Who is celebrating 40 years? Is it possible or not to celebrate a woman’s fortieth birthday?

There are some dates whose celebration is not encouraged, and the most famous of them is 40 years. Should you listen to the opinions of those around you or is it better to throw away prejudices and throw a grand celebration?

Men are not so dependent on the opinions of other people, but with the onset of a certain age, their perception of the world changes. They become receptive to following traditions in which celebrating a 40th birthday is undesirable. Such superstition used to have a practical basis. Several centuries ago, people's lives were much shorter, and after forty years any person was considered old. This more often affected men, since they were considered the main breadwinners and protectors of the family. Turning 40 brought them closer to the period of old age, to weakening health. Therefore, men had no desire to celebrate such a date.

Also, some dates in the history of the church with the number 40 were not the best. Even if a man is not a believer, he is afraid of celebrating the 40th anniversary of his life.

Another reason can be called the conventional milestone, which is the 40th anniversary. By this age, many men begin to comprehend their lives, their actions and mistakes. Often reflections are not consoling, and therefore there is no mood to celebrate such dates.

Why can't women celebrate their birthdays at 40?

Previously, the unspoken ban applied only to men, but with the advent of equality, women also adopted this tradition. Women's psychology is much more subtle and vulnerable than men's. Fear of misfortunes and troubles makes women miss this date and not celebrate it solemnly. Otherwise, after the celebration, the woman will always look for the consequences of the feast, and she will attribute the small failures that happened to her earlier precisely to her 40th birthday.

Church about celebrating its 40th anniversary. Orthodoxy's opinion

The Church denies the harm of abstaining from celebrating its fortieth anniversary. According to the priests, even a major celebration cannot offend heavenly powers, and therefore when making a decision you should not be guided by church history.

By the way, in this story you can find happy events with the number 40. King David, revered by the church, reigned for 40 years, which already indicates the positive impact of this number on people’s lives.

King Solomon built a temple whose width was 40 cubits, and using the number 40 did not make his life any worse.

Finally, the most famous part of the story, when Jesus spent another 40 days on earth after his resurrection, can be interpreted in completely different ways. These are not 40 days of sorrow, but 40 days of hope that he gave to everyone living on earth.

Is it possible to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Muslims? Islam's opinion

Islam gives greater independence to a person. The clergy note that celebrating 40 years is not a Muslim bad deed, if all Sharia norms regarding festive events, which, by the way, includes complete absence alcoholic drinks.

There is also an opinion that the expiration of a year of life should not in any way affect a person’s mood and is not a reason for either joy or sadness. Of the known dates in Islam regarding the number 40, one can note the age of Muhammad, who became a prophet at the age of 40.

What happens when you celebrate your 40th birthday?

Celebrating a fortieth birthday cannot lead to anything bad, but there are people who tend to correlate the events of their lives with their actions. Psychologists note that for such people, celebrating their 40th birthday can really be a disaster. A person initially programs himself for failures, which will certainly follow the fun. Every small failure will be perceived as a tragedy and punishment.

Even if no negative events follow the anniversary celebration, the susceptible person will still receive an imaginary punishment. Symptoms of diseases may appear, for example, headache or increased blood pressure, although this may only be due to age, lifestyle, or even be a consequence of stress. Such sensitive people are better off not celebrating their 40th birthday.

The fun will not be complete if you are constantly expecting some kind of punishment for it.

People do not turn to the services of psychologists so often and try to cope with all the problems themselves. However, it is the advice of psychologists that can greatly contribute to creating a festive mood on the 40th anniversary.

Experts advise find events in your life or the lives of other people with a positive connotation that relate to the number 40. If you remember carefully, such events will certainly come to mind. You can also try to divide the number 40 into its components - 4 and 0. These numbers are not threatening for most residents of European countries.

You can also remember yourself at the age of 4 and be touched by some of your childhood actions. You can then imagine your 40th birthday as a celebration of your 4th birthday, which has already been successfully completed 10 times. Finally, for many athletes and simply sports fans, the number 4 is the frequency Olympic Games who do not stop their march around the planet at the tenth circle.

Esotericists can give practical advice on how to get rid of negative consequences 40th anniversary celebrations. The celebration should not take place in someone else's place; you should invite guests to your home and refuse to go to a cafe or restaurant.

The energy of your home will become protection on this day. The recommendations of esotericists boil down to the fact that there is no need to celebrate the onset of the 40-year mark, however, their opinion can be decisive only for a limited circle of people.

How to celebrate 40 years if you can’t?

If people are prohibited from doing something, they want to find ways to get around this ban. This also applies to the celebration of the 40th anniversary. You can find a lot of ways to help get rid of the negative aura of this date.

You can celebrate the event on any other day. Birthdays often fall in the middle of the week, and in this case it is quite difficult to invite guests. Invite friends at the end of the week when the 40th anniversary has passed and all that's left to do is throw a celebration.

You can celebrate the date of the 40th anniversary without one day, then the official occasion could be seeing off the fourth decade. Getting ready at over 39 years old is so unusual.

Invite your friends to a party and have a celebration, but don’t talk about your 40th anniversary at the party itself, although everyone will understand and know the reason why they are gathered here. Such deception works perfectly, and then the 40-year mark will not seem gloomy and dangerous to the hero of the day and his guests.

If you decide to celebrate your 40th birthday— switch. . .

Find out -

Why do people celebrate significant dates? Probably because, thereby, they want to capture them in their memory and enjoy this event together with loved ones. In fact, there are not many significant dates in the life of every person, and their celebration makes life brighter. From this article you will learn Why can't we celebrate 40 years?, and what explanations exist for this taboo.

Anniversaries are special dates, celebrations that are not ignored even by those who try not to celebrate other dates and birthdays. Very often, people invest a lot of money in order to “have a walk”, as expected, and remember their anniversary for the rest of their lives (and so that their guests remember it too).

What to do in this case with anniversary date- 40 years? When the time approaches this date, even people who are not “caring” begin to doubt, ask their relatives and loved ones, and read about why many do not celebrate their 40th birthday.

When the day of your fortieth birthday comes, what is better to do: not remember about it at all; pretend that you forgot about the date; tell everyone around to forget; quietly, in secret from everyone, celebrate your birthday; throw a feast for the whole world?

Let's sort all this out, and let's start, perhaps, with superstitions. By the way, many people who claim that they are not superstitious actually worry about superstitions themselves more than those who admit to their superstitions.

Many argue that the ban on celebrating the fortieth anniversary is an exceptional and baseless superstition that should not be paid any attention to, but any prejudices have their own history and their “roots,” let’s find out where this kind of taboo came from.

Numerology and mysticism

Since ancient times, the number 4 was significant for the Pythagoreans. They were confident that the number in question was a manifestation of:

static
integrity

If we talk about the number 40, then it is a quaternary with a zero, which, in turn, symbolizes:

completeness
divine emptiness

Many who believe that the fortieth anniversary is not a date for a holiday argue their vision with this particular theory that the combination of the number 4 and 0 is a very unfavorable date, because the completion of this number can be equated to the end of life, and by celebrating the date in question, we thereby, involuntarily, as if we are inviting our demise.

Residents of Asia (most of them superstitious people), in turn, are confident that the number 4 (as an independent number or in combination with any other number) brings nothing but misfortunes and troubles. The number is considered fatal in everything and for everyone, which is why they try to avoid celebrating dates and generally combining numbers with four:

44, etc.

You can also project a similar situation onto Tarot cards. There is a death card in the deck, which, as you yourself understand, essentially cannot portend anything good. Interpretation of this card:

cemetery
death
complete destruction
black

The letter M, which is located on this map, in the Jewish alphabet has the designation of the number forty, which suggests that this number means death.

In some tribes from Africa, it is still forbidden to celebrate the date in question. Life expectancy in such tribes most often does not exceed 40 years. If we talk about this fact with scientific point vision (objective), then we can say that such a short life expectancy in African tribes not because they cannot survive the fatal number 40, but because:

living conditions are disgusting
hygiene is zero
medicine - absent

Based on this, 40 years in such conditions is not too short a period. We can say that these few points explain the high mortality rate at the age of forty more logically than the mystification of this combination of numbers.

Astrology and the number 40

Enough a large number of Astrologers believe that the age of forty is a certain crisis point in the life of every person. This is explained by the fact that from 38 to 41 years of age a person is most influenced by Uranus, and during this period he becomes “opposition” to the position of the natal chart.

The state of affairs under consideration most often leads to sharp turns of fate and serious changes. It is worth noting that this applies to all areas of human activity:

Job
family
love, etc.

In addition to Uranus, after turning 39 years old, Pluto also begins to have an unfavorable influence. IN in this case the result of such influence is often the sudden and rapid development of various types of diseases, etc.

Believe it or not, the square of Neptune to Neptune also occurs in the fortieth year of a person’s life, and as you yourself have already understood, there is nothing positive about this. At this moment, the person is completely confused and does not know what choice to make (and, in this case, vital important questions become an edge).

One of famous astrologers, drawing up a map of Jesus himself, states that the crucifixion occurred precisely in the fortieth year of His life.

It is for all of the above reasons that astrologers are of the opinion that the celebration of the date in question should be very quiet and calm, so that this stage of the crisis passes without any special jumps and “explosions.”

Whether to believe in this or not is a matter for everyone personally, but it is worth noting that a person is such a sentient being, which can easily reduce millions of facts, not just to one date, but to one number.

Why you can’t celebrate 40 years - the opinion of the church

In Orthodoxy, the reasons why 40 years are not celebrated are enough. This figure is associated with various troubles and sorrows:

the great flood (described in the Bible) lasted 40 days
that is how many years Moses led Christians through the desert
Jesus Christ spent the same number of days in the desert after he was baptized
For a very long time, the sanctity of relics was determined on the fortieth day after death
also on the 40th day after death, the soul stands before the court (the day when the fate of the soul is decided)

As can be seen from the facts listed above, the number 40 is not a positive number. In addition, some are sure that it is at the age of 40 that a person’s guardian angel, who until that moment has always protected him, leaves a person, and therefore this date should not be celebrated, so as not to incriminate himself early death or serious problems.

In paganism, it was said that at the age of 40, biorhythms begin to change categorically, which makes it very easy at this time:

jinx a person
bewitch
damage
in general, interfere with his fate

It is this reason that is cited as an argument by some of those who refuse to celebrate their fortieth birthday. So that people cannot “wish” harm and troubles on a person, it is better to celebrate this date in a narrow family circle, without celebration and loud congratulations.

If we talk about pagan superstitions, then in this case we were talking exclusively about men, because a woman, in their opinion, is a soulless creature.

It turns out that the number 40 occurs very often in significant events for the whole world ( christian religion), only on the number 9, which is also no less common (let’s take, for example, the ninth day after the death of a person), no one pays special attention (according to for unknown reasons) does not pay.

Historical facts

Some facts about the reluctance or prohibition of celebrating the fortieth name day:

In ancient times, when people extremely rarely lived to be 45-50 years old, it was believed that 40 years was an old age, and celebrating this date meant reminding yourself that life would end very soon, so no one would draw attention to this wanted.
The age in question (for quite a long time) was considered the age of rethinking one’s life, that it is at this age that the soul moves to a new stage of life, and a person must be left alone with his thoughts and with the rethinking of everything that happened to him.
Many people believe that something bad is bound to happen to a person on their fortieth birthday, which is why a taboo on celebrating this day can reduce the likelihood of a global disaster occurring. And if someone decides to give you a gift on this day, he wishes you harm (and no one takes into account that maybe the person just wanted to please you).

Why don't they celebrate a man's 40th birthday?

For unknown reasons, many people are sure that a man should not celebrate his fortieth birthday. Somebody says that formerly a woman In general, it was not taken into account in any matters, and was only a “way” of procreation, which is why there is no ban on celebrating a woman’s fortieth birthday.

Having conducted a social survey on why a man should not celebrate the date in question, the opinions were so contradictory and different that it is not clear at all whether the person knows about the reasons (at least speculative) for such a ban:

The Church prohibits it. Ask any clergyman or parishioner, no one will confirm the information that the church prohibits celebrating 40 years.
An accident will happen. This is argued by the fact that someone’s wife left him on that day, someone had an accident on the day of celebrating their fortieth birthday. No one thinks that all this could have happened on any other day.
This is the sign. No one knows what this sign sounds like, but someone, somewhere, once heard that it is not allowed.
40 – bad number and it doesn't bode well. Then let's remember about the number 6, because it creates more fear than the number 40, but no one cancels the sixth birthday, sixteenth birthday, etc.

If it weren’t for the surrounding women, probably the men would not have known about these signs, and with a calm soul they would have invited their friends and celebrated this holiday as it should be.

Why don't women celebrate their 40th birthday?

Women are very superstitious people, believing in omens and other things that defy logic, so it is not at all surprising that most of them forbid their men to celebrate this date, and they themselves avoid feasting on their fortieth birthday. When they are asked the question: “Why don’t you celebrate your anniversary?”, the answer does not require arguments - “Are you saying that under no circumstances should you!” Further, it’s not worth asking why it’s not possible.

Logically, after looking at the entire chronology of events, one can notice that the superstition in question applied specifically to men, but women cannot help but “pull the blanket over themselves,” so they began to apply this superstition to their own account.

The only reason why a woman does not celebrate her anniversary is self-hypnosis and attitude. Many people are sure that something bad will happen on this day: you can end up in the hospital, die, get divorced, etc. - so, you need to avoid feasts.

For some reason, no one thinks that our brain and our whole life are like a computer that can be programmed, and if you expect something bad, believe me, it will definitely happen.

There is no need to rush from side to side, wondering whether to celebrate this date or not:

if you're afraid, don't celebrate
If you don’t believe me, throw a feast for the whole world!

Put aside all prejudices, if you have a desire to celebrate the milestone anniversary of your life and there are those who can rejoice with you - then you should not doubt and believe in unreasoned and completely unfounded signs, superstitions and other things (which, among other things, , the church does not recognize).

Video: “Signs - why you can’t celebrate 40 years?”

We often hear that celebrating a fortieth birthday is a bad omen. But you won’t hear any sensible explanations why you shouldn’t organize a holiday on this occasion. You can find a lot on the Internet different stories from life ordinary people who encountered this superstition. On forums, people write that after celebrating their 40th anniversary, minor troubles happened to them, but there are also those who did not notice any changes in their lives after the celebration. So how can one explain the massive reluctance to celebrate this particular date?

Why you can’t celebrate 40 years: facts and speculation

It is quite possible that these prejudices have to do with the number “forty” itself. The mentioned value can often be stumbled upon in Holy Scripture, and not very good events are associated with it:

The Great Flood lasted not a week or a month, but precisely forty days;
Moses, losing what was left of his patience, led his constantly dissatisfied people through the desert for forty years;
Jesus stayed in the same deserted places for forty days after his baptism;
We should not forget that a deceased person is remembered for the last time on the fortieth day, and his soul finally leaves this world;
It is customary to show newborns to strangers only forty days after birth; otherwise the child may be jinxed.

Orthodox churches have always belonged to folk superstitions negatively, because Orthodox canons It is considered a sin to believe in omens. The priests consider the belief that it is impossible to celebrate the fortieth anniversary to be completely absurd.

Among our ancestors, the tradition of not celebrating the fortieth anniversary appeared next reason: The average human life expectancy used to be lower than it is today. And at forty years old a person was already considered old. And medicine was not at such a high level as it is now. Therefore, celebrating the fortieth anniversary at that time was practically a greeting of the imminent approach of death.

According to one belief: at the age of forty a person is abandoned by his guardian angel. Interestingly, only men previously refused to celebrate this date. But recently, women do not want to risk their health, and maybe even their lives.

Is it possible to celebrate a birthday at 40?

If you want to celebrate this day, but are afraid of negative consequences, then there are some tips on how you can get around superstition:

you can arrange a holiday for such an occasion, but celebrate not the fortieth anniversary, but, say, forty years and one day;
One can mark the passing of thirty-nine years in the same way.

No one is stopping you from imagining a little and organizing a great celebration. It is advisable to invite only relatives and friends to the celebration - no employees, business partners, girlfriends or friends. Only relatives will wish the birthday boy all the best and ask for blessings for him.

Remember that superstitions tend to come true only if you believe in them yourself!

Why you can’t celebrate 40 years: video

Why aren't men and women celebrating 40 years?

The opinion that it is impossible to celebrate 40 years is widespread and has acquired a huge number of stories. Their essence boils down to one statement - those who celebrated their fortieth anniversary suffered.

The idea of why one should not celebrate a fortieth birthday is due to a number of reasons:

In ancient times, the average age of people was 38–40 years. Those who lived up to this time were considered very old.
In many Eastern cultures, the number 4 symbolizes imminent death or misfortune. Therefore, companies do not use it in advertising their products.
Numerologists say that the number 40 means imminent death.
Astrologers believe that at the age of 40 Negative influence Uranus influences a person’s destiny.
There is an idea that at the age of 40 a person’s guardian angel leaves, because he has learned the wisdom of life.

If we ignore superstitions and unverified ideas, we can find out why it is not customary for men and women to celebrate their 40th anniversary:

By the age of 40, women's biorhythms change, gray hair and wrinkles appear.
By the age of 40, a woman feels the first signs of menopause, which comes with poor health, stress and depression.
By the age of forty, a man begins to think about the things that he did not have time to do in life.
Like a woman, a man's 40 years is another mention of approaching old age.

None rational explanations and superstitions do not cancel out human optimism and the desire to celebrate overcoming the next milestone in life. Therefore, there are many tips on how to celebrate your fortieth birthday without problems:

Celebrate the years that have passed, not the coming of a new one.
Ask your guests to congratulate you not on turning 40, but on overcoming the 39-year mark.
Celebrate so that guests do not mention your age in any way.
Invite only close people.
Move the celebration to the day after your birthday. So bad omens won't work.
Find another holiday on the calendar and throw a themed party.

Why they don’t celebrate 40 years: the opinion of the church

There are many references to the number 40 in the Bible:

global flood lasted 40 days and nights.
At the age of 40, Isaac married Rebekah.
The Jews wandered for 40 years in the desert.
Prophet Moses communicated with God for 40 days and nights on Mount Sinai. He lived for 3 fortieth birthday - 120 years.
The reigns of David and Solomon lasted 40 years each.
The last part of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem was 40 cubits wide.
Goliath demanded that the Jews fight him for 40 days.
The inhabitants of Nineveh were given 40 days to repent.
Jesus prayed for 40 days in the Judean desert alone.
He walked the earth for 40 days after the Resurrection.
After the birth of a baby, a woman’s body is cleansed for 40 days.
After death, the soul wanders for 40 days before finding peace.

Thus, the church believes that 40 is a number that reflects perfect completeness, and considers all ideas that one should not celebrate 40 years to be ordinary superstitions that came from paganism.

Whether to celebrate 40 years or not is everyone’s personal choice. One only has to think about what has been achieved by this age and whether these achievements are worthy of celebration.

Have you always celebrated birthdays? fun company family and friends, but will you have to “miss” your 40th birthday? This is what many anniversaries do who have crossed their fourth decade, guided by common signs among us. Where do these frightening prejudices “grow legs” from, since so many people do not celebrate their 40th birthday and do not advise others to do so?

The site's editors have collected 7 reasons that explain the ban, and you are left to draw your own conclusions - believe it or not.

BIBLE BACKGROUND

In our country, it is customary to look for the truth of the ban on celebrating the 40th anniversary in the “negative” biblical chronology associated with the number 40:

For 40 days Jesus was in the desert, where he was tempted by the devil;

The Flood lasted 40 days;
. The human soul remains on earth for 40 days after death;
. 40 years Jewish people wandered through the desert.
By the way, 40 days after the birth of a child, a young mother is considered “unclean” and has no right to go to church.

GUARDIAN ANGEL “RETIRES”

According to one of the beliefs, which is very popular, it is at the 40th birthday that a person’s guardian angel retreats from him, leaving him without the highest protection.

TAROT CARD WARNING

Some people who believe in esotericism find confirmation of why one should not celebrate a 40th birthday in numerology and Tarot cards. IN oriental magic 40 is the number of death. More precisely, not 40, but 4.

However, according to the laws of numerology, these are one and the same: 4 + 0 = 4. In the Tarot, the main Arcanum “Death” has the letter “M”, and the letter “Mem” of the Hebrew alphabet exactly corresponds to the number 40.

NEGATIVE IN ASIAN

Residents of East and Central Asia consider the “four” to be a number that brings evil, misfortune and death. Therefore, this number is absent in the designation of floors, apartments, hospital wards, television channels and names of equipment.

COMBINATION OF SOR AND ROCK

Those who do not believe in the magic of numbers see the negative in the fact that the literal equivalent of the number “40” is made up of two words “litter” and “rock”. This combination can be understood as rubbish (impurity and fate) - fate, inevitability, outcome.

ON A PLANETARY SCALE

A number of astrologers consider the 40-year mark a crisis, since from 39 to 43 people are under the heavy “patronage” of the planet Uranus, which at this stage becomes in opposition to itself natal chart (astrological chart birth of a person).

This position of Uranus leads to sudden and major changes in life - from a change of place of residence, work, to a serious revaluation of values, bankruptcy, crises and illnesses. During this period, Pluto also works on the “hand” of Uranus, bringing tossing, panic and confusion of life guidelines into the crisis.

MEMORY OF ANCESTORS

The ban on celebrating the 40th anniversary may also be due to the fact that the life expectancy of our ancestors was very short. Anyone who lived to the age of 40 was already considered a very old man: his teeth and hair fell out, his face was covered with “kilometers” of wrinkles, his body was “occupied” by diseases that the exhausted 40-year-old body could hardly cope with.

TO BELIEVE OR NOT?It's up to you to decide. By Christian faith any superstitions and signs are a whim, and believing in them is a sin. And if you analyze all the frightening events associated with the number 40, it turns out that after a test a new, better life always comes...

AND FURTHER: There are several ideas for celebrating your 40th birthday if you believe in omens and are afraid to celebrate this controversial date:
. to celebrate not the onset of 40, but farewell to the 39th anniversary;
. celebrate 40 years and 1 day;
. throw a 40th birthday party camouflaged as... New Year