This is both BFF hubbies and my birthday
month. I have decided I no longer have birthdays, I level up. (Grin) That’s a
gaming term used for those of you who are also nerds. And I stand by the saying
- I am not getting older I am getting better!
So there I went, and I wondered where all this
birthday hoopla started? Don’t you wonder why we even bother to
celebrate birthdays? When you think about it, they’re really just an
opportunity for your friends and family to come together and congratulate you
for surviving another year, which as we age is a good thing I suppose. (Grin) But for some reason I think it’s become far
more than just that. Yep, you guessed it, as
always things like this ramble around in my brain and as you know, end up by
becoming a Blog topic. So off I went on my research journey to see what I could
discover on the topic of birthdays.
I found it surprising to learn that the
idea of celebrating the date of your birth is actually a pagan tradition. In
fact, many Christians didn't celebrate birthdays historically, because
of that link to paganism. Pagans thought that evil spirits lurked on days of
major changes, like the day you turn a year older. Isn’t that an interesting
note?
The experts tell us that research on the exact origin of
birthdays and birthday cakes remains inconclusive, however there is enough of a
consensus to piece together an approximate history. Perhaps someday a
Birthdayologist (Is there such a word?) (Grin) will come along to set the
record completely straight, hey it could happen.
The experts say there are seven
major developments throughout history that have contributed to our tradition of
doing this once a year.
1.
Egyptians started the party - When pharaohs were crowned in ancient Egypt they were considered
to have transformed into gods. This divine promotion made their coronation date
much more important than their birth into the world. Scholars have pointed to
the Bible’s reference of a
Pharaoh’s birthday as the earliest known mention of a birthday
celebration (around 3,000 B.C.E.), but Egyptologist Dr. James Hoffmeier
believes this is referencing the
subject’s coronation date, since that would have been the
Pharaoh’s “birth” as a god.
2.
The Greeks added candles to the cake - The Greeks offered moon-shaped cakes to
Artemis as a form of tribute to the lunar goddess. To recreate the radiance of the
moon and her perceived beauty, Greeks lit candles and put them
on cakes for a glowing effect.
3.
The Ancient Romans were the first to celebrate
birthdays for the common man (but just the men) - The prevailing
opinion seems to be that the Romans were the first civilization to celebrate birthdays for
non-religious figures. Romans would celebrate birthdays for friends and
families, while the government created public holidays to observe the birthdays
of more famous citizens. However female birthdays still weren’t celebrated
until around the 12th century.
4.
Christians initially considered birthdays to be a pagan ritual -
Due to its belief that humans are born with “original sin” and
the fact that early birthdays were tied to “pagan” gods, the Christian Church
considered birthday celebrations evil for the first few hundred years
of its existence. Around the 4th century, Christians changed their minds and
began to celebrate the birthday
of Jesus as the holiday of Christmas. This new celebration was accepted
into the church partly in hopes of recruiting those already celebrating the Roman holiday of
Saturnalia.
5.
Contemporary birthday cakes were
invented by German bakers - Although the
general idea of celebrating birthdays had already started taking off around the
world — like in China, where a
child’s first birthday was specifically honored — Kinderfeste, which
came out of late 18th century Germany, is
the closest prerequisite to the contemporary birthday party. This celebration
was held for German children, or “kinder,” and involved both birthday cake and
candles. Kids got one candle for each year they’d been alive, plus
another to symbolize the hope of living for at least one more year. Blowing out
the candles and making a wish was also a part of these
celebrations.
6.
The Industrial Revolution brought delicious cakes to the masses - For quite some time, birthday celebrations involving sugary
cakes were only available to the very wealthy, as the necessary ingredients were
considered a luxury. But the industrial revolution allowed celebrations
like kinderfest and the subsequent equivalents in other cultures to proliferate.
Not only did the required ingredients become more abundant, but bakeries also started
offering pre-made cakes at lower prices due to advances
in mass production by bakeries of the late 19th century.
7. The Birthday Song” was a remix, kind of - In 1893, Patty Hill and Mildred J. Hill wrote a song they called
“Good Morning to All,” which was
intended to be sung by students before classes began. The song eventually
caught on across America, giving rise to a number of variations. Robert Coleman
eventually published a songbook in 1924, adding a few extra lyrics that would
quickly come to overshadow the original lines. The new rendition became the version we now all know, “Happy
Birthday to You.”
Well I am relieved to have this all explained to me by the
experts, don’t you feel more enlightened? (Grin)
I think we can all agree that Birthdays seem to be the one day a
year that every little kid looks forward to (besides Christmas of course), when
family and friends come together to celebrate who they are and the
accomplishments they’ve made over the year. Yay! You get presents, cake, a party, and plenty of
time with loved ones. Whatever it is that they enjoy most on their special day,
birthdays are a staple of our society and it is always an enjoyable time for
any kid. I have so many memories of fun birthdays as a child, but as a child I didn’t
realize I was actually making memories, I just knew I was having fun on a day
that was all about me. (Grin)
As an adult, and as I grow older, I find myself more and more reluctant
to celebrate my birthday, I find myself wishing everyone would ignore them.
(Grin) I mean after all, who wants a
yearly reminder, marked with a lavish and expensive celebration, of how old
they are getting? (Ok, maybe some people still do.)
Nonetheless, this made me wonder why it is that birthdays feel
less and less important to me as I get older. It seems as if my attitude
towards birthdays tends to shift in the wrong direction as the date of my birth
looms nearer. I find this is especially true this year as, I am not found of
the number I will be turning. Don’t get
me wrong, I am thankful every day I wake up and find that I’m still here.
(Grin)
So after all this obsessing on having a birthday this month and
getting another year older, here is this Bloggers take away on the subject: I
tend to feel that as I get older, the idea of death becomes more imminent – it
is something that I think most people tend to think about once they get into
their late sixties, at least for me. (Grin) Now, I know anything can happen in
life and there are no guarantees, however the older I get, the more I tend to
think about all this. As my age gets BIGGER,
the number of years I have left gets smaller.
I find that I am very appreciative of the importance of people
over presents. It seems as though the value
of presents declines and the joy I get out of them isn’t the same as when I was
younger. One thing I can say for sure is the older I get, the less I care about
presents. In my case, the fact that I can have friends and family around for my
birthday means much, much more than material things and in my opinion is the
best gift I could ever receive. When it
comes right down to it - it is this blogger’s opinion that no matter how old you
are, birthdays should always be about fun.
It’s just the value of birthdays which tends to change for me the older
I get. So no matter how you choose to celebrate your day - just make it a great
day! Kick off your shoes and enjoy my
friends, I know I will! And happy birthday to you!
One final reminder from me to you is the more you praise and
celebrate your life, the more in life there is to celebrate. After all age is just a state of mind, and
you are only as old as you think you are. So just count your blessings and be
happy. And as Abraham Lincoln said, “And in the end, it’s not the years in your
life that count. It’s the life in your years.”
I thank you again for taking this retirement journey with me, or
as I refer to it, “my longest coffee break."
I'm just sayin’….
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