The world's most curious New Year's traditions

[nairiporter.livejournal.com]

The various peoples around the world have their own traditions for each holiday, and this includes New Year's eve. In some countries they eat grapes, or throw coins, or burn photos, or wear colourful underwear, or break dishes. Here are some of the funniest and weirdest New Year's traditions from around the globe.

In Argentina, people have a tradition to wear yellow, white or pink underwear just before New Year. They believe that these colours would bring them good luck. Pink underwear is thought to attract love for the new year, white brings a year full of peace and harmony, and yellow is supposed to bring success and money. In the worst case, at least they wear nice looking underwear on the last day of the old year.

They also believe in Argentina that when the clock strikes midnight, people should make a step forwards with their right foot so they could start the new year the "right" way. This way it is supposed to pass more easily and smoothly.

In Brazil, people wear white clothes on New Year's eve. This is done to drive the bad spirits away.

During the first week of the new year, people in Brazil jump over a sea wave each day, believing that this would bring good luck.

They also bring gifts to the goddess Yemanja who is believed to love flowers - so, Brazilians throw flowers into the sea. If the sea returns them, it means the goddess did not like them.

In Denmark they keep all unused dishes from New Year's eve and throw them at the doors of their relatives and friends. Another tradition is jumping, most often from chairs, to literally kick off the new year on a high note.

In Spain they eat twelve grapes as the clock strikes 12, one at every strike. That is done for good luck, and in some regions of the country they believe that this custom drives the witches and bad spirits away.

In Ecuador they make a scarecrow or just a straw doll that they stuff with paper and burn it. Again for good luck. Besides, they also burn photos from previous years, to start the new one on a clean sheet.

Every December 31, they organise the Takanakuy festival in Peru, where people wrestle and fist-fight with each other in order to sort out their relations and start the new year "clean".

They also throw a ball of ice-cream on the ground in Peru.

In Puerto Rico, people pour buckets of water from their balconies and across the street to drive the bad spirits away and start the new year clean.

In Colombia there is a tradition to walk around the house with an emtpy suitcase, so that the new year would be full of nice trips. There is also the belief that if you wear white underwear on December 31, you will be blessed with wealth and prosperity throughout the new year.

Instead of reading divinations from paper notes, people in Finland pour molten metal in cold water. The random forms that they get in result are then deciphered: if it's a round shape it means money, if it's a boat shape, a trip, etc. This tradition comes from ancient Greece, but today it is mostly practiced by the northern peoples. One could find pieces of metal in the form of a horseshoe in the shops there, the material (often tin) being able to melt at low temperatures.

People in Guatemala take 12 pennies at midnight, then go out and stand with their back to the street, then toss the coins behind their back.

In the Philippines, people leave all lights in their homes switched on, so they could scare the evil spirits away.

They also wear dotted clothes there, believing that this would bring them wealth and prosperity.

The Russians write their wishes on a piece of paper, then burn it, then toss the ashes in a bottle of champagne and drink it at midnight.

In Turkey, everyone unlocks their front door exactly at midnight and tosses salt around, which symbolises prosperity. People who have a shop also do that, but they toss pomegranate seeds around.

Turkey is yet another country with strong underwear traditions. But in that case it is red and is being sold in most bazaars and shops.

In Scotland, the first visitor after midnight should bring a present: wine, whiskey, salt, bread, a coin or embers - these symbolise money, good luck, happiness, warmth and good fortune for the family. It is also believed that if the first guest is with dark hair, that means good luck. The blondes and gingers bring bad luck.

In Thailand, people pour buckets of water on each other and smear talc bowder on their bodies.

What about your place? Are there some curious traditions that you could share?

I wish everybody health, good luck, warmth and prosperity throughout the next year!

Comments

[htpcl.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm glad you asked! First, we have the Koledari (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koledari) tradition here, essentially the kids paying a visit to most homes in the vicinity, dressed in traditional garments, singing traditional songs and dancing traditional dances.



There's the survakane tradition (http://www.paylessbg.com/en/articles/The-Survakane/245/), which is quite special because it involves a cudgel made out of cornel branches (https://www.google.bg/search?q=%D1%81%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B2%D0%B0%D1%87%D0%BA%D0%B0&rlz=1C1CHMO_bgBG567BG567&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=LP-jVKubJMS_ygPao4DICw&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ), covered in cookies, popcorn and candy, with which the kids "beat" the elders on the back and sing those songs and dance those dances (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHuwFevUTHw) in order to get their gifts. It's all quite euphoric, to say the least. And the table is full to the top with special treats.



Then there's the banitsa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banitsa) (a special kind of pastry) with the tokens inside, each member of the household choosing a piece of it and getting a divination, and the luckiest one getting the coin, which means the money will be with them through the whole new year.



Then there are special days (or even entire weeks) of the Kukeri festivals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukeri) in the countryside, both kids and adults donning scary-looking furs and putting huge bells on their waists and dancing all day and night to scare the bad spirits - which is basically an ancient Thracian ritual (http://www.xperiencebulgaria.com/kukeri-ritual/) dating back from antiquity and still being actively upheld today. Etc, etc.

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[mahnmut.livejournal.com]

OK, this is pretty fascinating.

[ddstory.livejournal.com]

You've already heard of the Icelandic 12 Santas (http://www.simnet.is/gardarj/folk/jola.htm), I believe. :)

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Everyone knows about our drunken men in feathers and sequines drunkenly parading down Broad Street playing banjos and acting like fools with the anthem O! Dem Golden Slippers on a constant loop.

There is even a museum dedicated to it: http://www.mummersmuseum.org

The whole thing started as an annual drunken riot with the mob shaking down honest folk for booze, as they say

“Here we stand before your door,
As we stood the year before;
Give us whisky, give us gin,
Open the door and let us in.”

Unspoken is the "Or else!" part of the equation.

Anyway, they've tried to clean it up, to burnish its image, but it still a monument to bad taste, ostentation and drunken public urination, vomiting with a healthy dollop of homoeroticism masqued as homophobia. What you don't get from watching it on YouTube or TV, however, is the smell. You can smell some of the troops before you see them. People bring their children. I can hardly emphasize how deeply, deeply wrong the whole thing is, yet it endures and I don't think we'd have any other way.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Throw a Eagles jersey on him and slap a cheese steak in his hand and he'd fit right in.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Heck if they have bodies like that, skip the shirts and just paint themselves Green. That works ;)

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

It is the home of the greenman....

(http://photobucket.com/images/greenman)

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Haha, indeed!

[garote]

That Peruvian fistfight pic is awesome!!

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

Oh, where to begin. In just a couple of hours I'm heading a few km south of here (Hafnarfjörður, Iceland, actually), to spend the next 6 days by the shores of a lake in the middle of the wilderness, together with over a hundred of my relatives in what we lovingly call "the clan gathering". It's been a tradition for over a century now, commemorating the returning of our clan after a century and a half exile in the Faroes. There are plenty of traditions like games and dances and competitions in story-telling, and an improvised outdoors theatre, and of course burning a huge Viking longboat, all in celebration of our family heritage. It's my favestest time of the year, and I always find myself counting the days and hours until its beginning. Each of the six days is dedicated to a certain theme, and today is "Thanking day", where we thank all our relatives for having been together with us throughout all these years. Because wherever there's a Rasmussen, there's always hope that something good would happen :)

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

You crazy Vikings and your ancient traditions, duh!

[moonshaz.livejournal.com]

Here in the midwest, we're pretty boring, I guess, at least as far as New Year's traditions go. We really don't have any, as far as I know!

In parts of the southern US, it's customary to eat a meal of hog jowls, black eyed peas, and collard greens (http://littlerock.about.com/od/festivals/a/Black-Eyed-Peas-For-New-Years-Luck.htm) on New Year's Day. But I don't know anyone up here who does it.



The only part of this that looks appetizing to me is the hog jowls. As far as I'm concerned, black eyed peas taste like MUD, lol. But there are folks who really love this slop stuff!

P.S. If you don't know what any of these things are, the link embedded in the 2nd paragraph, above, will fill you in.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you know that maybe a Southern thing too. My mom used to require us to eat that on New Year's day as part of the festivities.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

We drop (http://abcnews.go.com/US/ball-problem-wacky-drops-years-eve/story?id=27925990) stuff.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Heheh, I thought just balls!