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Why Do We Celebrate Birthdays?

Ying Gao

Celebration has always been a way for humans to remember and acknowledge events that happen in our lives, whether they be national events or even special moments between families. Different cultures, religions and countries all have different celebrations, however, an event that is celebrated most common is perhaps our birthdays. Celebrating somebody’s birthday is a way to show our appreciation and affection for them. It is a day for us to make them feel special and loved. Even though it has always been a celebration that most of us have carried out, I doubt many of us know the origins of the celebration of our birthdays. In fact before writing the article I had very little knowledge on the history of us celebrating our birthdays and when re- searching I had different articles popping up making the whole research process quite interesting to read. The idea of celebrating birthdays dates back to 3000 BC, ancient Greeks at the time believed that everybody had a spirit with them. Everytime that it was their birthday, it was believed that the spirits would come out and that was what they celebrated. The ancient Greeks believed that the spirits were always watching over them and protecting them so it was important to acknowledge them and show their appreciation when they decided to come out on their birthday. However, there are many different versions when reading different articles and journals so I thought I’d also share more than one. Most of us here are familiar with the tradition of sticking candles in our cakes as part of our celebration. However, did you know that this may have originated from the idea that on the day of our birth we attract evil spirits. By lighting candles was a way to get rid of the evil spirits as evil spirits were believed to be scared of the light. Although I could not find the exact origin of why we celebrate our birthdays, it was interesting to understand the different stories behind. But more importantly, the thing that all the

stories and the articles I had encountered whilst re- searching was that they all highlighted the importance of peace and appreciation when celebrating our birthdays. I believe that we have kept the traditions of birthdays being a time that is full of positivity and greatness. Just before ending the article I’d like to share a few different countries and their way of celebrating birthdays. In South Korea on someone’s birthday it is quite common to eat/drink Seaweed soup Mi-yeok-guk ( 미역국 ) it is usually served at breakfast but it de- rives from the fact that during pregnancy or even postpartum mothers drink this replenish themselves of nutrients. So it kind of links to idea of respecting and showing their appreciation for their mother. In China when it is someone’s birthday it is very com- mon to see them eat a bowl of noodles, known as the Chang Shou Mian ( 长寿面 ) the name itself represents longevity- the idea of living a long and happy life. It’s not a particular recipe you follow, in fact, different regions will have particular toppings and ingredients that they choose to use to tailor to each one’s taste. In Ghana people typically celebrate their birthdays with home cooked traditional foods, a typical dish that is made is Oto, it’s made with mashed yam and boiled eggs and this dish can even be eaten on other celebrations not specifically for birthdays. In Russia when celebrating somebody’s birthday it is quite typical for elder relatives or even older friends to pull on your ears. They usually pull your ears upwards as a way of hoping you will grow taller, although it is less common within younger generations but some Russians continue with this tradition. Another interesting thing to note is to not wish somebody an early birthday as it is considered a bad omen.

Overall, it was quite interesting to research more about the history of celebrating birthdays and I hope you enjoyed reading the brief history of why we celebrate our birthdays. If there is someone’s birthday coming up soon then make sure to wish them a Happy Birthday and make them feel appreciated and loved.