Agra Hadig

Agra Hadig or Atam Hatik is a ceremony in Armenian culture commemorating the first tooth coming in of a newborn baby. In the ceremony, the young baby is set before several symbolic items relating to different professional vocations. Whichever item the child first selects is meant to indicate what profession the child will likely gravitate towards as they grow up. Traditionally, the mother next sprinkles wheat over the child to wish for fruitfulness. The combination is meant to represent the spiritual connection between Agra (teeth) and Hadig (wheat).[1][2]

The tradition is said to go back several hundred years but is most recently documented in the 19th century, originally as a divination to predict the gender of the child's next sibling. Under Soviet rule and the eventual Armenian diaspora the tradition changed to predicting the profession of the child in adult life.[1][2]

References
  1. Rousseau, Bryant; In Armenia, ‘What Do You Want to Be?’ Is Asked in Infancy; The New York Times; March 12, 2017; https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/12/world/europe/armenia-atam-hatik-agra-hadig.html
  2. Dresser, Norine; A Tiny Fortune Teller; LA Times; October 2, 1999; http://articles.latimes.com/1999/oct/02/local/me-17847
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