by Karina Qavah
Happy Birthday to You
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the happy birthday song is the most recognizable song in the English language. It came from a songbook published in 1924. A Google search will bring up quite a bit of information about the origin of birthday celebrations. My concern is with the celebrations, not just keeping track of how many years have gone by since we were born. I know that there are many people who, even after learning about the questionable origin of certain traditions, continue to observe them and it doesn’t bother them whatsoever. If you are one of those people and claim to be a Believer (of Yeshua or Jesus), you may not want to finish reading but I believe you would want to read towards the end. It may surprise you….
The earliest known mention of a birthday celebration was by a Pharaoh in Egypt (around 300 B.C.E.). See Genesis 40:20. Egyptologist Dr. James Hoffmeier believes it is a reference to the coronation day, since that would have marked his “birth” as a god. The development of religious practices also influenced birthdays. Taufiq Zaman wrote that polytheists believed evil spirits lurked on day of significant changes, like a day when a person ages a year older. The Greeks believed each person had a spirit attend their birthday to keep watch. Christians considered birthday celebrations evil for the first few hundred years of their existence for two reasons. First, the belief that humans were born with an “original sin” (by the way, humans are not born with a sin gene. There’s no doubt that Adam’s disobedience has affected all of us, but not through inheritance – see Is. 44:24, Ps. 139:14). Second, the early belief that birthdays were tied to heathen gods. This perspective changed around the 4th century, when Christians began celebrating the birthday of Jesus on “Christmas”.
Romans were the first civilization to celebrate birthdays for non-religious figures, according to Todd Van Luling. They celebrated with friends and families, while the government created public holidays to observe the birthdays of famous citizens. Women were an exception in history, and their birthdays were not celebrated until around the 12th century. Time passed, and in the 18th century, Germans had the closest to what we know of modern birthday parties. Kinderfeste is a German celebration held by children, and it involves both birthday cake and candles. Lee Humphreys said in a journal article that the birthday cake can be likely be traced back to ancient Roman birthday rites, though some accounts indicate Americans used to be just as likely to celebrate with fruit. They offered moon-shaped cakes to Artemis as a tribute to the lunar goddess. To re-create the radiance of the moon, Greeks lit candles and put them on cakes for a glowing effect. Zaman said blowing out candles and making a wish was part of German celebrations that were originally invented by bakers. Kids got one candle for each year they’d been alive, plus another to symbolize the hope of living another year.
Here is a quote from the Jewish Encyclopedia. “There are no positive data in the Bible or in rabbinical literature concerning birthday festivals among the ancient Jews. This silence on the subject is, however, no warrant for the conclusion that the Jews altogether abstained from following a custom which was general among the Egyptians (Gen. xl 20), Persians (Herodotus i. 133), Syrians, and Greeks. Even if not common among the people, yet kings and princes probably practiced it, following the custom of their heathen contemporaries”. -Cyrus Adler, S. Roubin. Oh, I can’t leave the Muslims out. According to Abdur Rahman Mahdoom, Islam forbids acknowledging birthdays. Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Recognition of birthdays heralded the growing individualism that began to crest in Western culture during the eighteenth century, Baseline, Burrichter, and Stearns said. “The way we celebrate today is a mishmash of traditions”, Humphreys said.
Calendars as we know them today obviously didn’t always exist. Early civilizations took note of the moon cycles and paid attention to the change in seasons as well. (pumpitupparty.com). It is a lot easier to celebrate the anniversary of our birth now. Just look at a calendar! Kids can start the countdown weeks before the actual day!
Now, I’ve saved the best (reason not to celebrate birthdays) for last. The following is a quote from The Satanic Bible, written by Anton Szandor LaVey. (page 96). “The highest of all holidays in the Satanic religion is the date of one’s own birth. This is in direct contradiction to the holy of holy days of other religions, which deify a particular god who has been created in an anthropomorphic form of their own image, thereby showing that the ego is not really buried. The Satanist feels: ‘Why not really be honest and not create that god as yourself.’ Every man is a god if he chooses to recognize himself as one. So, the Satanist celebrates his own birthday as the most important holiday of the year. After all, aren’t you happier about the fact that you were born than you are about the birth of someone you have never even met? Or for that matter, aside from religious holidays, why pay higher tribute to the birthday of a president or to a date in history than we do to the day we were brought into this greatest of all worlds? Despite the fact that some of us may not have been wanted, or at least were not particularly planned, we’re glad, even if no one else is, that we’re here! You should give yourself a pat on the back, buy yourself whatever you want, treat yourself like the king (or god) that you are, and generally celebrate your birthday with as much pomp and ceremony as possible.”
In conclusion, the next time the anniversary of our birth rolls around, could we just be happy with a handshake, hug, and/or congratulations?
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