Ask Mike: Make a Wish
Hey Guys,
Folks tend to enjoy their birthdays less and less as they grow older. But even old fogies still make a wish when they blow out the candles. How’d the tradition got started? I turned to the Web for answers.
According to several sites, most folks believe the Greeks started the tradition of placing candles on cakes. Apparently, they did this to make cakes “glow like the moon.” Tokenz.com writes, “some scholars say that candles were placed on the cake because people believe that the smoke of the candle carried their wishes and prayers to Gods who lived in the skies.”
That theory ties along well with another article. According to a blog from the LDS Church, people initially made a wish when they blew out the candles because they felt the smoke might carry the wish or petition up to God.
It is worth noting that Wikipedia has a very different history than the sources above. According to the big “W,” the tradition of placing candles on a birthday cake “can be traced to Kinderfest (kinder is the German word for ‘child’), an 18th century German birthday celebration for children.”
Interesting, but I’m not totally convinced I have the whole story. So, I’m asking for your help. Take a few minutes and see if you can find some more links on how birthday candles (and wishing upon them) got started. Leave a comment below. Together, maybe we can figure out if we have the Greeks or Germans to thank.
Thanks for reading.
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iT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE SOCIOLOGICALLY THAT MANY TRAITS, CUSTOMS AND VARIOUS PRACTICES ARE THE RESULT OF SEVERAL DIFFERENT TRADITIONS IN COMBINATION/MERGED.
Hey Mike,
I wasn’t sure where, to post and ask this. But, I really enjoy your posts, and advice to everyone. I would really like, some of your advice and to talk to you. Could you please email me, athe the address I gave you, the this form, if you don’t mind helping me? Then I will tell, you my concerns.
Thanks so much, and keep up the good work!!!
Best Regards,
Horsegirl
i’m not normally one to chime in, but i can’t help but say that i’m mormon and that’s never been a church doctrine. if you want to get honest information about the church, go to lds.org.
Thank you so much! Hugs and Smiles! ^^
Sincerely, jeannie k@
That’s very interesting..
Ironic that I find this article on my birthday today =)
kool
Your website (Yahoo! Answers) seems to be broken, Mike. Just sayin’.
That was really informative
i actually think its of a pagan origin…
Oh my god, stop mentioning how you got this information on websites. “I searched the web,” “according to this blog,” “find some more links,” etc.
Why are you encouraging dependency on the internet? Of course it’s good for a lot of things, information being a huge one, but keep this up and you won’t remember how to open an encyclopedia.
i only know when working in magic with candles-to blow it out is to extinguish it’s intent. you are supposed to pinch it out , so evrey birthday wish ever made that way , blowing out the candles,according to some witches,should not ever have came true.
From a book search and the title of the book is called A book of the Beginning. The cake is the Egyptian symbol of the sun and the horizon. The history of the Egyptian goes back some 3000 BC. Back then, the cake and the candles were different.
Hey Mike, I suspect that your first remark about the Greeks might be the most correct answer. I say this because, The Africans, Chinese and Greeks are primarely the earliest living peoples on this planet, and the Greeks are well known for their festive lifestyles with brilliant colors and the full gaiety of thier celebrations. This is my guess and, it is, only a guess, but a good guess, I say. Lol. I am curious, though, as to why suc a question is asked?
i’m first
i love makin birthday wishes
Thanks for referencing and linking to my blog. However, I am not an official from the LDS Church. I am only a member of said church, and my opinions and writing are my own. Thanks!
I think candles became popular to use because they were so expensive, and therefore special.
Most people of early and middle ages could not afford to burn candles except for brief periods, so burning them for ’show’ demonstrated how wealthy the family was.
[This is all aside from offerings to the moon goddess or German custom of cakes for small children. ]
hi the wish seems so true so how does it work like it want to make one
Old fogies is a very derogatory term to describe elderly people. I am 57, do I qualify as one of those old fogies or do I have a few years left before people start referring to me as an old fogie?
The version of the Germany story I’ve heard that in the Middle Ages, when a cake was placed on the dinner table early in the morning of someone’s birthday. It was surrounded by a circle of candles that burned throughout the day to ward off evil spirits. The candles were also a reminder that life is transitory and represented the candles that would one day be lighted for one’s funeral. The person celebrating his or her birthday makes a silent wish while blowing out the candles on the cake. It is said if the person is able to blow out all candles in one breath it signifies that the wish would be answered and that the person would enjoy good luck in coming year. By blowing them out, the person celebrating the beginning of a new year of life is demonstrating the ability to control destiny. Blowing all of them out at one time is considered lucky because it implies mastery over one’s fate.
This birthday cakes online says the same - Wishes to the gods, which sounds accurate as many things were burned to find God’s favor after Adam & Eve spoiled things in the Garden of Eve.
I like this site cause it gives you 100 ways to say Happy Birthday ~ Now if we could reverse the effects of Babel, maybe there would be only one way to say Happy Birthday (I bet in 0s & 1s ~ :o)
I for one resent the old fogies comment. I am 73 and I enjoy my Birthdays, more and more.
Interesting enough…
every culture has its own style of birthday’s
The origin of birthdays lie in the realm of magic and religion. The customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating -complete with candles- in ancient times were meant to ensure his security for the coming years and protect the person from evil. Birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune. (Ever since man created altars fires and smoke have a mystic significance).
Look up “lore of birthdays” you’ll come up with a lot of good results. Also, this link gives excellent information on Birthdays and religions:http://www.cogwriter.com/birthdays.htm
this is actually really interesting
Nice topic! It’s interesting. It had been a tradition to everyone celebrating birthdays. And one of the traditions was having a cake on birthday. Now, i really wonder why? I hope you could come up with the answer.
i wish i won a macbook and a iphone 3g
my imagination tells that cakes were used at first just for the pleasure of eating. as candles are are beautiful when lit up, perhaps the tradition started here. to make the cake more beautiful was perhaps the aim.
Wow thanks for telling me!
I found some pretty interesting stuff on birthday candles.
For example:
The candles symbolize the happiness and joy brought about by getting older
All wishes come true only if the candles are blown out in one breath
They’re a testament to each year you have been blessed enough to live
Happy birthday, everyone!
WOW. this was really interesting.
=]
It is interesting to know what birthday candles signify. Now that I always get sick, fighting days that might wrap up my history, I take everything into count. No more doing nothing for nothing. Everything must have meaning and importance. Why waste a breathe [which we count as a blessing] on things with no substance?
Candles are a blessing. They give light, but since we’ve electricity, candles [along with lamps] have lost their place in society, rarely finding them other than on birthday cakes and in churches.
There are some sects who believe birthdays are paganistic. In the bible, it only mention 2 people ever having a birthday, Pharaoh [in Joseph’s captivity] and Herod, king of Judea [in the time of Jesus].
It doesn’t say if Pharaoh or Herod had cake or candles on it but in those times I’m sure they had more candles around them to illuminate their atmosphere.
Candles signify life and light. They help us in dark times. Therefore, King David wouldn’t had asked, “For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.” Psalms 18:28
The KJV Bible mentions “candle” 16 times and “candles” once. It is good reference to study about candles (and light of it). It would give meaningful to have any candle or candles on a birthday cake.
The smoke aspect is another area but also could be done in a fashionly manner with purpose. It tells us in Revelation 8:4 “And the SMOKE of the incense (which some candles have fragrances), which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel’s hand.”
Anyhow, I like birthday cakes and candles. It’s wonderful to celebrate or to be romantic with. It’s a time to count another year we made it through. We don’t count years and days for nothing so likewise with anything like candles. Everything counts for good.
How old did the oldest person live too?
Where did you get that idea, as I
grow older I enjoy celebrating my
birthdays even MORE! HOLA!!!
Don’t you respect older people and
how far they have come and how much
many have contributed to society, and
who put you into the world a young chicken?
Here’s a good link related to birthday candles and their history, traditions, and beliefs.
http://www.tokenz.com/birthday-candles.html
hey, lol, this was posted on my bday 2
this is the 1st time im readin ur posts
pretty awesome
Who are you calling an “old fogie?”
Written by Roger Drukker
Sunday, 03 June 2007
The birthday cake has been an integral part of the birthday tradition in Western cultures. The cake is served to a person on his or her birthday, and is often decorated with small novelty candles, with the person’s name and/or a message of congratulations inscribed with icing. The phrase “Happy Birthday” did not appear on birthday cakes until the song Happy Birthday to You was popularized in the early 1900s.
Tradition holds that the person with the birthday may make a wish, which will come true if all the candles can be blown out in one breath. US patent 6319530 relates to a “method of photocopying an image onto an edible web for decorating iced baked goods.” This invention enables one to inkjet print a food-grade color photograph on the cake surface.
History of Birthday Cake can be traced back to the ancient Greeks who made round or moon shaped honey cakes or bread and took it to the temple of Artemis -the Goddess of Moon. Some scholars, however, believe that the tradition of Birthday cake started in Germany in middle Ages. This special birthday cake later reemerged in Germany as a Kinderfest or the birthday celebrations of a young child. Germans also baked another special kind of a cake called Geburtstagorten as it was baked in layers. This was sweeter that the coarse and bread like cake that were usually made at that time.
In earlier times, Birthday cakes were mostly round in shape. Scholars associate religious beliefs and technical compulsions for the same. Greeks offered round shape cake to the Goddess of Moon - Artemis as it signified moon. They even placed candles on the cake to make the cake glow like the moon.
Technical reason given for the roundness of the cake is that most cakes we know off advanced from the bread. In ancient times breads and cakes were made by hand. Typically, these were fashioned into round balls and baked on hearthstones or in low, shallow pans. Hence, these naturally relaxed into round shapes. With the progress of times baking pans of various shapes were developed and today we see cakes in imaginative shapes and sizes.
In medieval times people of England used to place symbolic objects like coins, rings and thimbles in the batter of the cake. It was believed that those who found coin in the cake would be wealthy while the unlucky finder of the thimble would never marry. If the cake fell while baking it was considered to be a bad omen and signified bad luck for the person in the coming year.
i really like your blog. i never even thought about that until now. thanks
aa
As an official old fogey, lemme tell ya, you’re all wet, my dear. The ancient Greeks didn’t have candles, for one thing. They used lamps filled with olive oil, which looked rather like little squashed teapots, with the flame coming out the spout. Their cakes used to be rather squashed, too, because they didn’t know too much about yeast. Remember all that to-do in the Bible about leavened and unleavened bread? The leavening is the yeast, for the most part (although there’s also sourdough, which the ancient didn’t know anything about). But the Chinese didn’t do any breadmaking at all early on, my dears. No, no, it was all noodles in the north, and rice in the south! Ask any Chinese and they’ll tell you so, or just look at the menu of any authentic Chinese restaurant. The Egyptians did manage to make some little “cakes” (really bread) that rose a teensy weensy bit, as shown in their lovely frescos, but, no, it was the Germans who got into candles proper. Still, the Hindus are the ones who had the best fire ceremonies and they still do. The Germans couldn’t hold a candle to them (oh, sorry, I couldn’t help myself). Still, Americans are really the ones who have elaborated the birthday cake with a candle for each year and the song and the blowing out in one breath and you mustn’t tell the wish or you’ll lose the wish and so on and so forth, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, with added phrases to the song about Scooby-Doo on Channel Two (ask any child of 9) — this part can go on for 20 minutes! My German auntie is properly horrified at all of our nonsense. “Oh, just make a little cupcake and eat it and get it over with!” she’ll say in disgust. But what fun is that? No, they put a pea in the thing. The Hispanics put a little toy baby in the cake at Epiphany. Oh, but I digress…
I wish Gokusen (Manga) was available in the US.
‘Greeks didn’t have candles, for one thing. They used lamps filled with olive oil’ - i didn’t know olive oil burned???