Every day, millions of people celebrate their birthday. Different cultures celebrate in different ways and with different traditions, but they all celebrate another year of life and happiness. Many times, milestone birthdays are celebrated in more extravagant ways than the rest. And birthdays aren’t just meant to be celebrated. Many believe they can also reveal someone’s fortune and their personality. Birthdays celebrate the coming of new life into our world and for that reason hold a very prestigious place in the human psyche.
A birthday is the day on which someone was born in most cultures. However, in a few countries, the day 9 months before, when they first started growing in their mother’s womb, is celebrated as their birthday. Numerous people believe that the day you are born on determines a few things about you. These things, called Zodiac signs, are given to us based on when we are born and are based on constellations we see in the night sky. These signs are said to determine your characteristic and personality and give insight into our daily life. For example, if you were born between May 21 and June 20, you are a Gemini and enjoy exploring a little bit of everything.
| Celebrating birthdays often includes a gathering of people, a cake, gifts, and of course blowing out candles. The birthday cake was believed to have originated from the ancient Greeks or Germans. The candles too came from one if not both of these ancient civilizations. When a person blows out the candles of his or her birthday cake, it was believed that the smoke carried their wishes to the heavens. |
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Birthdays have not been celebrated throughout human history. In fact, the first birthdays were celebrated by ancient Egyptians. They believed that on a person’s birthday, evil spirits were attracted to the person celebrating. To counter these spirits, the celebrating person would be with friends and family and would receive gifts. Since then, many traditions and ways of celebrating have been added to our idea of the birthday.
Another tradition birthdays wouldn’t be the same without is the birthday song. After someone has blown out the candles on their cake and made a wish, friends and family will often join and sing them the birthday song. But the birthday song has not always been around and is in fact a very young tradition for celebrating birthdays. The song was written in 1893 by two sisters who were school teachers. Since then it has gained popularity and has been translated into many languages.
Many people also put extra emphasis on milestone birthdays. The first few birthdays of a child are always celebrated in an extravagant fashion as are decade milestones such as 30, 40, 50, and so on. Turning 16 is heavily celebrated in the United States and other western nations as “Sweet Sixteen.” The 18th birthday when adult status is achieved may also be celebrated. In the United States, the 21st birthday is also important as it marks the legal drinking age. These milestone parties are often celebrated with a larger party than other birthdays and with more friends and family. Celebrating these special birthdays adds a certain spice to the somewhat repetitive birthday celebrations that we celebrate each year.
Birthdays are a great way to celebrate life and another year here on Earth. The many traditions of celebrating birthdays have been passed down through the generations. And today we have accumulated many traditions from different cultures and celebrate our birthdays with cakes, parties, gifts, candles, and of course the birthday song. And while our birthday’s may or may not reveal certain details of our lives through zodiac signs, one thing is certain: birthdays are a universal experience which all humans celebrate and enjoy.