The birth of a new person is a kind of sacrament. And since ancient times, people have especially celebrated this significant event, performing ritual actions and special ceremonies.
The miracle of birth caused not only joy, but also fear, since people believed that at the moment of birth, the gates between the other world and this world were opened, and therefore it was necessary to protect, first of all, the mother and child from the wiles of evil spirits so that they could not harm their health and well-being.
For example, in ancient Russia, the time of the onset of labor was hidden until the last - they were afraid of the evil eye, and the midwife was led to the woman in labor in roundabout ways and gardens, so that God forbid someone would not see. The name of the newborn was supposed to be given on the same day, and the day of baptism was immediately appointed.
Unbaptized children were treated with caution, they could not be kissed, talked to, or put clothes on them (unbaptized babies were only wrapped in swaddling clothes). Moreover, in some Russian villages, the mother did not have the right to refer to her baby by name until the baptismal ceremony was performed.
In fact, such children were considered some kind of asexual creatures who were not even considered family members. Interestingly, a six-year-old child or even a very old person could become the godfather or mother of a baby, however, this did not happen often.
Forty days were considered a particularly important period for the newborn and his mother. It was believed that at this time the child was especially defenseless against otherworldly forces, and therefore amulets and amulets were hung over his cradle, and it was undesirable for the mother to leave the house or go outside the yard - she had to be near the baby all the time.
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At the birth of the heir, the inhabitants of Altai did not give fire to anyone from their yurt for the same forty days, and sometimes for a year. It was believed that this is necessary for the happiness of the child. In general, many peoples did not welcome it when strangers came into the house of the puerpera. Among the Greeks, on the doors of the house where the child was just born, they hung special "identification" signs: a wreath of olive twigs meant that a boy was born, and a headband made of sheep's wool said that a girl was born. Entering such a house was like desecrating it.
During childbirth, special attention was paid to the process of cutting the umbilical cord. For example, in order for a boy to become strong and healthy, the Chuvash cut off the baby's umbilical cord on purely male tools, and for girls on female tools - a spindle, a spinning wheel. Among Muslims, if the parents wanted to see their son as a warrior, the child's umbilical cord was cut off with a sword, and if he was told the path of a scientist or sage, then with a kalam (writing instrument).
Special ceremonies that help a child grow up healthy and strong, to put it mildly, are sometimes quite peculiar. For example, in the Indian state of Maharashta, Muslims throw newborn babies from the wall of one of the temples, the height is a mere trifle. Some 15 meters. Of course, children are caught below on the stretched fabric. It is believed that after this procedure, all children will grow up brave, healthy and they will be lucky.
In order to prevent the evil spirits from taking possession of the soul of the baby, they tried in every possible way to confuse and deceive. In Chuvashia, the baby's parents tried to show otherworldly forces that this child was not theirs, and that he was simply found or “bought”. For this, a small performance was played in which the midwife secretly carried the child out of the house, and then handed it to the parents through the window and offered to buy it. Sometimes the spirits were "shown" that the baby was found in water or even in the trash. For this purpose, the baby was placed in a bucket, and the midwife went “for water”.
Approaching a well (river, lake), she touched the bottom of a bucket of water, and then came back, and offered her parents to buy her "find", which they did for a certain fee. Trying to confuse the evil spirits, children were given names that did not correspond to their gender, boys - female names and vice versa. Or they even gave the names of birds, animals or inanimate objects. Often the child had two names, one was known to everyone, and the second - only to close people. This custom still takes place in some places.
As for the birthday holiday, different peoples celebrate it in different ways, and if the inhabitants of Europe celebrate this date every year, then many Muslims from Africa and Asia have the opportunity to celebrate their birthday only twice in their lives: actually at birth and at the age of a prophet, that is, at 62 years old.