He blinks then a hand meets his forehead. "Sorry. I'm a dumb ass. I misheard what you said. Uh. On my world each year is usually celebrated with family members because it's a way of sharing the joy over who you're growing up to be. Then as one gets older it tends to be more of a celebration of who you are and that'll start to inculde people who have become close to you during your life time."
"... why would you specifically pick the day when you were spawned to celebrate it, though? I attempt to celebrate 'who I am' and 'who I am growing up to be' every day, rather than selecting one specific day." Caleb has always found birthdays to be quite arbitrary - don't even get him started on the stupid zodiac crap he's heard about.
"Well, alot of it is a history thing. Sometimes children died young. So each year of life they lived was a joyous occasion. But not all familes could afford to celebrate it with the pomp that we do nower days." That makes him feel no guilt at all. "And it is odd I admit but it is when you pass the stages in your life in which you might have died but you didn't..I think it's a throw back to when parents were lucky if their children survived until adulthood."
Caleb will need to think about this. He comes from a society where the only way children die is because of combat - which happens far more often than one might think. "Hm. That seems to make some sense, but why the gift-giving then? 'Congratulations for not dying another year'?" He laughs a little bit at his own joke, but only for a moment.
"Mmmm. Not so much that. In olden days some gifts were given representing 'good luck'. Like a charm to ward off bad luck that might follow a child. Of course it has changed. Over time gifts meant to give good luck changed to other gifts. Like toys, books, and clothes." Ha. Patrick is using his very odd knowledge and education to explain things! This is almost weird to him but not quite.
"But that does not really make any sense - I mean, luck is rather arbitrary, and there is nothing one can do to ward it off..." Caleb trails off after a bit - he understands the sentiment of 'good luck', but charms and crap? He knows most places don't have magic, so...
"True we know that. But back then people were pretty superstious. And on my world we do belive in magic. Luck isn't as big a deal but there are ways to tip probabilities in ones favor." He'll lean on some random light post. "But not all worlds have magic. I do understand that people like wandering away evils and ill intent but reciving gifts on birthdays is common amung alot of people were I come from on their birthday. I think the point now is that the gift givers wish to show they care so they try to find something their loved one would need or desire."
This makes him want to research the origins of birthday gifts more on his Earth. He's just trying to interpit the information he has at hand.
"Actual magic, or just 'magic'? There is a difference, you know." Why yes, he is using air quotations. He's picked up on things here and there. "The idea of giving something the person would like makes far more sense, though it seems to me it would show more care to do it unexpectedly."
"Actual magic." He chuckles warmly. "I'm uh, a Wizard...in training." That causes him to just blush. "Most folks don't find out if they have the potential for learning how to use magic that we have to seek out our own teachers or learn ourselves." That has him nod. "Yeah. My Father would do that sometimes. For birthdays he tends to go for practical things he would have gotten for my brother or I anyways then let my other realitives I don't see as often know what I might like to have."
That gets an ammused snort. "Cultural differences are pretty interesting. Aren't they?"
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This makes him want to research the origins of birthday gifts more on his Earth. He's just trying to interpit the information he has at hand.
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That gets an ammused snort. "Cultural differences are pretty interesting. Aren't they?"
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