Counting Candles

Soon, my Dad will be celebrating his birthday, and whenever someone has a birthday, we have many decorations to think about. Should we put up streamers? balloons? banners? And of course we always have a birthday cake to decorate. However, have you ever stopped to wonder where some of our traditions originated? Well, today I am going to give you a tid-bit of information on the tradition of birthday cake candles.

It turns out this tradition goes back many years. After checking with multiple sources, I discovered the tradition of candles on cake dates back to Ancient Greece. Whenever the people decided to honor the Greek goddess Artemis, goddess of the hunt, they would place candles on a round cake to symbolize the moon shining. The smoke of the candles was supposed to carry up their prayers to her. Of course, we don't believe in the Greek gods and goddesses; however, this tradition was not for birthdays anyways. Fast forward to the Germanic people of the 1700's, as they celebrated their childrens' growth in Kinderfest. This birthday celebration had as a notable feature a cake bearing the "light of life," which were as many candles as the child's age, plus extra to symbolize long life. So, there you go. There are two possible origins to our tradition of birthday cake candles. I hope you enjoyed this information post and feel free to leave a comment here or on Facebook.