Life begins at forty ...
That's why in Leuven (Belgium) we have the "age set society" named "De mannen van het jaar" where all the men (sorry, only men) are welcome to join. Don't laugh, it's serious. The Leuven age set ritual repertoire is "intangibel cultural heritage of Flanders" and "inscribed on UNESCO's representative list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity"
The existence of the age set society is a typical phenomenon of the city of Leuven (Belgium), unique in Europe and probably in the world. In a pub, called " De Biekorf ", some male friends noticed that they all had the age of "40" and born in the same year "1840". They started the tradition of the age set society. From then onwards each year a new age set was formed and this tradition is still ongoing.
The amazing fact of the age set society is that each age set becomes a group of friends only based on the same year of birth. No difference is made on social, political, religion or philosophical base. Also, the men joining such an age set, don't have to live in the city of Leuven.
The celebration of the fiftieth birthday is the original and main goal.
At the age of 40, the age set is started and they begin their 10 year long journey with meetings, activities or participation's in local activities. At the age of 50 they leave the active status and will become "Abraham". They'll still meet together, but the ten year younger generation will take the lead.
Making part of an age set, is a human enrichment and a social shool for every member.
An age set is an exclusive male domain. However, where possible, woman can participate in their activities and the cooperation is often appreciated. Most age sets do have a "Marraine" or a Godmother which mostly participates in the social activities.
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