[Avodah] Don't Blow Out the Candles and Make a Wish

[Moshe Y. Gluck]

R' YL:
The following is an excerpt from the article "Segulot, Superstitions, &
Darchei Emori" that appears on pages 63 - 75 of the Fall 2007 (Number LIV)
issue of The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society.

Finally, we have the truly pagan superstitions. The classic example of this
is blowing out candles at a birthday party and making a wish. To fully
appreciate this we must consider the source of this custom.

In Greek times, people on their birthday would try to find favor in the eyes
of the moon goddess, Artemis. [49]  In an attempt to do so, they would make
round cakes (to symbolize the full moon) and light candles on top (to
symbolize the light of the moon.) They would then ask the moon goddess to
grant their requests.

ln light of that, telling the birthday boy or girl to blow out the candles
and "make a wish" seems problematic. 
<SNIP>



Can something like this be Assur when the original meaning of the action has
been lost over the years? I would think that it becomes an action
independent of previous connotations. For arguments sake, assume the
opposite: In Greek times, people blew Birthday candles out because they
would attract flies, spoiling the atmosphere of the moment (a purely
practical, and thus permitted, action). Today, people blow out candles
because of the Buddhist belief in reincarnation - blowing out the candles
releases the trapped souls of one's ancestors from their karmic purgatory.
In such a case, the action should clearly be prohibited, although it was
originally intended for an innocuous purpose.

I was at the florist this Erev Shabbos, and noticed one of the florists
making a flower arrangement in a cornucopia. I wondered if she knew about
the mythological connection to Zeus (see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornucopia) - she did not. Would the author of
the above article have prohibited that flower arrangement?

KT,
MYG