Birthday is all about surprises, gifts and most importantly delicious birthday cake with brightly lit candles standing on it. But have you ever wondered what’s the point of blowing out those candles? I’ve but then ignored that thought saying, “Maybe to celebrate another year of living”, year after year.
But this year, I tried to look into this WHY and found a bunch of theories about WHERE and HOW this whole blowing-out-candles idea started.
One theory says that putting-candles-on-the-birthday-cake tradition originated in Ancient Greece, where on the sixth day of every lunar month, Greeks brought baked round or moon-shaped honey cakes decorated with illuminated candles to honour Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and the twin sister of Apollo, was the goddess of the hunt and the moon. The lit candles symbolized the glow of the moon.
Also, some ancient cultures hold the belief that
Some people believe the tradition started in Germany in the eighteenth century with Kinderfest. A single birthday candle was lit and placed on the cake to symbolize the “light of life.” In this event, the children were taken to a large room where they were free to celebrate in a safe space protected from evil spirits in search of innocent souls. In 1799, Germans were celebrating in this way, as Goethe wrote in a letter from that year:
“…when it was time for dessert, the prince’s entire livery… carried a generous-size torte with colorful flaming candles… as is the case with children’s festivities of this kind.”
Well, this theory holds strong evidence
According to ancient pagans, the smoke from the candles could ward off evil spirits and the smoke could help carry prayers up to heaven. Now, the tradition of making wishes before blowing out your birthday candles shows some connection.
On the other hand, in Switzerland, it was considered bad luck to eat the birthday cake before all the candles were blown out.
Nonetheless, which theory you believe, this tradition is lovely although after a certain age fitting the candles onto a cake becomes more of a challenge!!
