New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
From Association of Independent Readers and Rootworkers
New Years Eve and New Years Day or December 31st and January 1st, as defined by the Gregorian calendar, are comparatively recent holidays, especially when contrasted with the many more ancient and explicitly religious holidays and festivals. In Europe, New Year’s celebrations on January 1st were popularized by the adoption of the Gregorian calendar by Germany in 1700, and by England in 1752. Observance of Hogmany in Protestant Scotland on January 1st emerged as a contrast to the Christmas celebrations more closely associated with Catholicism.
In more recent times, both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day have been gradually secularized, even as they have become more broadly celebrated world-wide, with regional and local variations. Shops and businesses customarily keep short hours on the last day of the old year, and many are closed for the entirety of the first day of the new year.
Folkloric customs for bringing in good luck have developed all around the world, varying from one culture to another, but as culture becomes globalized, the beliefs and practices of each culture re shared with others, leading to a large array of customs associated with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.
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Celebrating the New Year
- Fireworks, Confetti, and Paper Streamers: Fireworks displays are a common part of modern New Year’s Eve celebrations. They originated in the firecrackers and fireworks used in China to celebrate Chun Jie or Chinese Lunar New Year, but have been enthusiastically adopted for the celebration of the Gregorian calendar New Year’s Eve. Massive fireworks displays held in large cities feature live music and they may be televised or live-streamed to the internet, so that viewers can follow the progress of the New Year from one time zone to to the next. Many cities in the United States, including New York City, Miami, Nashville, and Boise have a large lighted ball or other object as a centerpiece of the New Year's Eve celebration. Following a countdown, the ball drops at midnight, followed by clouds of confetti and paper streamers being thrown from skyscrapers to fall on the people gathered below. In some communities people who do not have fireworks shoot guns off at midnight, a dangerous and illegal practice that can result in accidental deaths.
- Hogmanay: In Scotland, Hogmanay, the last day of the year, is celebrated between December 31st and January 2nd. According to ancient tradition all of the fires in the house are extinguished so that new fire may be kindled for the new year. First-Footers go from door to door with gifts of coal for the new fire. Just after midnight on January 1st, the First-Footer, ideally a tall, dark-haired man, becomes the first person to enter the house, in order to anchor the luck for the new year. The first-footer brings gifts of coal for the new fire, as well as salt, bread, and whiskey for the home. and recites a short blessing to the house over each item. In exchange, he is offered a toast of the whiskey, salutes the house, and goes on to the next house. By the end of his rounds, the first-footer is usually very drunk. On New Year's day a meal of Hoppin' John is served. Portions of Hogmanay and First Footing have spread into communities that are are not of Scottish descent -- particularly in the Southern United States.
- Kiss Under the Mistletoe: If you kiss your beloved under a sprig of mistletoe at midnight on New Year's Eve, your love will be true. In warm climates it is a growing custom to celebrate weddings at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, with the happy couple kissing under the mistletoe as the bells ring and the fireworks explode.
- Toast with Alcohol: People who are in good spirits and good company at midnight on New Year's Eve will have joy and companionship throughout the new year, so depending on one's region or culture, celebrations generally include toasts made with champagne, whiskey, or beer.
- Make Noise, Sing, and Shout: Loud noises at midnight on New Year's Eve drive bad luck away and welcome in good luck for the new year. Bells ring out on churches, people beat pots and pans, New Year crackers, whistles, and horns go off, and shouted greetings of "Happy New Year!" fill the air. The group singing of "Auld Lang Syne" at midnight is another tradition associated with Hogmanay and the New Year.
- Attend New Years Day Parades: Many cities in the United States and Europe have a New Years Day parade featuring marching bands, drum corps, and floats to ring in the new year. Some of these, such as Pasadena's Rose Bowl parade or London's New Years Day parade, are televised or live-streamed for national and international audiences.
- Watch Sports Games: In the United States, it is common for people to spend part of New Years Day watching professional football games or other sporting events during the afternoon, either in person or via television or live streams. Alcohol and snack foods are generally served at these events, and may be followed by a festive dinner.
Customs of the New Year
- Clean House: Clean the house on December 31st and open every door and window at the stroke of midnight to let out any residual bad luck. Then make a loud ruckus by banging on pots and pans to chase bad luck away.
- Wash Your Clothes and Bedding: The washing is done before or on December 31st, so that fresh clothes can be worn On New Year's Eve, a fresh bed can be slept in, and fresh clothes can be worn on New Years Day.
- Turn a Card: At midnight, shuffle a deck of playing cards, place them face down, select one and turn it over to get a prediction on what the New Year will hold.
- Throw the Dice: At midnight, throw three dice to predict your fortune for the coming year.
- Practice Molybdomancy: A midnight, small pieces of lead, tin, or wax are melted in a spoon over a candle and poured into a glass of water to see an omen for the new year. If the melt forms a ball, there will be good luck. If it forms a cross, there will be a death.
- Carry Money in Your pocket: If you have money in your pocket on midnight on New Year's Eve, you will have money all the rest of the year. A tip in the form of a gold coin (formerly a British sovereign) is traditionally given to the First-Footer on Hogmanay.
- Father Time and the Baby: In Europe and the Americas, the old year is depicted as Father Tine, a bearded old man carrying a scythe and holding an hour-glass whose sands are running out, near a year-date for the passing year. The new year is portrayed as a baby wearing diapers and laughing, and is indicated by the year date for the year to come. These images appear on postcards, greeting cards, decorations, and advertisements for New Year's Eve parties and public entertainments.
- Make New Year's Resolutions: The beginning of the year is a time when many people create a list of things they resolve to do to in the new year to improve themselves and their lives. These may include resolutions to engage in healthy activities, cultivate better ways of dealing with challenges, achieve specific goals, or quit bad habits.
- Buy or Install a New Calendar, Appointment Book, or Diary: The start of the new year calls for a new calendar, and New Years day is when many people update their calendars and daily planners. Businesses close their accounting for the year, in preparation for tax-day early in the next year.
- Wish People a Happy New Year: Wish folks a Happy New Years the first time you see them after the change of the year. If they are really your true friends, you will have connected with them one way or another -- in person, via phone or text, with a postcard or greeting card, or in social media -- before the end of January.
- Observe the Weather: For the 12 twelve days of the New Year, write down the weather in a notebook (or in your new calendar) to provide a predictive indicator of what the weather will be like for each of the 12 months of the coming year.
- The Yearly Prophesy: In Scandinavia it is the custom , either at Christmas or on New Year’s Day, to make an årsgång (yearly walk). This is done by walking around the home or premises near to the home and taking tydor (tidings, signs, or omens} from anything that occurs on the way. Odd visions are said to be common, such as seeing headless shadows of those who are about to die or hearing various spiritual sounds and answers to specific questions. Performing årsgång for seven or nine years in a row is said to grant the practitioners several psychic gifts.
- Greet the Chimney Sweeps: New Year's was not celebrated in Germany until the l7th century, so originally this custom took place on Saint Nicholas' Day or Christmas, but by the 19th century, gifts were given on New Year's Day to people who delivered bread or did household chores that were not performed by live-in servants. In exchange, these purveyors of services often handed out little cards with a blessing or good wishes. Meeting a chimney sweep -- called a Schornsteinfeger or Schlotfeger -- at New Year's means good luck for the year, especially if he will give you his card.
Foods of the the New Year
Celebratory foods of the New Year often feature stews made from dried legumes, seasoned with pork.
- Black-Eyed Peas for New Year’s L: Make a meal of, black-eyed peas, boiled collard greens for New Year’s "folding money," and cornbread or corn fritters for New Year’s gold and coins: Serve black-eyed peas, either plain or over steamed white rice, with a side of greens and cornbread, either right after midnight on New Year’s Eve, with champagne, or as the first dish on the morning of New Year’s Day. This will bring health, wealth, and good luck for the entire year. For extra luck, the Black Eyed Peas may be cooked all day with the Bone and scraps of the Christmas ham.
- Hoppin’ John for First Footing: Prepare a New Year's Eve meal of Hoppin' John -- red beans with ham or bacon -- plus corn muffins or corn fritters and boiled cabbage greens good luck. Immediately after midnight, open every window and door in the house to let out any left-over bad luck. As soon as a particularly lucky person, such as a tall, strong man, walks in to set the tone of the luck for the New Year, serve the Hoppin’ John and greens, and provide honey or maple syrup to dip the cornbread or corn fritters.
- Texas Caviar: This is an urbanized take on the Black-Eyed Pes recipe, in which canned Black Eyed Peas are used to concoct a spicy dip with minced onions, cilantro, red peppers, and other lucky foods. This is served to party guests with corn chips at the stroke of midnight as people toast one another with beer, champagne, or whiskey.
- Cotechino con Lenticchie: Italians usually eat a festive meal of cotechino con lenticchie -- pork sausages and green lentils -- at midnight.
- Bacon, Ham, or Pork Chops: For their New Year's meal, many people of Western European descent eat pork of some sort; they also season their stewed beans, peas, or lentils with ham hocks, sausage, or the remnant bone of the Christmas ham.
- Fish: Those whose heritage is Scandinavian, Eastern European, Jewish, or Chinese tend to serve fish at New Year meals because fish are associated with fertility, forward movement, and abundance. Serving fish is traditional at Chun Jie or Chinese Lunar New Year, and has been transposed to secular New Year.
- Twelve Grapes or Raisins at Midnight: This Mediterranean custom originated in Spain and Portugal and spread to colonized areas of the New World. Some people attempt to fit 12 grapes or raisins into their mouth at once and eat them at one go; others eat one grape or raisin for every chime of the clock at midnight.
Credits
This page is brought to you by the AIRR Tech Team:
- Authors: cat yronwode, Lukianos
- Contributors: Deacon Millett, nagasiva yronwode, Liselotte Glozer
- Images: Royal Mail Stamps, Seth Harrison, Erika8213, Morning-Light, Derek@hatfielddesign.com, Unknown Artist, Unknown Protographer
