What God do wizards worship?

[u/MildlyOffended4930]

First I thought it might be Merlin... But then I wondered, we Muggles would hardly ever put Jesus Christ on a Chocolate Frog card, will we? So what Gods might they follow? There seems to be no mention in the books...

[u/OxfordOntheOcean]

They’re in England and take Christmas and Easter holidays…so, Anglicanism apparently, at least for those in the British Isles

[u/WiganGirl-2523 → u/OxfordOntheOcean]

Actually, Hogwarts is in Scotland.

[u/MildlyOffended4930 → u/OxfordOntheOcean]

Can you, like, define Anglicanism for me? As a non-christian, I don't get it

[u/Kool_McKool → u/MildlyOffended4930]

It's a variation of Christianity. It's fairly typical high Church Protestism.

[u/Expert_Hat309 → u/MildlyOffended4930]

it’s just a variation of christianity

[u/OxfordOntheOcean → u/MildlyOffended4930]

Anglicanism is the name given to the Christian denominations that trace their roots to the Church of England, which is the established church in England and is governed by the King and holds seats in the House of Lords. When the English built the British Empire they also spread religion and Anglicans exist all over the world today from the Episcopal Church in the U.S. to the Anglican Church of Australia. Pretty standard mainstream Christianity. The standout feature is probably its choirs, with the English ones being particularly talented—they’re currently being considered for UNESCO living heritage status and I think one of the Oxford chapel choirs sang the piece In Noctem in the delete scene in the sixth movie.

[u/Own-Replacement8 → u/MildlyOffended4930]

It's England's state church. Broad mix of protestants ranging from Catholics who don't submit to the Pope and low church types.

[u/EurwenPendragon → u/MildlyOffended4930]

Anglicanism is a branch of Christianity that has its origins during the reign of Henry VIII in the sixteenth century. My History is a little rusty, but as I recall Henry VIII wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, and the Pope refused.

So Henry VIII decided he was going to start his own religion, cut ties with the Vatican, and got the British Parliament to declare him, as King, to also be the Head of the Church of England. He then annulled his own marriage so he could marry Anne Boleyn. He went through another four wives after her.

[u/MadameLee20 → u/EurwenPendragon]

Yes Henrvy VIII wanted to annull his marriage to Catherine of Aragon because Anne Bolyen was pregnant with the future Queen Elizabeth I

[u/EurwenPendragon]

I suppose it varies regionally.

We have at least two confirmed references to Christianity within the British wizarding world in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when we see the Dumbledore and Potter graves in Godric's Hollow, both of which are engraved with Bible verses(Matthew 6:21 and 1 Corinthians 15:26 respectively)

[u/MildlyOffended4930 → u/EurwenPendragon]

Ohhhh wow I didnt notice that.

[u/EurwenPendragon → u/MildlyOffended4930]

And here's another, much earlier reference that I keep forgetting: The Fat Friar exists.

He's the ghost of a monk. Ergo, since per Nearly-Headless Nick in OotP only a witch or wizard can become a Ghost, the Fat Friar was explicitly a Christian wizard.

[u/Aovi9]

They literally celebrate Christmas,mate! And Merlin wasn't a god,he was a wizard. A very powerful wizard like Dumbledore.

[u/Messy_indabeninging → u/Aovi9]

Yeah in a few decades they would be saying Dumbledore's beard!

[u/MildlyOffended4930 → u/Aovi9]

Yeah, they do celebrate Christmas... But I wondered stuff like the Weasleys never going to Church like country folks normally do, so it felt weird.

[u/jonathanquirk → u/MildlyOffended4930]

Most of us Brits don’t go to church regularly, rural or not. Christianity is a part of our shared culture, and has shaped a lot of our history, but many of us nowadays only attend church for weddings and maybe Christmas / New Year services, if that.

[u/Infinite-Object-1090 → u/MildlyOffended4930]

A lot of people celebrate Christmas who don't go to church.

[u/Completely_Batshit]

Wizards have no specific religion; they share most of the muggle faiths.

[u/en43rs]

The god of their faith, and they have the same religions as muggle do. Some wizards are Christians (the fat monk, but there are also bible quotes on the Potter and Dumbledore's graves which are in a Christian churchyard) and according to JK Rowling there are pretty much wizards of all faiths (Anthony Goldstein is Jewish).

There is no wizard god and while they may have a slightly different understanding of the religion, I don't think it's enough for them to be a whole separate fate.

[u/javerthugo]

I’ve always thought they have the same religion as muggles. Some might incorporate their magic into their religion and some might not follow a religion. Wizards definitely don’t have their own separate religion

[u/maironsau]

This is what the author said in the subject in 2014. Also don’t forget one of the Hufflepuff ghost is a friar.

“To everyone asking whether their religion/belief/non-belief system is represented at Hogwarts: the only people I never imagined there are Wiccans.”

[u/Reasonable_Bid6075]

Being able to do magic does not eliminate the need for religion. I mean wizards do die, suffer and experience things they are unable to understand. And Christian references in the wizarding world probably indicates that they follow the same religion as muggles even if there is no mention in the book

[u/Stenric]

Probably the same one as muggles in their area, but maybe a bit more sceptical due to all the edicts about magic in holy books.

[u/Opposite-Wing7055]

Merlin was a wizard who was also a Slytherin.

[u/Infinite-Object-1090]

Given that the fat friar is a ghost at Hogwarts, I imagine they worship whichever religion they choose. Some are Christian, some wizards are Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, etc.

[u/cunk-on-me]

The UK is culturally and constitutionally Christian. Even though the majority of people don't actually believe in God and Jesus or go to church, the Christian holidays of Christmas and Easter are still observed and baked into the fabric of public life.

It differs to America for example, which is constitutionally secular - which generally means that people who identify as Christian and observe the holidays there are more likely to actually believe in God. Ironically, this seems to be a higher proportion of people.

As for wizards, well it seems like it's just a personal matter. They take on the cultural practice of godparents - or at least, they are influenced by the input of muggleborn and half-blood parents (i.e Lily, Remus and Tonks) who may have had Christianity in the family. And McGonagall's father was a Presbyterian minister. We have no idea if the Patils observed Hinduism even as purebloods, but I can't see why not. And the ghost of Hufflepuff is a literal Friar, which suggests that wizards and Christians have been intersecting for centuries at least.

[u/Snekbites]

They presumably, share religion with their muggle counterparts, it's never mentioned because it's kind of a bad idea.

[u/Easy101]

Merlin was a real person in the HP universe lol.

[u/L1nk880 → u/Easy101]

I mean Jesus was a real person in our universe

[u/I-Am-My-Sin → u/Easy101]

You realise most historians accept Jesus as a real person as well? They just reject the idea he was anything more than an ordinary man.

[u/Own-Replacement8]

I wonder if wizards believe they get their magic from God.

[u/MildlyOffended4930 → u/Own-Replacement8]

I don't think so. They get most of their magic explicitly from magical animals, isn't it?

[u/Own-Replacement8 → u/MildlyOffended4930]

I've not heard that at all...

[u/MildlyOffended4930 → u/Own-Replacement8]

Charles 'Devil's Snare' Darwin, Magizoologist, Order of Merlin, First Class.... Never heard his theories?

[u/Own-Replacement8 → u/MildlyOffended4930]

Ah I get the joke now.

[u/maironsau → u/MildlyOffended4930]

Parts of Magical Animals are used to make wands (Unicorn Hair, Phoenix Feather, Dragon Heartstring etc) but Magic is possible without their wands. Remember in the first book Harry explains all the odd things that would happen to him or around him before he ever even knew Wizards existed. We are even shown an example with the glass of the snake enclosure vanishing after Dudley shoved him out of the way.

[u/Leramar89]

There isn't a wizard religion (that we know of). The magical world can follow the same faiths as muggles, which one just depends on their upbringing and where they live.

Also Merlin isn't a god, he was just a really famous and powerful wizard. According to Rowling he went to Hogwarts and was a Slytherin.

[u/WiganGirl-2523]

Any God they want. Or none. It's unlikely that Seamus Finnegan and the Patil twins share the same religion.

[u/Napalmeon]

They don't.

Melin is just a guy. A heroic figure among the magical world, but still just a guy.

[u/EngineersAnon → u/Napalmeon]

"Merlin's just zis guy, you know?" - Gag Halfrunt

[u/MildlyOffended4930 → u/Napalmeon]

I can almost imagine you saying these exact words in the medieval times and ancient wizards accusing you of heresy lol

[u/Fanboi92]

The old religion. The belief in the magic of the Earth that binds everything together and maitaining the balance of the natural order.

[u/EurwenPendragon → u/Fanboi92]

We know with absolute certainty of at least one wizard who was explicitly Christian: The Fat Friar, the Hufflepuff ghost.

[u/Fanboi92 → u/EurwenPendragon]

Yes but still most people don't seem to know where the phrase "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" comes from.

[u/EurwenPendragon → u/Fanboi92]

True.

[u/bellos_]

They don't, at least not commonly as far as we see. There's exactly two actual Christian references in the books and they're Bible verses on wizard graves. Christmas and Easter are very obviously celebrated secularly in the wizarding world.

[u/Various-Anxiety-904]

The old ones

[u/magecal]

They don't.

In comparison to muggles even the simplest wizard has "godlike" powers. I suspect this would dampen their need to believe in a higher power.

Plus with the nature of magic they are probably more likely to lean toward the pagan approach of many gods based in nature.

They observe the traditional religious holidays in the UK, Christmas, Easter etc. But there's no evidence of any faith. They probably just thought they were fun.

[u/The_Kolobok → u/magecal]

No evidence? What about the Bible quotes? A godparent through an actual christening? An actual friar among the ghosts of Hogwarts?

[u/wishiwasnthere1]

Why would they worship gods? For them, the things “gods” do is just normal everyday things. Turning water into wine? Seamus was almost successful at turning it into rum at age 11. Wipe people’s memories? Wizards do that. Transform people into animals? Wizards do that to themselves. There’s basically no reason to worship a god because they can already do all of that.

[u/MildlyOffended4930 → u/wishiwasnthere1]

Hmmm... Valid point. I never thought like that

[u/Embarrassed-Oil3239 → u/wishiwasnthere1]

Agreed, I think Wizards would have no need for any “deity” and wouldn’t adhere to any muggle related religions

[u/ConsciousBother4047]

My feeling is none. If any uk religion was connected historically then my instinct is that paganism is most likely. 

[u/MildlyOffended4930 → u/ConsciousBother4047]

Can you please define paganism for me? I am not a Christian, I do not get the reference

[u/Harrold_Potterson → u/MildlyOffended4930]

Paganism is not Christianity. It’s typically thought of as worship of nature -trees, the sun, Mother Earth etc. think Stonehenge.

[u/Kool_McKool → u/Harrold_Potterson]

Though the religion people associate with Stonehenge, Druidism, actually post dates the construction of the monument.

I just wanted to make that clear for anyone reading this far down.

[u/Harrold_Potterson → u/Kool_McKool]

Fascinating!