As we grow up we learn certain traditions, mostly traditions carried out around certain celebrations. It then becomes unspoken law that these traditions get carried out, often without reason or explanation for it. We simply just do it. Some people punch the roof of the car for good luck every time they speed across an orange traffic light. This is just something they learned to do and so continue doing. I went to look at the origin of certain traditions that are carried out in nearly everyone’s life, so that we can better understand them and understand why we celebrate the way we do.
Birthday Candles
It has become a rule almost everywhere that when you are presented with a birthday cake it must have candles on it. Sometimes enough candles for each year of your life, sometimes with just one (usually because you run out of space). I’m not so sure many people know why we started putting candles on cakes in the first place.
Birthday candles have many possible origins. Some say it is traced back to the ancient Greeks. The ancients Greeks would honour the moon goddess Artemis on their birthdays. They would go to church with a round cake decorated with candles, symbolizing the bright moon, as an offering to Artemis.
Others say the tradition stems from Germany where they would place one large candle in the middle of the cake with other candles around it. This became fashionable after one famous socialite did it at one of his birthday parties and wowed the guests.
Other cultures believed that the smoke from the candles helped carry your prayers up to the heavens where they could be heard. This is most likely where the tradition of making a wish before blowing out the candles comes from.
Another possibility stems from pagan tradition. When a child was born a large candle was lit in celebration. This candle is then kept safe and lit every year on the anniversary of their birth to celebrate their life. Now, instead of a large candle getting shorter and shorter each year that you are closer to death, we place a number of candles on the cake representing the years of your life.
Easter Egg Decoration
The tradition of painting boiled eggs at Easter predates Christianity. In many cultures, the egg is a symbol of new life, fertility and rebirth. This is why we use eggs to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. However, before the Christians celebrated Easter, ancient pagans would celebrate the Spring Equinox, the return of the Sun God - a rebirth of light. They would celebrate this with painted eggs. This celebration would also welcome the start of Spring and they would make offerings to the goddess Eostre. Some believe this is where the name “Easter” originates from.
Mistletoe
The tradition of hanging mistletoe in the home dates back to the ancient Druids. They believed that mistletoe possessed mystical powers which bring good luck. They would hang it in their homes to ward off evil spirits.
In Norse mythology, mistletoe was seen as a symbol of love and friendship. This is quite possibly where kissing under the mistletoe comes from. If you found yourself with another person underneath the mistletoe, you were bound by mistletoe law to kiss and then each pluck a berry from the bow. Only after all the berries were picked did the kissing rule no longer apply.
The first Christians that came to Western Europe actually attempted to ban mistletoe as a decoration in churches. In other parts of the world one minister would hold special mistletoe services where wrong doers could be pardoned for their wrong doings.
Wedding Dresses
Originally weddings celebrated a union between two families, not two people. It was more a political statement than one of love. The bride represented her entire family. Her dress would represent the family’s wealth and social status. Brides coming from a wealthy family would wear big gowns in bold colours, decorated with lace and jewels. If you were poor or of a lesser social standard your dress would be plain and have less fabric. If you were very poor and of nearly no social standard, the bride would just wear her best church dress to the wedding.
The white wedding dress was only popularised in 1840 after Queen Victoria married Albert of Saxe-Coburg wearing a white dress. She picked white because she had come across some beautiful lace that she wanted to show off. After this, the people followed her lead and started wearing white wedding dresses.
It was only years after that the white dress became a symbol of the bride’s purity.
Clinking Glasses
Some of the theories behind why we “clink” and “cheers” glasses include the idea that the “clink” sound drove away evil spirits. Much like the ringing of church bells. It was also believed that when you bump glasses, wine would spill from one cup to the other. This would be proof that no drink was poisoned. These theories are most likely false. The origin of “clinking” glasses goes so far back that it is lost.
There is one theory that is seen as the most believable theory. Originally people would share one drinking vessel, usually a bowl, around the entire table. This was a form of trust that the drink was not poisoned. They would raise the vessel to celebrate coming together and it would then be passed around the table and each person would take a sip. Some say that now we “clink” glasses to unify individual drinkers and the tradition that everyone takes a sip right after the “clink” maintains a communal connection. Another theory is that the original “cheers” only pleased four out of the five senses, adding the “clink” allowed for sound as well.
This must be one of the easiest traditions to mess up since almost every person has a different superstition surrounding the “cheersing” of drinks.
Learning about the origins of these traditions has really made me look at certain events differently. It has also made me a lot less superstitious about certain things. Probably because the origin of the tradition is so very different to the way it is carried out now. I think we should all celebrate the way that makes us happiest, whether it means following tradition or not.
