologist Mark Shea from the very orthodox Catholic Answers did a great article a number of years back called Harry Potter and the Christian Critics where he not only highlights the Christian themes in the series but also makes a similar distinction you did between Harry Potter magic, which he dubs incantational and is a natural force of her world, vs invocational which calls on supernatural forces other than God and is what is condemned by Scripture. All in all a very good article for anyone who wants to hear a defense of the series from a conservative Christian perspective.
Thanks for this one; it's a question I've had for a while. Your point that Christmas has become less about the religious facet is well said. I also wonder about various characters' use of phrases like "good lord" or "my god", are these indicative of religious belief or just words and phrases that have religious origins, but are now commonplace, like saying "bless you" after someone sneezes. I'm also curious about the wizard concept of the afterlife. Did Voldemort go to the same place as Sirius? Could Voldemort be called back with the resurrection stone as Harry's parents were? Inquiring muggle minds want to know!😁
Hey Andrew, thanks for your comment! I've got a video coming out on the wizarding afterlife on the 24th. As for the expressions you mentioned, I don't believe their usage suggests any ties to religion.
What was left of Voldemort’s soul was stuck in limbo for eternity so I don’t think he would be able to pass on to the afterlife. I also think that there’s probably so little left of his soul that the resurrection stone wouldn’t be able to bring him back. Even if it could it would just be that shrivelled baby thing
I was hoping you'd cover this!! 😁
One interesting addition (that you could have mentioned) is Jk Rowling's fascination with Hindu goddesses and using their names for the Patil twins Parvati (Goddess of Nutrition - Annapurna and wife of Shiva), and Padma (Goddess of wealth - Lakshi, wife of Vishnu).
A lot of people don’t understand that religion stems from the knowledge God exists. The Harry Potter universe is based on this universe with a what if the wizarding world existed. So yes, they would know God is real I mean they see ghosts for God’s sake. So yes, they most certainly would be Christians and such. The difficult question would be to ask is anyone stupid enough not to be religious when they can see a persons soul. I’m surprised the atheist community didn’t just go rheeee as the very reason Christianity wasn’t named specifically with any verve is because they didn’t want to “offend” anyone. Which is also stupid as that is offensive now.
Christmas was actually adapted from pagan tradition of yule. So in all honesty Christians are the ones practicing a pagan holiday not the other way around. The Christmas tree comes from a pagan practice of going out and decorating tress to pay respects to nature spirits. Mistletoe actually is a plant used to keep bad energy and negative entities from the home and bring blessings and good energy.
It’s a lot like the Lord of the Rings there are plenty of Christian themes without someone saying the obvious. Harry saving Jenny is basically st George slaying the dragon.
For my part I always saw the way she used magic in Harry Potter reminded me of the Force in Star Wars. I even thought it took place in the same universe as Star Wars when I was a kid.
Harrys sacrifice which made the order of the phenoix and the hogwarts students more resilient to dark magic is also a bit of a Jesus parrallel but on a smaller scale, same with his mom’s sacrifice blood magic that protected harry.
She put so much in this story’s lore! :0
Wait the narrator is a girl?
@@geoffnungari8466 I’m talking about the author lol
Too bad she's a Flobberworm in human rights
@@carloswaluda8048 There are only 2 genders, mental illness isn’t a gender.
@@SunnyLovetts Sorry got confused
I think this analysis misses the idea that Christmas is a pagan holiday. Saturnalia is something that would fit much more obviously with the Wizard world’s holiday. Easter too.
If Christianity exists in the Wizarding World, then the wizards who do practice would assume magic was involved in most of the Bible (ex. Jesus and Moses would be wizards in the Harry Potter universe)
I wonder how Voltomort and his followers feel about Muggles calling themselves witches.
He could’ve accused them of “stealing magic” and brought them to the Muggle-Born Registration Commission.
He was probably offended
Oh imagine if a muggle family who were against magic and witchcraft through their religion found out their child was magical and had been accepted to Hogwarts. How confronting that would be. I imagine Dursley like reactions.
Wow I was just thinking about this and then boom your video pops up! Definitely giving me what I need!
Hope you like it!
I have always wondered. I mean I assume on the muggle side there is but I was never sure about the wizard side
Interest in this particular upload has to do with the idea that J. K. Rowling has insisted that magic in assemblage of the Harry Potter series is meant to be science centric and not spiritual. One of the arguments I have formulated which I hope would fly in the face of the fundamentalist Christians set is as follows: The new testament clearly states that when Christ walked the Earth, he endowed the 12 Apostles with his powers to heal and expand or transfigure materials. Assuming the Apostles had descendants of their own, who is to argue those descendants were not endowed with those same abilities? If there really was magic in the world, who is to say that magic is not descended from the powers of the Apostles?
I realize that theory probably gives too much weight to the argument against muggle borns. However, Rowling wrote the prejudice against muggle borns on the part of purebloods as a way of outlining for the general reader how inappropriate it is to be prejudiced. That is a lesson many people claiming to be “Christians” still haven’t learned up to the present.
In the back of my head, I have long wondered whether one of Harry‘s Hufflepuff contemporaries, Anthony Goldstein, was bar mitzvahed in between Hogwarts terms.
There is mention of a minister conducting Dumbledore's funeral in the books
Kinda messed up that Rowling singled out Wiccans in her Twitter posts like that. They're a genuine religious tradition, no less so than Christianity, Hinduism, or any other. Just because they happen to use the same terms for different things isn't a valid reason for singling them out.
I have two theories… first, wizards learned to practice local religions to blend in with muggles.
Second, in the Wizarding World… Jesus was a wizard. Holy people who managed miracles in many religions were all wizards. To avoid persecution or to get power, they told non-magical peoples that they got power from a god, or perhaps were gods, and warned their followers of rival witches and wizards. All religions are partially correct, because Zeus was legit a Greek dude living up on Mt Olympus. Heracles, his son, was strong because he was a half-blood and he learned how to use his magic to enhance his strength. Osiris was ripped apart by his brother, Seth, but he still barely held on with magic. The plagues Moses used to free his non-magical people was all magic. Even Jesus’ miracle with loaves and fishes follows Gamp’s third law of transfiguration, in that he couldn’t create the loaves and fishes from nothing, but multiplied it.
Now I’m going to be thinking about the individual characters respective faiths/non-faiths for the next several days!
Comment your head-canon findings!
Good!
Here's a head start for you, the Patil sisters are Hindus
Just imagine a hardcore atheist being sent to Hogwarts. Tells everybody in their compartment on the train that there is no afterlife and we are worm food after we die. Then after the Sorting they meet Nearly Headless Nick, the Fat Friar, The Gray Lady, or The Bloody Baron
i could see the wizard comunity accepting it slowely, specialy how it is now. maybe less when it was all the burning of witches and all the symbols and hige religious meanings etc but slowely over time absorbing some parts of it that they wanted. partly with the mugleborn and half bloods (the half bloods that had a wizard and a muggle parent atleast) bringing it to the comunity to. like i could see some student ask the teachers about it, and they thought it was something nice for the students, it stats beeing a thing at the school, and over time its accepted by the larger comunity,
I don’t know that I’d call it a condemnation of Wicca, just that she doesn’t see how they could coexist. For example if the series was about some humans being “angels” and going to an angel school, it wouldn’t exactly be easy for them to reconcile that reality with the Abrahamic faiths.
True, except Wicca is confused here with witchcraft, which are two separate things. Not all wiccans practice witchcraft and vice versa, so it's strange to say there would be no-one at Hogwarts who would for example pray to the Wiccan Goddess.
@@mauritsponnette I think we can agree that Rowling isn't the best at researching groups of people before speaking about them publicly
I would have thought that they would have followed a more pagan religion as Christmas adopted many pagan traditions eg bring green leafed plants in the house
i really enjoy all your videos please keep making them
Thank you, I will
@@HarryPotterTheoryyay
Same!
Interesting how three big author of the fantastic/fantasy have been heavily influenced if not totally inspired by Christianity to write their best selling novels, it seems to me that once again whether one wants to take the Bible literally or figuratively that it is still a pretty neat and entertaining book
I don’t believe J.K. was condemning Wicca…she simply stated that the magical system differs from that in Harry Potter.
J. R. R. Tolkien wrote LOTR. C.S. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. Both are Christian apologists. Now J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is inspired by those two authors. Isn’t it weird that Christians wrote about witches and wizards that their fatih spoke negatively?
Think as hogwarts is a British school and therefore would be the same mix of the Muggle world.
A lot of definitive pronouncements on what Christmas means to “most people,” must’ve been an election I missed. 😂
It would make sense that Jesus was a wizard too and claimed to be the savior and son of god and used his magic to create “miracles” and muggles of course believed it. That makes more sense.
I only hope that her comments encourage people to become Wiccans even if Wicca is just about the silliest thing I've ever seen.
One interesting thing about Christianity is that Christmas is not the most important holiday, it's Easter, where they celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, which is the most important part of Christianity where Jesus defeats death and proves that he's the son of God. Whereas in the West, Christmas has become the most important and celebrated holiday. And of course, the date on which we celebrate Christmas has pagan origins since we don't actually know what date or even what year Jesus was born.
I'm agnostic and love religious holidays for being with family, food and celebrating and gifts and giving gifts
Regarding people of different religions: due to Christianity till quite recently being the most common faith in uk most schools celebrated Christmas in uk. Especially primary schools (age 5-11) will put on a nativity. Everyone in the school will participate no matter what religion they are from. Then in secondary school (11-16 & with form 16-18 years old) there is less emphasis but still you will often see decorations up+ Christmas trees, people giving Christmas cards and Christmas presents. So I expect in Hogwarts everyone celebrates Christmas (no matter their religion) because that’s just tradition.
Is Islam right about Witches? 🧙♀️
Characters I know for a fact that practice a religion
Badeea Ali: Islam
Minerva McGonagall: Presbyterian
Queenie Goldstein: Judaism
Padma and Parvati Patel: Hinduism
Anthony Goldstein: Judaism
Fat Friar: Christianity
The Potters: Christianity
In harry Potter honestly it bothers me how little development is given to religion in the Harry Potter universe. For a world that looks out of the middle ages its is REALLY weird how little we are given.
It's pretty obvious that there's no religion specific to wizards, but that wizards can and do choose to adhere to existing religions.
Anthony Goldstein was confirmed to be Jewish (not that with a name like Goldstein it wasn't already obvious).
'Hopefully her comments will open up the story to many fans'.. I don't think her tweets nowadays are exactly bringing us together lmfao. Sad... On the religion part though, my fosterfamily were deeply devoted christians and they let me read the stories. We weren't allowed to watch cartoons or access the internet besides schoolwork but the HP series was welcomed and i'm very glad they were. This series helped me a lot in dealing with my imposter syndrome coming from a non standard home life.
As you said at the end of the video, the series is told through Harry's perspective. Even with an awareness of other faiths from his Muggle background, the Dursleys do not appear to have been a very inclusive lot and would likely never associate with groups such as Muslims or even Hindus at least on a regular basis. It makes sense that the wizarding world would adopt the Muggle traditions just as any other culture does. To use Christmas as an example as well, look at how Japan celebrates it and it is a Shinto/Buddhist nation yet seems to go nuts for it more than Americans do. That said, I also imagine that even the topic of religion would be a sensitive issue to tackle in the Wizarding World. Just imagine how a heated debate between a Sikh and a Jewish wizard might devolve into a duel. Then again, it could be that personal beliefs are something that is extremely private for being ostracized in the wizarding community. Just look at the Lovegoods and how they are considered strange even by wizard standards. It is an interesting question in the end.
Would not there be Jewish young wizards and witches who celebrate Hanukkah?
There are like Anthony Goldstein, but he's never shown celebrating Chanukah
Fun fact, one of the implications of "thou shall not take the lord's name in vain" is that only the Jewish high priest could call him by the name YHWH, and only on Yom Kippur.
Makes me wonder, if it's an incantation, what the hell does the spell do?
The thought came to me while listening to a catholic priest talk about Thomas Aquinas on Lex Friedman's show. Part of the theology is that God spoke the universe into existence.
I would think the exclusion of wiccans is more due to it being a relatively new religion that would be practice by muggles and not witches. Because if there’s room for other religions at Hogwarts that would mean that mystical variants of abrahamic religions would be practice, polytheistics and general paganism even druidism
Any faith without the blood rituals. Most folks are more scientific now. 🤗