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New Years Eve
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Countdown to New Year's Day 2012
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Traditions Observed Around the World
- Wearing red underwear for the new year brings you luck in love, green underwear for health and yellow underwear for luck with money and business.
- Kissing at midnight – We kiss those dearest to us at midnight not only to share a moment of celebration with our favorite people, but to ensure those affections and ties will continue for the next 12 months.
- Nothing goes out: Nothing – absolutely nothing, not even the garbage – is to leave the house on the first day of the year. Don’t so much as shake out a rug or take the empties to the recycle bin.
- New Clothes: Wear something new on New Year’s Day to increase the likelihood of your receiving more new garments during the year to follow.
- Money: Have plenty of money in your wallet at the stroke of midnight – this will ensure prosperity for the new year. Do not pay back loans or lend money or other precious items on New Year’s Day. To do so is to guarantee you’ll be paying out all year.
- Breakage: Avoid breaking things on the first day or wreckage be part of your year.
- Avoid crying on the first day of the year lest that activity set the tone for the next 12 months.
- Make as much noise as possible at midnight. You're not just celebrating; your scaring away evil spirits. According to superstition, evil spirits and the Devil himself hate loud noise – by making loud noises this will keep them away.
- People do not wash hair on New Year's Day and wear festive red clothing for happiness all the year round.
- If you want to be successful in your work or career this coming year, you need to be sure to do some successful work on New Year's Day. If you're a writer, you should write and submit an article or write a chapter in a book, or if you have some other type of job, you should do at least a little bit of successful work on New Year's Day. The warning here though is not to do too much work or work all day, or else that's a bad omen that you will constantly have to work, work, work all year long without much success.
- One superstition for the New Year indicates that for the New Year to come into your home, you have to let the old year out, so you should open your doors or windows at midnight in order to let the old year leave and thus let the New Year enter your home and life.
- It is believed that dancing in open air, around a tree on New Year day brings luck in love and prosperity throughout the year.
- People believe that draining the last remnants from a bottle of drink on New Year day brings good fortune.
- People believe that the overloaded cup boards and wallets with full of money bring luck and prosperity throughout the year.
- Holding a piece of silver or gold as the New Year begins is said to increase the chances of prosperity in the coming year...some place a silver coin over the doorway or a penny on the windowsill.
- Should the first visitor on New Year's Day be a woman, bad luck is expected; but a male visitor will bring good luck. Many visitors indicate good fortune. Also, nothing should be taken out of the house unless something else is brought in.
- Never do laundry on New Year's or you will be crying the whole year through.
- Wearing funny hats and making noise at midnight will ensure good luck.
- Refrain from sweeping or dusting on the first day of the New Year, or you will be sweeping away your good luck.
- Visit your neighbors and friends and bring gifts of coal (the house will be warm), bread (so they will always have food), greenery (long life) and money (fortune for the New Year).
- Make New Year's resolutions, a widely popular American New Year's Day tradition. Make goals for what you want to accomplish for the coming year. The tradition of making resolutions on New Year's Eve began with the ancient Babylonians. They felt this was an excellent way to begin the New Year with a clear conscious.
New Year's Lucky Foods
- Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes "coming full circle," completing a year's cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year's Day will bring good fortune.
- Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures – you must eat at least 365 peas - one for each day of the year.
- The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.
- The tradition is to eat twelve grapes at midnight, as the twelve chimes ring in the new year (one grape for each month). Try stuffing twelve grapes in your mouth in twelve seconds, and you’ll see how funny this can be! The twelve grapes are also eaten at midnight in other countries that have a Spanish influence.
- Chinese dumplings are sometimes made after supper to eat late in the evening. They symbolize wealth.
- To keep yourself healthy in the New Year, eat smoked sausage.
- For good health, wealth and happiness in the New Year you should eat pork and sauerkraut.
- Other lucky foods eaten round the world on the new year include: spinach, rice, fish, honey, baked carrots, apples and honey, pomegranate, corned beef and cabbage, chicken soup, green curry chicken, shortbread, caramel corn, peanuts, collard greens and pancakes.
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