Eye - 2 August 2019
From the Hufflepuff hypothesis to a Quaker world cup
The Hufflepuff hypothesis
A light-hearted look at parallels between Quakerism and the Harry Potter books has been penned by Chloe Scaling, who is currently doing an internship in the recording clerk’s office at Friends House, London.
In a blog post that covers quotes, characters and houses – which can be found at http://bit.ly/QuakerHufflepuff – Chloe argues that Hufflepuff might be a natural home for Quakers: ‘When Helga Hufflepuff founded a Hogwarts house, she went against the other founders… by creating a space where all are welcome. Similarly, when Quakerism emerged, it was on the basis that all human beings could experience a direct connection with the divine… To be a Hufflepuff you don’t have to be a pureblood wizard, you don’t have to be able to answer riddles and you don’t have to have great ambition. To be a Quaker, you don’t have to say or believe in a set creed, be from a particular background or social class, or know a lot about theology and religion.’
A poll on the Quakers in Britain Twitter feed seems to support this, with forty-one per cent identifying as Hufflepuff.
Hozier on Quakerism
Hozier – the Irish musician, singer and songwriter – has spoken about his Quaker childhood.
In a segment on the Scandinavian talk show Skavlan, which can be viewed at http://bit.ly/HozierSkavlan, Andrew Hozier-Byrne, known professionally as Hozier, spoke about being raised in a Quaker Meeting.
He described his ‘great admiration’ for Meeting for Worship, though said that ‘as an adult I would appreciate it a bit more’.
He reflected on what he carried with him from his experience: ‘The central thing I was taught, definitely, was trying to look for the God in each person… you’re trying to look for the spark of the divine in every individual, the hope being that you would treat everybody as if, when you look into another individual, you look into the mind and face of God.’
Hozier’s debut EP in 2013, Take me to church, was a blues-gospel pop song. He’s gone on to release a platinum album and is about to begin a world tour with his second.
His songs have featured subjects such as: same sex relationships, domestic violence, protest and activism, sea level rise and refugee crises.
A Quaker World Cup
Friends on Twitter have been voting for their favourite Quaker Week posters in the ‘Quaker Poster World Cup’.
In June and July, several ‘matches’ saw a selection of twenty-four posters narrowed down to four favourites.
Jon Martin, Britain Yearly Meeting’s ministry and outreach officer at the time, told Eye: ‘We wanted to celebrate all these great posters we’d made over the years and do something a bit fun with them…
‘While Quakers don’t normally make decisions via voting we were happy as there was lots of discernment into making the posters originally and it provided a good way to get people involved… When we realised it would coincide with the women’s football World Cup we came up with the idea of #QuakerPosterWorldCup.’
Nearly 6,000 votes were cast and four winners (below) were announced last week. Jon told Eye: ‘We appreciate not everyone is on social media, but different media reaches different people… we’ve found this is a great way to get the conversation started!’
He explained: ‘Quaker Meetings will receive one new landscape poster and the four reprinted posters… The theme this year is “Quaker Stories” and we’re encouraging Friends to share their story, their Meeting’s, their favourite Quaker stories and also listen to the stories others can bring.’
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