Why do we blow out birthday candles?
Putting candles on birthday cakes is a tradition that has been around for a long, long time. The candle is symbolic in nature, carried on through the centuries as tradition.
About 200 years ago, cutting a cake during a birthday party began in Germany. As Germans were skilled at candle-making, they started putting tiny candles around the cake and a big candle, representing the light of life, in the centre.
The tradition of blowing them out also began around then, partly out of superstition and partly for fun. The birthday person is supposed to make a wish, and if blown out in a single puff, the smoke would carry the wish heavenwards, and the gods would grant the wish.
The otrher believes it dates back to Ancient Greece, where putting candles on a cake was a special way to pay tribute to the Greek moon goddess, Artemis. A single candle was used to symbolize the “glow of the moon.”
So… don‘t forget to put one big candle in the centre of cake – the light of your life!
Leave a Reply