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Birthday Celebrations - laian - 12-20-2004
Assalamu alaikum everyone,
I just wanted to share some interesting information I found about birthday celebrations.
ORIGINS OF BIRTHDAY CUSTOMS
What are the origins of some of the customs used to celebrate
birthdays? Following are some secular publications and their comments
of these origins.
The German periodical "Schwنbische Zeitung" (magazine supplement Zeit
und Welt) of April 3/4, 1981 on page 4 stated: "The various customs
with which people today celebrate their birthdays have a long
history. Their origins lie in the realm of magic and religion. The
customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating
- complete with lighted candles - in ancient times were meant to
protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his
security for the coming year. . . . Down to the fourth century
Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom."
The book The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952) by Ralph and Adelin
Linton, on pages 8, 18-20 had this to say: "The Greeks believed that
everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and
watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the
god on whose birthday the individual was born.
The Romans also subscribed to this idea. . . . This notion was
carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel,
the fairy godmother and the patron saint. . . . The custom of lighted
candles on the cakes started with the Greeks. . . . Honey cakes round
as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of
[Artemis]. . . . Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with
special magic for granting wishes. . . . Lighted tapers and
sacrificial fires have had a special mystic significance ever since
man first set up altars to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an
honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune"
This same book, on page 20, also had this to say about the
traditional greeting of 'Happy Birthday': "Birthday greetings and
wishes for happiness are an intrinsic part of this holiday. . . .
originally the idea was rooted in magic. The working of spells for
good and evil is the chief usage of witchcraft. One is especially
susceptible to such spells on his birthday, as one's personal spirits
are about at the time. . . . Birthday greetings have power for good
or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day."
And Horst Fuhrmann, professor of medieval history at the University
of Regensburg, made this comment about birthdays: "The birthday
celebration was in honor of one's guardian angel or god, whose altar
was decorated with flowers and wreaths; sacrifices were offered to
the god of festival, friends offered congratulations and brought
gifts." Furthermore, he stated in the German newspaper "Süddeutschen
Zeitung": "Great prominence was given the birthday parties held for
the emperor, replete with parades, public banquets, circus plays, and
the hunting of animals: spectacles disgusting to the [early]
Christians."
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[part of an article from a Christian's site]
Origin of Birthdays
Then where did birthdays come from? The astonishing answer is from
the pagan practice of astrology! Thousands of years ago, when men
looked up into the night sky and charted the stars, they invented
calendars and calculated the birth dates, to the very hour, of kings,
rulers and their successors. These ancient pagan astrologers
meticulously examined horoscopes and birthday omens because they
believed that the fate of the rich and powerful might affect an
entire society. Even to this day, men have been putting their trust
in horoscopes instead of God.
In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs ordered businesses to close on their
birthdays and gave enormous feasts for hundreds of servants. In
ancient Greece, wealthy males joined birthday clubs composed
exclusively of men who shared their birth date. Once a month, the
club celebrated with a feast. When a member died, he left money to
help pay for future parties. In Persia, noblemen observed their
birthdays by barbecuing an ox, a camel and a donkey and serving
hundreds of small cakes to the celebrants.
In ancient Rome, the emperor gave huge parties in honor of his own
birthday, which included parades, circuses, and gladiatorial combat.
The celebration of days was so important to the average Roman citizen
that the Roman calendar designated a majority of days for some form
of celebration—including many birthdays of gods and famous men.
The Roman calendar, with its emphasis on continual celebration, has
had great influence on modern society. Consider the following quote
about the origin of the Roman calendar:
“Our [Roman] calendar is not Christian in origin. It descends
directly from the Egyptians, who originated the 12 month year, 365
day system. A pagan Egyptian scientist, Sosigenes, suggested this
plan to the pagan Emperor Julius Caesar, who directed that it go into
effect throughout the Roman Empire in 45 B.C. As adopted it indicated
its pagan origin by the names of the months—called after Janus, Maia,
Juno, etc. The days were not named but numbered on a complicated
system involving Ides, Nones, and Calends. It was not until 321 A.D.
that the seven-day week feature was added, when the Emperor
Constantine (supposedly) adopted Christianity. Oddly enough for his
weekdays he chose pagan names which are still used.” (Journal of
Calendar Reform, Sept. 1953, p. 128.)
Modern birthday parties and celebrations by children take their form
mainly from Germany, where the birthday child received gifts, chose a
menu and received a candle-ringed butter or jam cake. The lighted
candles for the cake may have originated from the birthday of the
Greek moon goddess Artemis. Pagan worshippers honored her every month
with moon-shaped honey cakes. Because the moon glows with light, the
cakes were decorated with lighted candles.
Saying “happy birthday” to friends and loved ones was society’s
superstitious way of protecting them from evil spirits. Birthday
thumps, bumps, pinches, etc., were said to bring luck and send away
evil spirits. Party snappers, horns and other noisemakers were also
intended to scare off bad-luck spirits.
It should now be clear that birthdays are not only unbiblical, they
are pagan!
"The knowledge of the hypocrite is in his speech, yet the knowledge
of the believer is in his actions"