Birthdays as Historical and Greatness

Birthdays are special days to get together with friends. They are an occasion to talk, hug, and blow into the party. People can see their best friends at birthday celebrations. It might also be the only day to feel “special” without doing anything because people love you just for being born. They may give you presents in different sizes. Maybe your closest friend will give you a huge gift, including just a tiny ring.

In history, researchers believe that the Romans were the first people to begin to celebrate birthdays. Also, in the 20th century, birthdays were organised to celebrate children’s transition from childhood to adulthood. It is celebrated to adapt children to new ages, new social norms, and new biological facts. People believed it was an opportunity to show life’s diverse aspects (Rojaka & Lesinskienė, 2018).

Rojaka and Lesinskienė (2018) did a search to investigate how Lithunia students perceive the greatness of their birthdays. They collected data from medical students who study at Vilnius University. Here are a few of their conclusions:

• According to responses, medical students feel better and more loved on their birthdays, and it showed that females have a tendency to feel better than men.

• When asked by participants who they would like to celebrate with, people said 90.9% were friends.

• Students’s responses reveal that students preferred their birthdays to be organised by others (49.2%) than to organise them themselves (21.4%).

• The majority of the sample being with people important to them was the best present on their birthdays (79.6%).

Redlich (2020), investigated a historical, theological, and social review of Judasim and other cultures. He showed that in ancient pagan cultures, people tended to believe that evil and malicious spirits came on birthdays. So, other people did loud singing and noisy dancing to protect their friends rather than evil. If we notice this custom, people do not have the habit of bringing gifts and celebrating birthdays.

Birthdays consist of some common sources, such as cake, candles, and wishes. These are special parts of a great birthday. All of these have various origins. In birthday cake, some people belive that is originated by ancient Greeks and some people think that Germans attribute the birthday cake custom. In lighting candles on the cake, attrübuted to Greeks, and candels mean “Light of Life." Wishes for someone who has a birthday mean removing all evil and inviting only good spirits into his life (Redlich, 2020).

Each culture has its own special way to celebrate birthdays, and the contents of birthdays may change from culture to culture. Redlich (2020) researched differences between cultural norms at birthday parties and reported some facts. Here are some of them:

• In Africa, people organise initation ceremonies instead of parties. For example, members of Masai organise two stages of initation. Boys leave their parents’s home in the first stage and paint their bodies white. Later, in the second stage, they lengthen their hair and practice hunting wild animals.

• Japanesh people do a huge religious festival to celebrate the birthdays of children on November 25 every year. In this festival, children wear traditional clothes and participate. At last, children are blessed.

• Chinese people say the birthday child shows respect to his parents and receives a gift. They eat long noodles, which means a long life with friends and relatives.

• In Israel, birthdays are celebrated with friends and family members. Their birthdays include a birthday cake decorated with candles. They add one plus candle to the cake, which means “for next year.”.

Jewish people have a custom that consists of milestone birthdays in Judaism. It consists of nine stages. It began from thirteen years to eighty years. Each stage has its own specialised contents. These stages define some important achievements, missions, and tasks.

References

Rojaka, D., & Lesinskienė, S. (2018). A survey of some aspects of birthday celebration. Acta Medica Lituanica, 25(2), 107–111. https://doi.org/10.6001/actamedica.v25i2.3764

Redlich, O. (2020). The Concept of Birthday: A Theoretical, Historical, and Social Overview, in Judaism and Other Cultures. International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 14(9), 791–801. https://publications.waset.org/10011442/pdf