adminWith New Year’s upon us, here’s a look at some of the good luck rituals from around the world. They are believed to bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year.
China
The Chinese New Year “Yuan Tan” takes place between January 21 and February 20. The exact date is fixed by the lunar calendar, in which a new moon marks the beginning of each new month.
For the Chinese New Year, every front door is adorned with a fresh coat of red paint, red being a symbol of good luck and happiness.
Although the whole family prepares a feast for the New Year, all knives are put away for 24 hours to keep anyone from cutting themselves, which is thought to cut the family’s good luck for the next year.
Egypt
In Egypt the New Year is a public holiday and has a very festive atmosphere. Although they know in advance when the New Year begins they still observe the custom of the new crescent moon must be seen before the official announcement is made.
The sighting is carried out at the Muhammad Ali mosque which is at the top of the hill in Cairo. The message is then passed on to the religious leader known as the Grand Mufti and he proclaims the New Year.
The men who have been waiting outside the mosque wish each other a happy New Year by saying “Kol Sana We Enta Tayeb!”
England
The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master.
For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first.
Germany
In Germany people would drop molten lead into cold water and try to tell the future from the shape it made. A heart or ring shape meant a wedding, a ship a journey, and a pig plenty of food in the year ahead.
People also would leave a bit of every food eaten on New Year’s Eve on their plate until after Midnight as a way of ensuring a well-stocked larder. Carp was included as it was thought to bring wealth.
Islam
The Muslims have their own calendar which is based on the cycles of the moon. The calendar consists of twelve months but, only has 354 days unlike other calendars such as the Gregorian or Jewish calendar etc.
For this reason the Islamic New Year moves eleven days backwards through the seasons each year. Muharram is the first month of the Muslim year its first day is celebrated as New Year’s Day. The Islamic New Year throughout the world is held quietly, without the festive atmosphere of other New Year celebrations.
Portugal
The Portuguese pick and eat twelve grapes from a bunch as the clock strikes twelve on New Year’s Eve.
This is done to ensure twelve happy months in the coming year. In Northern Portugal children go carolling from home to home and are given treats and coins.
They sing old songs or Janeiro’s which is said to bring good luck.
South Africa
In South Africa they ring in the New Year with church bells ringing and gunshots being fired. For those in the Cape Province New Year’s Day and Second New Year’s Day are full of a joyous as there are carnivals where people dress in colourful costumes and dance in streets to the sound of drums.
Spain
When the clock strikes midnight they eat 12 grapes one with every toll to bring good luck for the next 12 months of the New Year. Sometimes the grapes are washed down with wine.
Theatre productions and movies are interrupted to carry out this custom.
Swaziland
In Swaziland the harvest festival is called Newala or “first fruits” ceremony and takes place at the end of the year.
It is a celebration of kingship as tradition has it that the king of Swaziland, the Ngwenyama or “Lion”, has powers that are mystical and is believed to embody the Swaziland prosperity and fertility, and therefore it is said that he must have many wives and father many children.
United States
The kiss shared at the stroke of midnight in the United States is derived from masked balls that have been common throughout history.
As tradition has it, the masks symbolize evil spirits from the old year and the kiss is the purification into the New Year. — goalsguy.com
Online Reporter