Anniversary is a date that is observed on an annual basis as it is the same date as an important event in a past year. For example, an event occurred, after a year later would be the first anniversary of the event. It is also referred as a commemoration or celebration marking the date of an important event. The Roman Catholic Church was the first to use the term to celebrate feasts to commemorate saints, but ritualized celebration of a date of some past event has been practiced by other religion and culture long before the advent of the Catholic Church. For example, celebrating the date of birth is a pagan tradition, early Christians considered it evil hence never celebrate it.
How Did the Tradition Start
From the Latin phrase, dies natalis, in which the word dies, means day and natalis means birth, hence a literal translation is day birth or birthday. Such annual celebration has been adopted by different institutions, from the anniversary of the founding of an academic institution, alma mater, to official founding of a legion. Latin-derived terms have been used for anniversaries, please see list below.
Anniversaries like birthday, wedding and death anniversary may have shared an origin story. And just like a birthday celebration, its beginning remains a tad bit uncertain. The consensus of best hypotheses on such celebration, it is probable that it has been started by the Egyptians, with the celebration of Pharaohs’ coronation, transitional event from mortal to a god, thus birth of a god. In Genesis 40:20 (NIV) such celebration has been mentioned. Then the Greeks, most likely took celebration of the birth of the god from the Egyptian, also celebrated their gods and goddesses. Though the Romans were the first to celebrate birthdays of non-religious figures yet they only celebrate birthdays of famous people ergo creating a public holiday, bringing the celebration from small personal feast to the communal pageantry and festivals.
Significance of Celebrating
The ritualistic celebrations of past event are important part of human life, society and history. This reminds us of important events, both at personal and cultural level. It provides a chance to reflect on our personal relationships, and our cultural identity. However, sometimes identities we draw from these rituals can be superficial and can rule over us, leading to conflicts. Remembering the past can be important part of understanding who we are as a person, a society and a species, with deeper understanding can help us change for the better.
This month of August is the blog’s, In Our Homes…Sweet Home, second-take anniversary. The first blog post had been in 2009, however, the effort to post on a regular basis with an organized set of topics was in August of last year, 2017, and that is much worthy to be celebrated. So far, this personal endeavor to learn, write, share and cringe about something every week has been a catalyst to look and move forward in making own meaning and dreams in one's life, no fate or faith required.
To reader/s (Imaginary? Because I rarely see comment or follow. LOL) my deepest gratitude. Please let me know what you think, post your comments, likes, dislikes, favorite dish and color, suggestions, violent reactions, and especially corrections. Please help me create better content. And do not forget to follow this blog. One more time, thank you.
Happy Anniversary to us, readers!
As always enjoy your anniversary!
References
1. The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2013). In Encyclopædia Britannica online. [Website]. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com
2. DeRusha, J. (2011, January 24). Good Question: How Did Birthday Traditions Starts. [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/01/24/good-question-how-did-birthday-traditions-start/
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