New Year Superstitions

Drinking and kissing your spouse or life partner at the stroke of midnight is a very popular New Year superstition. 

Most superstitions, traditions and customs related to beginning of a year stems from the belief that whatever you do on the first day of the year will set the pattern for the whole coming year. 

Other superstitions are to ward off evil spirits and invite Lady Luck in our house. January 1st is supposed to be the most important day of the year as everything we do on this day is supposed to become a part of our life for the next 364 days. Some popular New Year superstitions are:

1. Avoid breaking things, crying and wailing on the first day of the year, if you don't want to continue the pattern for the entire year.
2. Babies born on 1st January is said to be the luckiest of all throughout their lives.
3. Do not let money, jewelry, precious items or other invaluable things leave your home on New Year Day. Do not pay loans and bills or lend things to anybody, if you do not want to show just-entered fortune the way to leave during the year. People go to the extent of not taking out garbage or even not dusting their carpets on this day to ensure that nothing goes out of home during the year.
4. Dress well throughout the year by wearing new clothes on January 1.
5. Evil One and his attendants and servants hate din and loud noise. So, scare them away by being as loud in New Year celebrations as possible. Church bells are rung at midnight for the purpose too.
6. Full larders, cupboards stocked up with food and wallets and purses full of money bring prosperity in New Year.
7. If you have to deliver presents on New Year morning, leave them in the car since New Year Eve on December 31st.
8. If you must take something out from the home, let someone come with the present inside the home first.
9. Never leave the home before someone comes in first. First footer in the house should be ushered in with a warm welcome and should not have flat feet, cross-eyes or eyebrows stretching out to meet in the middle.
10. Pay your bills and loans before New Year Eve, so you don't have any debt left for New Year.
11. People do not wash hair on New Year and wear festive red clothing for happiness all the year round.
12. The direction of wind during sunrise on New Year morning prophesizes about the coming year. Wind from south foretells fine weather and prosperous times ahead, wind from north foretells bad weather, wind from east foretells famine and natural calamities and wind from west foretells plenty of milk and fish for all but death of a person of great national importance. No wind means joy and prosperity throughout the year.
13. Token amount of work on first day of the year means advancements in career but starting out a serious work project is unlucky on New Year Day.
14. Washing dishes and doing laundry on this day is said to lead to a death in the family during the year.

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10 Unusual Traditions for Ringing in the New Year around the World

Did you know that in Switzerland people ring in the new year by dropping a dollop of cream on the floor? Or how about how Armenians bake special bread with “good luck” and “best wishes” stamped into it? We thought you didn’t. So in honor of 2010, here are 10 unusual traditions observed by different countries around the world.

1. Romania

In Romania, some believe that if you toss coins into the river, you’ll have good luck throughout the coming year. Even more impressive: some peasants use December 31st to predict the coming year’s weather by systematically peeling, salting and reading the skins of 12 onions. According to this source, “On St. Vasile’s Day or New Year’s Day, a person who is efficient in witchcraft and spells checks the level of the liquid left by the melted salt in each of the onions peels.” The level helps them determine the climate conditions in the new year.

2. Spain

In Spain, as the clock strikes 12, people eat twelve grapes—one for each month of the year, and for each toll of the bell. The tradition, which is believed to bring good luck, can be traced back to the year 1909 when there was a bountiful harvest in the town of Alicante and Alfonso XIII, the Spanish King, gave grapes to his peeps on New Year’s Eve.

3. Switzerland

Ever hear of dropping a dollop of cream on the floor to ring in the new year with good luck, wealth and peace? Well that’s what some do in Switzerland — it’s thought to bring a year of abundance. (Hey, don’t laugh… provided everyone cleans up his or her dollop, it’s a lot more civilized than screaming along with a trillion other people in Times Square.) Some Swiss also observe the tradition of dressing up in costumes to invoke good spirits and chase evil energies.

4. Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, they blast car horns and boat whistles, ring church bells and beat drums to drive away evil spirits and demons. In some parts of the country they also throw pails of water from their windows at midnight in a bid to chase away the evil eye. Puerto Ricans also have an unusual tradition for bringing good luck in the coming year: they drop backwards into the breaking waves as the clock strikes 12.

5. Belgium

Belgium might be the only country where farmers wish their livestock happy new year to ensure 365 days of good health and well-being. Well, outside of India, where they bless cows frequently, and, of course, Sesame Street, where Bert and Ernie are always wishing the animals a happy this or that. Belgians are also known to exchange gifts on New Year’s, which they celebrate as Sint Sylvester Vooranvond (St. Sylvester Eve).

6. France

The French mix health and wealth and usher in the new beginning with a stack of pancakes. (Note to self: get rich quick scheme no. 145: open an iHop in Paris) Another unique custom in France is kissing under the mistletoe as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, sorta like Christmas traditions elsewhere.

7. Armenia

In Armenia, a special kind of bread is baked with good luck and best wishes stamped on it. Traditionally, people conduct a ‘Ritual of Fire’ on New Year’s Eve where all troubles pertaining to the old year are symbolically burnt. This is not to be confused with the “Ring of Fire’ in the fish tank on Finding Nemo.

8. Bolivia

In Bolivia, dolls made of straw and wood are hung outside homes for good luck. Coins are also baked into sweets. Whoever finds the coins will be prosperous in the New Year. It is also considered auspicious to leave 3 stones outside the door for health, prosperity and love. Other Bolivians elect to wear yellow-colored undies to bring themselves a new year full of money. Red undies, on the other hand, supposedly bring love.

9. Portugal

In the northern parts of Portugal, children traditionally sing carols as they visit houses where they are given coins and treats. The songs they sing are called janeiros and are said to bring good luck. As in Spain, eating 12 grapes at midnight ensures 12 months of happiness in the coming year.

10. Japan

Not unlike what happens in Chicago after every Cub’s season, the Japanese have ‘forget-the-year’ parties and generally consider it a time to forgive and forget. They hang straw ropes across their homes’ façades to ward away evil spirits and welcome good luck and happiness.

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