New Year's traditions
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talkpoliticsYay! It's 2016 already! Happy New Year everybody! May the new one be full of health, good fortunes, and great moments for you all!
So tell us about some of the most popular traditions from around your place: what's customary to do on the first day of the new year?
As for my place, there's a tradition rooted in antiquity called Survakane. It's basically children (lightly) beating adults on the back with elaborately decorated sticks. Along with the beating, the children recite cryptic incantations supposed to bring good luck to the adult, and at the end, the kids receive some money for their "service". The custom takes place on New Year's Day (1 January) each year, a holiday the Bulgarians once called Survaki (Сурваки).
Though the ritual varies from region to region, survakane is popular throughout Bulgaria. The stick, named survachka (сурвачка), is always made of a cornel branch adorned with yarn, wool, dried fruit, beads and other small items.
Another prominent tradition is that on Christmas Eve, fortune papers are stuck inside the pastry that you see above. It's a Christmas flatbread (pita, пита), a delicious homemade bread often decorated with an ornamental cross in the middle and shared by the whole family. Somewhere inside the pita, there's a coin - and whoever finds it their his piece is guaranteed a successful year.
For New Year's, the equivalent is the New Year's banitsa with fortunes. The big Bulgarian banitsa with little papers in each piece is supposed to tell each person's future depending on what fortune paper they draw. These range from "health" and "money" to "a baby", so you better be careful what you wish for!
So what about your New Year's traditions? Do share!
So tell us about some of the most popular traditions from around your place: what's customary to do on the first day of the new year?
As for my place, there's a tradition rooted in antiquity called Survakane. It's basically children (lightly) beating adults on the back with elaborately decorated sticks. Along with the beating, the children recite cryptic incantations supposed to bring good luck to the adult, and at the end, the kids receive some money for their "service". The custom takes place on New Year's Day (1 January) each year, a holiday the Bulgarians once called Survaki (Сурваки).
Though the ritual varies from region to region, survakane is popular throughout Bulgaria. The stick, named survachka (сурвачка), is always made of a cornel branch adorned with yarn, wool, dried fruit, beads and other small items.
Another prominent tradition is that on Christmas Eve, fortune papers are stuck inside the pastry that you see above. It's a Christmas flatbread (pita, пита), a delicious homemade bread often decorated with an ornamental cross in the middle and shared by the whole family. Somewhere inside the pita, there's a coin - and whoever finds it their his piece is guaranteed a successful year.
For New Year's, the equivalent is the New Year's banitsa with fortunes. The big Bulgarian banitsa with little papers in each piece is supposed to tell each person's future depending on what fortune paper they draw. These range from "health" and "money" to "a baby", so you better be careful what you wish for!
So what about your New Year's traditions? Do share!
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Date: 1/1/16 17:11 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 1/1/16 17:17 (UTC)[Error: unknown template video]
(no subject)
Date: 1/1/16 17:31 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 1/1/16 17:28 (UTC)My clan has a very old traditional gathering which starts today and lasts for 6 days. It takes place by the shores of a lake in the wilderness, and involves dancing, singing, theatre contests, various games, lots of meat and mead, and finally, burning a longboat. It's unforgettable.
(no subject)
Date: 2/1/16 08:12 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2/1/16 08:52 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 1/1/16 17:28 (UTC)Today, there's plenty of college football - which I guess can be considered a tradition at this point. There's also a Walking Dead marathon - which I'm kind of late to the party on, so I'm not sure if that's a tradition yet...
(no subject)
Date: 1/1/16 17:30 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 3/1/16 02:47 (UTC)The "greatest generation" handed us an amazing country and we have made a dog's breakfast of it. The dead coming back to eat us is our collective subconscious' way of acknowledging what we feel is the rightful consequence for our failure.
(no subject)
Date: 1/1/16 22:27 (UTC)In the morning, I am the designated "First Foot" for our local family and a couple select friends. That means I travel to about 5 families and bring them a plate of shortbread and best wishes, have a cup of coffee and move on.
Dinner is pork and sauerkraut.
(no subject)
Date: 2/1/16 08:10 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2/1/16 18:44 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 3/1/16 08:01 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2/1/16 02:19 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2/1/16 06:05 (UTC)Waking up naked at the beach, apparently. 'stralia, mate.
(no subject)
Date: 2/1/16 08:10 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2/1/16 18:45 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 3/1/16 16:58 (UTC)