Birthdays
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Wikipedia-Article "Birthdays"
A birthday is the date on which a person was born. It is customary in many cultures to celebrate the anniversary of one's birthday in some way, for example by having a birthday party with friends in which gifts are given. It is also customary to treat someone especially well and generally accede to their wishes on their birthday.
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Western birthday traditions
Festive
In most English-speaking countries it is traditional to sing the song Happy Birthday to You to the honored person celebrating their birthday. Similar songs exist in other languages, such as "Lang zal hij/zij leven" in Dutch. This happens traditionally at a birthday party while someone brings a birthday cake into the (often darkened) room.
- The birthday cake is traditionally a highly decorated cake, and is typically covered with lit candles when presented; the number of candles often equals the age of the person (this tradition becomes very difficult for people of roughly 40 years or older, and is often abandoned far earlier, as it can feel a bit childish or just isn't worth the fuss amongst adults). The person whose birthday it is makes a silent wish and then blows out the candles; if done in one breath, the wish is supposed to come true. Another common superstition is that if you reveal your birthday wish, it won't come true. Except in the case of young children, it is also very common for the "birthday boy" or "birthday girl" to cut the initial piece of the cake like the couple does with a wedding cake.
The singing of the song also sometimes happens at a restaurant when one gets taken out for their birthday. The server or servers in the restaurant may lead the singing of the song while dessert is delivered to the table (which may or may not be a piece of cake, and may or may not be complimentary). The dessert may feature a sparkler instead of a candle. Other customers at the restaurant usually join in for the singing of the song. At some restaurants the servers may perform special, untraditional birthday songs and dances.
For special birthdays and for when the number of candles might be considered impractical or a fire hazard, special candles might be substituted for the many individual candles. These candles are in the shape of a numeral; for example on one's 5th birthday there may be only one candle on the cake in the shape of the numeral 5, and on one's 50th birthday there may be two candles on the cake, one in the shape of the numeral 5 followed by the other in the shape of the numeral 0.
- A birthday is considered a special day for the person, and so the person will often get special treatment from friends and family. This is especially true for children who cannot wait for their own special day. In contrast, many adults loathe the reminder that they are continually getting older. In addition to parties, people often get gifts on their birthday. Often, the honored person gets a "birthday hug" from friends and family. For older people a birthday may be a prompt for their grown-up children to write or call.
- Birthday parties for children often include fun games, like Pin the Tail on the Donkey, musical chairs and hitting piñatas. For adults, the parties tend to be more formal, such as a nice dinner at a restaurant. Despite the age, these parties have the intent of making the honored person very happy. In jest, the birthday is sometimes referred to as the "Best day of the year" and the day after the birthday is the "worst day of the year" since one must wait a whole year for their next birthday!
- There are also traditions of surprise parties. This sometimes causes people to feel ignored because it appears their birthday has been forgotten, when actually it has not been mentioned because a surprise party has been planned. Conversely, some people do not mention that nothing is planned for their birthday, because they expect a surprise party.
- Still not all traditions are equally generous. In certain circles the birthday boy (or girl) is expected to treat the fellows, often by shouting one or more round of drinks (not always compensated for by a gift)
- Another tradition enjoyed by girls that was popularized in the 1950s and 60s, is that of receiving a special corsage (or several) that was decorated with candy or another inexpensive item that corresponded to your age. The items were priced within reach of one's peer group and all light enough so they could fasten easily to curly ribbon and be worn throughout the school day without problem.
- 10th birthday - lollipops
- 11th birthday - gum drops
- 12th birthday - tootsie rolls
- 13th birthday - bubble gum
- 14th birthday - dog biscuits
- 15th birthday - life savers
- 16th birthday - sugar cubes
- 17th birthday - lemon drops
- 18th birthday - cigarettes
Testing
Since every year of age can be seen as a minor transition, this can be accompanied by some traditional initiation rite, such as a birthday spanking, after which the honoree may in some traditions receive a "pinch to grow an inch.". It is also traditional in schools in some areas of Britain to 'Bump' people on their birthday. This involves them being hoisted face up by arms and legs and allowed to fall, pulling on the limbs restrains the fall so that the victim does not quite hit the ground. This is repeated for the number of times equal to their birthday age. On one last hoist the celebrant is often allowed to literally come to earth with a bump.
A similar tradition in schools are 'birthday beats', in which the birthday child receives a number of punches on his arm that equate to his age (e.g. 14 punches on the arm for a 14 year old). Usually it is followed with a 'one for luck' punch which tends to be harder than the rest. Birthday beats are not often malicious, but can be considered bullying and may ruin a child's special day.
Astrology
The modern Astrological sign that one is born under depends on one's birthday, and the specific time of birth is used to calculate the person's natal chart. A variety of traditional astrological systems exists outside the west, and further discussion can be found at the relevant article.
Special birthdays
Notable birthdays can include:
- When the most significant digit changes, for example one's 1st, 10th, 20th, 50th, or 100th birthdays.
- One's golden birthday is the day when the age one turns and the date of birth coincide (e.g. someone turning 20 on September 20th celebrates his golden birthday).
- In most legal systems, one becomes a legal adult on a particular birthday, and at different ages gain different rights and responsibilities -- voting, certain drug use (e.g. alcohol, tobacco), eligibility for military draft, driving etc.
- Most cultures have one or more coming of age birthdays:
- Jewish boys have a bar mitzvah on or around their 13th birthday. In Reform and Conservative Judaism, Jewish girls observe a bat mitzvah on or around their 12th or 13th birthday.
- In Latin America the quinceañera celebration traditionally marks a girl's 15th birthday.
- Many girls in the USA have "sweet sixteen" birthday parties.
- In the US where the drinking age is strictly enforced, it is often typical to become intoxicated with one's friends as soon as legal; some bars facilitate this through drink specials or the like. In countries where age restrictions on alcohol are loosely enforced, this phenomenon may be less common.
The birthdays of historically significant people, like Jesus, Muhammad, or Martin Luther King, Jr., are often turned into holidays.
Official/Alternative birthdays and name day
Some notables, particularly monarchs such as Queen Elizabeth II have "official birthdays" which do not match their actual birthday, but on which celebrations are held. In cases where an historical figure's actual birthday is unknown, e.g. Jesus, it is common for a particular date to be substituted.
Children who are born on the leap day 29th of February, which only occurs during leap years, often celebrate their birthday annually on the 28th, or the 1st of March.
In some Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries such as France or Greece, it is common also to have a 'name day'/'Saint's day'. This is celebrated in much the same way as a birthday, but is held on the official day of a saint with the same Christian name as the birthday boy/girl; the difference being that one may look up a person's nameday in a calendar, or easily remember common namedays (e.g. John or Mary); however in pious traditions, the two were often made to concur by giving a newborn the name of a saint celebrated on its birthday, or even the name of a feast, e.g. Noel or Pascal (French for Christmas viz. Easter). In some countries, name days are celebrated with much more elaborate festivities than birthdays; in the past, birthdays often weren't celebrated at all in those countries.
All racehorses traditionally celebrate their birthday (ie. calculate their age in years from) 1 August.
History of celebration of birthdays in the West
It is thought that the large scale celebration of birthdays in Europe was due to Mithraism in the Roman Empire, and that prior to this it was not so common. Mithraism had a large influence throughout the empire, due to being taken up by many Roman soldiers, until it was supplanted by Christianity. Birthday celebrations were much rarer during the Middle Ages, but saw a resurgence with the advent of the Reformation, when they were seen as a good way to transfer customs from the saint's days to other dates not linked to the newly repudiated veneration of saints.
Even today, the celebration of birthdays is not universal in the West; in addition to those people preferring name day celebrations, Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate either, considering them to be pagan festivals, along with Christmas and Easter.
Birthday gift symbolism
Birthstones
A birthstone is a gift of a precious material (jewelry, mainly gemstones; themselves traditionally associated with various qualities) that symbolizes the month of birth (in the Gregorian Calendar) of the birthday boy or girl. It is sometimes also called birthday stone (cfr. infra; but that word is, confusingly, sometimes used as a synonym for an anniversary gift, which is related to the recipient's age, i.e. year of birth).
There have been many different sets of birthstones used throughout history and in different cultures, but in 1912 the American national association of jewelers, Jewelers of America, officially adopted the following list; it is currently the most widely used list in the United States and many other places, including Australia (a jeweler's 'modern' list states they are selected for bright colors) and Thailand:
- January: garnet
- February: amethyst
- March: aquamarine or bloodstone
- April: diamond
- May: emerald
- June: pearl (the only non-gem) or moonstone or alexandrite
- July: ruby
- August: peridot or sardonyx and sapphire
- September: sapphire
- October: opal or tourmaline
- November: topaz (apparently not in blue, cr. infra)
- December: turquoise or lapis lazuli (the blue stone in pharaonic jewelry) or zircon or blue topaz Tanzanite was added to December by the American Gem Trade Association in 2002.
Zodiac stones
This is an astrologic version of the birthstones, using zodiac signs in stead of calendar months of birth, and one completely different stone (the only link) :
- Aquarius (January 21 To February 21) Amethyst and moonstone
- Pisces (February 21 To March 21) Diamond
- Aries (March 21 To April 20) Diamond
- Taurus (April 20 To May 21) Sapphire
- Gemini (May 21 To June 21) Spinel
- Cancer (June 21 To July 22) Emerald
- Leo (July 22 To August 22) Ruby
- Virgo (August 22 To September 22) Opal
- Libra (September 22 To October 23) Peridot
- Scorpio (October 23 To November 21) Aquamarine
- Sagittarius (November 21 To December 21) Topaz
- Capricorn (December 21 To January 21) Garnet
Birthday stones
While this word has also been used as synonym of Birth stone (see above), there is a separate list of assignment according to the day of the week of the recipient's birth:
- Monday : Pearl (again the only non-gem)
- Tuesday : Garnet
- Wednesday : Cat's eye (not in the lists above)
- Thursday : Emerald
- Friday : Topaz
- Saturday : Sapphire
- Sunday : Ruby
See also
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