New Year’s Good Luck Customs

A Quick New Year’s Good Luck Customs Tour

By Chitraparna Sinha

It is a very age old tradition to follow New Year’s good luck customs, other customs, and traditions in order to eliminate negative influences or evil fortune and to bring good luck and good fortune into our lives. Different countries and cultures follow different customs all over the world. People from any religion or culture have their own set of customs that they follow ‘religiously’. Almost every culture has its own set of good luck customs, including New Year’s good luck customs, followed in their day to day life or in the specials events of their lives. All these customs and beliefs are said to ensure good luck and thus improve the conditions of one’s life.

New Year’s Day Traditions

There are many New Year’s good luck customs and superstitions for New Years followed by people all over the world. Taking a drink at the stroke of midnight on New Year is said to bring good luck throughout the year. Being kissed on New Year’s Eve will make you receive kisses frequently all through the year. Some customs even say that whatever eaten or the things done on the first day of the year will affect the luck of the person all through the year.
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In America, in some southern states, it is customary to eat black-eyed peas to bring good luck. Eating traditional foods on New Year also ensures good luck. The people of Holland eat donuts to bring good luck as the donuts are circular in shape and anything in the shape of a ring is said to bring good luck and completes the forthcoming year. A good luck vegetable that is considered lucky to be eaten on New Year’s Day is “cabbage”. It represents paper money and its leaves are considered as symbols of prosperity. In some countries, rice is eaten as a lucky food on New Year’s Day.

In Belgium, the farmers wish their animals New Year just at the stroke of midnight. Pancakes are eaten for good luck and health in France. The people of Haiti wear new clothes and exchange gifts on this day for good fortune.

When the clock strikes midnight, the Spanish eat twelve grapes to bring good luck and each grape represents a month. The Swiss splash a drop of cream on the floor at midnight on New Year eve. This is also associated with good luck. Eating noodles or macaroni is considered inauspicious by the Sicilian people and they consider it lucky to eat lasagna on the first day of the New Year.

Throwing pails of water out of the window at midnight by the children in Puerto Rico is believed to get rid of evils, drive them out of the house. In many parts of the United States, hog and its meat are regarded as sacred. In Portugal, children sing carols going from door to door and thus collecting coins. These carols are supposed to bring good luck.

Kissing each other at the stroke of midnight is also a good luck custom in the United States. The kiss signifies purification and showers blessings in the coming New Year. In the country of Wales, the front door is opened to enter good luck and the back door is locked to keep the bad fortune trapped outside just at the stroke of midnight.

So these are a few New Year’s good luck customs and traditions followed by the people in various parts of the world. There are lots more New Year’s customs not covered in this brief article. If your New Year custom is not mentioned here leave a comment and let us know about it. If we get enough response we will do further research and write a new article covering them.

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