Why Do We Celebrate Birthdays with a Cake?

Why Do We Celebrate Birthdays with a Cake?

In Western culture, a birthday cake is often decorated with a person’s name or designed to fit that person’s personality and interests. The word «cake» is of Scandinavian origin, related to the Swedish «kaka» and Danish «kage.» Modern cake celebrations are the culmination of various traditions from different cultures from all over the world.

Birthday Candle History

Traditionally, birthday candles were used to bring birthday wishes to the gods. The Greeks would pray over the flames and believed the smoke carried their wishes up to the gods. Greeks also placed candles on top of the cake to make the cake glow like the moon god Artemis.

The Germans would burn a large candle that had 12 lines and numbers, which marked the 12 months of the year. This candle represented the Light of Life and was used for religious practices.

This evolved into using candles on the cake to equal the number of a person’s birthday. Traditionally, the birthday person blows out the candles and makes a wish. Modern superstitions state you must blow out all the candles to receive your wish and you cannot tell your wish to anyone or it will not come true.

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