TIMMINS - No matter how you choose to welcome in the new year, you may want to consider investigating the many, many customs, rites and superstitions people have been acknowledging, performing and worrying about for at least a millennium if not more.
To make your life easier, I have rooted out a few you might want to consider as we head into 2025 — and judging from the looks of things, we might just need all the help we can get.
- So, apparently, you should start the year off by paying off your bills. For many people from many cultures, starting the year off debt-free was the way to go. Everyone is encouraged to settle their accounts before New Year’s Day or to make sure “the checks were in the mail”. All are cautioned however to never pay bills on New Year’s Day as that action will set the tone for the next 12 months and you will be dishing out the cash to everyone all year!
- You should also make sure your larder is full, for empty kitchen cupboards were not a good sign on New Year’s Day. Pantries were topped up and money placed in all wallets in the house to ensure a prosperous new year for everyone.
- The first-footing tradition in Scotland maintains that the first person through the door after the stroke of midnight on New Year’s will determine the good fortune of the residents of the home for the upcoming year. The most desirable first-footer is a tall, dark-haired man. In some places a woman or a fair-haired man as first footer is considered unlucky. The perfect first footer should not have flat feet, crossed-eyes or eyebrows that meet in the middle. The handsome dude ideally came equipped with a coin for financial prosperity, bread (to make sure you would not want for any in the new year), salt (to guarantee a flavourful year), coal (to ensure warmth in the home) and a drink (usually whiskey, to bring good cheer).
- That New Year’s midnight kiss is equally important if you want to be lucky during the coming year. A little smooch with your significant other will make sure that you will have a harmonious home. Failing to do so, however, will usher in a tumultuous year filled with “the cold shoulder”.
- And for the love of all that is good, refrain from throwing anything out on New Year’s Day, or so says many cultural customs. This means that nothing could leave the house on New Year’s Day, including taking out the garbage, or shaking out a rug. The Chinese tradition also extends to doing dishes or purging anything from your home, as you may accidentally throw away or wash out your good luck.
- How can we not talk about food, as there are probably dozens, if not hundreds of food traditions associated with New Year’s Day — my favourite says that you should eat pork because “poultry scratches backwards, cows stand still but a pig roots forward”. Translated, it means that if you eat chicken or turkey on New Year’s Day, you will have to scratch for your meals all year-long. If you eat beef, you won’t move forward in anything, but if you eat pork, you will move ahead in all you do in the new year. Doughnuts are part of another New Year’s superstition, in many cultures, the sign of a ring brings good luck because it symbolizes “coming full circle”. The Dutch encourage the eating of doughnuts on New Year’s Day to encourage a lucky year. The Spanish eat 12 grapes at midnight to ensure 12 happy months.
- How about that weather? Superstitions say that you should pay extra attention to the weather on New Year’s Day. If the wind blows from the south, you can count on a prosperous year and a year filled with good weather. If it blows from the north, expect bad weather all year. An east wind will bring a year of disasters (famines and calamities) while a west wind means plentiful supplies of milk and fish, but the death of an important person. No winds mean a joyful and prosperous year for all.
- If you have the travel bug but haven’t been able to go away, you might want to consider this Columbian New Year’s superstition. It is said that if you drag around an empty suitcase on NYD (even if you just run around the yard with it), you just might be rewarded with a year filled with travel and adventure.
- And finally, this one also comes from Latin cultures and is just a bit cheeky. It is said that New Year’s Eve is the perfect time to break out your red underwear. Wearing those special undies will guarantee you a lucky and prosperous year; it could also help usher in a passionate romance – who am I to disagree?
So remember - forewarned is forearmed – you are now adequately prepared to have a hand in controlling your destiny in 2025 – should you wish to do so – in any event, Happy New Year to you all!