The New Year is upon us, and it is steeped in tradition. From Japan to North Carolina, folks have unique ways of celebrating this new beginning that returns each year like clockwork. Here are a few interesting ones that I have come across, but I am certain there are as many traditions as there are regions across the globe!
1-In Japan, it’s all about cleaning and tidying up the house before midnight. Osoji is thought to purify the home and begin the new year with a fresh start. (I really need to implement this as soon as I un-decorate all of our Christmas décor!)
2-In Italy, lentils are eaten to usher in a year of prosperity. The lentils represent small coins, and you know what they say: “Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
3-In the American South (from which I hail,) there are also financial food items that promise future wealth. We eat black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year’s Day since the peas represent coins and the collards, dollars. “Pass me some more dollars, please!”
4-In Ireland, food isn’t just for ingesting, it’s for beating against the walls. Some Irish folks bang loaves of Christmas bread against doors and walls to ward off those pesky evil spirits that threaten to put a damper on the new year.
5-In Columbia, people assure their dreams of travel in the new year by walking around the block carrying empty suitcases.
6-In Romania, you ensure good fortune in the next year by tossing a coin into a river. (We have this tradition here at Buttercup Cottage, year-round, with our Wishing Well!)
7-In Scotland, where the New Year’s celebration is known as Hogmanay, there is the tradition of welcoming the first person into your home on New Year’s Day. The “First Foot” is thought to bring good luck if it is a dark-haired male. This tradition isn’t limited to Scotland, however. In other parts of Great Britain as well as in other countries around the world, the first person entering the home in the new year brings good luck or ill fortune depending on the hair color and gender. As in Scotland, some welcome the dark-haired whereas in other places, the light-haired one is seen as lucky.
8-In Latin America, tradition has residents throwing a bucket of water out of the window to represent cleansing and renewal. Watch out below!
9-In the Philippines (where it’s not so cold on New Year’s,) doors and windows are opened at midnight to usher out the old year and welcome in the new.
10-In Brazil (another warm place on January 1,) it is traditional to jump over seven waves and make a wish with each wave
However you welcome in the new year—I wish you and all those you hold dear, a year of comfort and joy.
Kathryn
Had a good looking man take the first step through my front door this morning. It’s going to be a great year!!
Ha! Love it! Yes, a good year ahead for sure! Happy New Year, Claudia!
I love reading your stories
Thank you, Linda! I love sharing them!