Magens Bay --San Thomas

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Where did 'Make a Wish' Tradition Come From?

Have fun so far? If not, Make a Wish! --the third BlogFest's topic of the month by Tree Girly - http://treegirly.com/2012/10/03/make-a-wish-2/

 

Struck by the BlogFEST topic of the day, sitting here thinking about what wish would I want. Then this little mind of mine wondered off and thinking where this 'Make a wish' tradition came from. 

Have you asked yourself why would someone whisper a wish when they blow those birthday candles? Why would we throw coins into the wishing wells or ponds?

Now that you have asked ... blowing candles then make a wish was originated in the ancient Greek cultures where the Greeks baked a cake for the Artemis, the goddess of the moon and they believed the smoke would bring their wishes to the goddess. The tradition was also seen in Europe where candles were lit through out the night represented the birthday person's life and it was believed to ward off some evil spirits especially for the children who tend to be more vulnerable. Interesting so far?

How about the wishing wells? No one knows how the tradition was passed down but the historians found an ancient well that was used to make offerings to the Roman Britain and Celtic goddess Coventina, in the northeastern tip of England where it was filled with 16,000 coins ranging from the first and fifth centuries. Now you know ...

Wishing your dreams come true ...


Until next time,
Journey of Life

19 comments:

  1. wow..interesting stories of the origin of wishing wells and candles. I wish I could find a well filled with coins z;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have always loved the idea of wishing wells. It's a little like praying with a bribe!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well...I learned some new facts today! Awesome! :D

    I'll remember those when my birthday next comes around...I always have cake!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very interesting facts! I always learn something new when I visit you. I love the idea of wishing wells and always hope my wishes come true!! Great blog. :D

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very interesting. I feel so enlightened now!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like how you went about answering the post; I never thought about the origins of wishing wells and blowing out candles. That's really cool!

    ReplyDelete
  7. A very cool approach to today's topic!! I love a little bit of history to enlighten my day!

    ReplyDelete
  8. wow - that is very interesting... I always did wonder.. thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Very interesting! never knew wishing wells had so much history. Thanks for writing this.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is wonderful!! I didn't know the origins of either. I love how you did this prompt. Very creative.

    ReplyDelete