How We Celebrate Birthdays
We do not celebrate physical age. We celebrate spiritual age—which is manifested through spiritual knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, accomplished by studying the Bible and other sacred text and our spiritual teaching series.
The day we came into this world is not celebrated the way the world celebrates it. We do not celebrate birthdays in the worldly way, for several reasons (we won’t go into all of them here). One of the key reasons is that worldly birthday celebrations focus only on the individual—on self, rather than on the individual’s role in uplifting others and the community. It is not centered on personal or collective productivity; instead, it becomes all about self, self, self.
There is much more depth to this "birthday thing" than meets the natural eye. This platform is not the space for the full, deeper teaching on that topic—but as you continue to study, your eyes will be opened.
A Deeper Look at the Candle Ritual
Take, for example, the common practice of lighting candles to represent one's age—and then blowing the candles out. You are supposed to be the light of the world, yet every year, darkness is symbolically allowed to steal from you. You, yourself, blow out your light.
It looks simple, but it's deeper than it appears—and spiritually, it is destructive. This is something we’ve been tricked into doing.
Now, I know some will say, "Oh wow, I get it. So now I’ll do my birthday without blowing out candles."
But even the act of celebrating your physical birth into this earth—with or without candles—still ties you to negative destructive cycles.
Have you ever found yourself doing the same thing over and over, wanting to stop, but unable to?
Birthday celebrations, as the world does them, play a major role in keeping people trapped in negative cycles.
Our Approach to Birthdays
The world’s way of celebrating birthdays is centered on the phrase:
“Look at me, everybody! Happy birthday to me!”
But our way is different. We ask:
“What must I do this year for myself so I can do my part with my spiritual family, so we can rise higher—together?”
It’s about:
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Inner reflection
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Renewing spiritual training and teachings
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Acknowledging your worth with humility
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Not boasting or showing off, but embracing who you are through quiet contemplation.
Becoming the Gift
Since we were created to help others, we recognize that we ourselves are the gift of help.
So symbolically, we give gifts to others on our birthdays.
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We pray for others.
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We ask the Spirit for the most important gift that is spiritual gifts for those we are led to bless
We do not accept physical gifts for ourselves.
We are the givers.
And because what we have is not truly ours—it all belongs to the Creator—we must be careful that even physical gifts are not given from our personal desires. We wait for Spirit-led instruction on what to give, and to whom.
Community Birthday
We do however, have a community birthday, where we all celebrate our new birth in the 1st month of the year.
This is not the world’s first month. It is Yah’s first month—the month of Abib.
And yes along with praying for spiritual gifts for our spiritual brothers and sisters, we can give physical gifts to others of our group, to members, especially to newer members that are not yet established in making a living in their gifting. We can give physical gifts, gifts to help them along in their spiritual purpose. For example, if we know a member is a talented seamstress or tailor and they need a sewing machine, we can give them a sewing machine and anything else they need to help them work in their purpose. However, we must be sure that whatever we give, we get instructed by the Most High to do so.
Do Your Research
We encourage you to research for yourself the origins of birthday celebrations. You’ll be surprised at what you discover.