New Years Eve Superstitions
After waking up to presents under the tree and enjoying a Christmas feast, the world starts to look ahead to New Years Eve. On Dec. 31 every year, many people stop their partying to share a kiss as the clock strikes midnight or throw a chair out the window. Different cultures have various ways of celebrating the new year and different superstitions that come along with it. Most traditions practiced on New Year's Eve are forms of a good luck charm, in hopes that the new year is full of good times and smooth sailing. Although they may or may not work, superstitions on New Years Eve are an enjoyable and amusing tradition to participate in.
Superstitions around New Years actually date extremely far back. The earliest celebration of the new year originates in Babylon, four thousand years ago. It included rituals and an 11-day festival. The tradition of clinking your glasses together and eating food considered to bring luck also comes from the Babylonians. The kiss at midnight is associated with English and German history and legends. While some holiday traditions have started in the near past, most of the celebrations to do with New Years Eve are very old, ancient traditions, making them even more interesting.
Although there are a countless number of superstitions performed as the clock hits 12, the most known and popular ones are kissing someone at midnight, toasting with drinks, eating 12 grapes under a table and watching the Times Square ball drop. However, each culture and country have different ways of celebrating the new year. In Columbia, people may run around with a suitcase in hopes the year holds travel. In Brazil, believers will get in the ocean and jump seven waves to ensure good luck while also getting one wish per wave. Smashing plates on the doorstep of their loved ones and jumping off chairs is popular in Denmark. Greece hangs onions above their doors for prosperity and Ireland knocks bread on their walls. Cultures from all over the globe have their own ways of manifesting good luck for the new year. Even if you don’t believe in them, they are still an entertaining and important part of New Years Eve.
The main reason for all these superstitions is to bring good luck into the person's life. However, they can also be used to signify jumping into a new year or out with the old and in with the new. They might help people start anew and beat bad habits. Different celebrations have different meanings that all tie in with having a good year ahead. In short, New Years Eve superstitions can span from eating round food to breaking furniture, but the celebration itself has been around for an incredible amount of time. Even though there's a chance of being unsuccessful, superstitions like eating 12 grapes are fun, delightful and start the new year off right! They might even give a little luck throughout the year.
