Celebrate Teeth

Yesterday, our family and the two volunteers helping us went to a cultural celebration for my language teacher's grandbaby. It was a celebration of baby's upper front teeth breaking through. I'll just tell you what we saw and then maybe I can give a brief explanation from what I found on the internet.

The party was small and laid-back. When it was time, the parents and grandparents propped up the 8-month-old baby on the floor with a blanket underneath. They covered the baby with a sheer cloth (I think it was like a decorative tablecloth or a big square scarf) and one grandmother poured what looked like cooked and cooled barley over the baby's head. They smiled and clapped and then quickly cleaned it up. A few minutes later, they brought in a tray full of toys and objects and spread them in front of the baby. We watched with anticipation which object the baby will pick up. It turned out to be an antique camera. Everyone cheered, laughed, and chattered. Afterwards, they brought out food for everyone to eat and the main traditional dish was barley (or whole wheat?) with chickpeas and some candy that looked like jelly beans.

Does that make any sense?

It is believed (and I think it may possibly just be tradition now, not belief) that if this ceremony isn't held when the baby gets its first tooth, the baby will have a tough time teething. The ceremony is to bless the baby with good health and fortune.

So, why wheat? Wheat is significant in this ceremony and especially in Turkish culture overall because bread is such a basic, vital food for survival.  Hence the word "breadwinner." Bread is an enormous part of the diet here and imagine their horror and looks of sympathy when I tell folks here that I cannot eat wheat. It's not just that they love bread and are accustomed to bread being part of every single meal of the day; I think it would kill a Turk not to be able to eat bread as it's part of their identity, culture, and heritage.  Anyway, wheat symbolizes life because they believe wheat was the first food to be processed into food and it helped human life to flourish. Thus, wheat is important for survival just as teeth are important for eating and survival. Teeth helps a human to flourish; wheat helps human life to flourish. Wheat has a lot of symbolism like fertility, love, charity, etc. I think it may also play a role in wedding ceremonies here.

As for the objects on the tray for the baby to pick from, they represent different occupations that the baby might grow up to work in. A plane might represent pilot, camera a photographer, toy piano a musician, scissors a tailor, phone a secretary, toy computer a programmer, ruler an engineer, etc. Yesterday, the father was especially pleased his baby picked the antique camera. I was told photography was an enthusiasm of his.

The traditional food served to guests usually have wheat in it (whole, hulled wheat, pastries, cake, etc) and if everyone eats a helping from each dish, it'll help the baby's teeth to grow strong. I didn't eat the wheat dishes but I think the baby's teeth will be okay regardless.