New Year's tradition and customs around the world

New Year's tradition and customs around the world

New Year's tradition and customs around the world

With 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.

BABYLONIA

The people of Mesopotamia celebrate the New Yearfestival known as Akitu in
the springtime. At this time they celebrate the arrival of the spring rains
and the renewal of nature, as well as the renewal of the community.

At the festival the story of the creation is read out to remind people of
the order of the universe and how it had risen out of the struggle between
Marduck the god of heaven and Tiamut goddess of the powers of chaos.

BELGIUM

In Belgium New Year's Eve is called Sint Sylvester Vooranvond or Saint
Sylvester Eve. The réveillon or New Year's Eve family parties are thrown. At
midnight everyone kisses, exchanges good luckgreetings, and drinks toasts
to absent relatives and friends.

The cities and restaurants are crowded with people who bid farewell to the
Old Year. New Year's Day is called Nieuwjaarsdag at this time of the year
the children save money to buy decorated paper for writing holiday greetings
to parents and god parents.

BENGALI

In Bengali they celebrate New Year on the 13th or 14th of April, which is
the first day of the month that they call Baisakh. They clean and decorate
their houses in preparation for the New Year.

They use flour to paint patterns on the ground out the front of their
houses, in the middle of the design they place an earthenware pot, decorated
with a red and white swastika which is a religious symbol, and filled with
holy water and vermilion.

Also inside the pot they place a mango tree branch, which must consist of
five twigs and a number of leaves. The pot symbolizes good fortune for the
family.

BRAZIL

In Brazil the lentil is believed to signify wealth, so on the first day of
the New Year they serve lentil soup or lentils and rice. In Brazil on New
Year's Eve priestesses of the local macumba voodoo cult dress in blue skirts
and white blouses for a ceremony dedicated to thegoddess of water, Yemanja.

A sacrificial boat laden with flowers, candles and jewelry is pushed out to
sea from Brazil's famous Ipenama beach in Rio de Janeiro.

BURMA

The Burmese New Year, which is based on the Fixed Zodiac system, falls on or
around April 16. In Burma there is a three day New Year festival called Maha
Thingyan, which is celebrated with prayers, fasting and fun.

During the festivities, buildings and temples are washed, and people throw
water over each other. This is partly to welcome the heavy rains of the
coming monsoon season. The Burmese New Yearfestival is held to celebrate
the New Year, by performing meritorious deeds and spraying one another with
Thingyan water.

CAMBODIA

The people of Cambodia use the Indian Calendar to calculate the start of the
New Year festival. The festival starts on the 12, 13 or 14 April according
to the Gregorian calendar and lasts for three days.

Cambodian New Year's Eve is the day before whichever date it is and it lasts
three days. It is called Chaul Chnam Thmey, which means entering the New
Year.

DENMARK

In Denmark it is a good sign to find your door heaped with a pile of broken
dishes at New Years. Old dishes are saved year around to throw them at the
homes where their friends live on New Years Eve. Many broken dishes were a
symbol that you have many friends.

New Year's Eve is framed by two important items broadcast on television and
radio, respectively the monarch's New Year Speech at 6pm and the striking of
midnight by the Town Hall Clock in Copenhagen, which marks the start of the
new 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.

ENGLAND
England New year

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.

GERMAN
German new year
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 yearahead.

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.

VIETNAM
vietnam new year
The more popular name for the Vietnamese New Year is Tet, where as the
formal name is Nguyen-dan. Tet is a very important festival because it
provides one of the few breaks in the agricultural year, as it falls between
the harvesting of the crops and the sowing of the new crops.

The Vietnamese prepare well in advance for theNew Year by cleaning their
houses, polishing their copper and silverware and paying off all their
debts.

WALES
Wales new year
At the first toll of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to
release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. Then at the twelfth
stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed
with all of its luck.

HAITI

In Haiti, New Year's Day is a sign of the year to come. Haitians wear new
clothing and exchange gifts in the hope that it will bode well for the new
year.

SICILY
sicilian new year
An old Sicilian tradition says good luck will come to those who eat lasagna
on New Year's Day, but woe if you dine on macaroni, for any other noodle
will bring bad luck.

SPAIN
spain new year
In Spain, when the clock strikes midnight, the Spanish eat 12 grapes, one
with every toll, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead.

PERU

The Peruvian New Year's custom is a spin on the Spanish tradition of eating
12 grapes at the turn of the year. But in Peru, a 13th grape must be eaten
to assure good luck.

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 IslamicNew Year throughout the
world is held quietly, without the festive atmosphere of other New Year
celebrations.

KOREA
Korean new year
The first day of the lunar New Year is called Sol-nal. This is for families
to renew ties and prepare for the new year. New Year's Eve: People place
straw scoopers, rakes or sieves on their doors and walls to protect their
families from evil spirit sin the new year.

Everyone dresses in new clothes, the following morning, symbolizing a fresh
beginning, and gathers at the home of the eldest male family member.
Ancestral memorial rites are held, then the younger generation bows to
elders in the family. They wish them good health and prosperity in the
coming year.

JAPAN

The Japanese New Year Oshogatsu is an important time for family
celebrations, when all the shops, factories and offices are closed. The
Japanese decorate their homes in tribute to lucky gods.

One tradition, kadomatsu, consists of a pine branch symbolizing longevity, a
bamboo stalk symbolizing prosperity, and a plum blossom showing nobility.

POLAND

In Poland New Year's Eve is known as St. Sylvester's Eve. This name according
to legends arose from Pope Sylvester I who was supposed to have imprisoned a
dragon called Leviathan who was supposedly able to escape on the first day
of the year 1000, devour the land and the people, and was suppose to have
set fire to the heavens.

On New Year's Day, when the world did not come to an end, there was great
rejoicing and from then on this day was called St Sylvester's Eve.

PORTUGAL
Portuguese new year
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 caroling from home to home and
are given treats and coins. They sing old songs or Janeiro's which is said
to bring good luck.

ROME
Rome New Year
Romans prepare for the New Year festival which is known as January Kalends
by decorating their houses with lights and greenery. The festival lasts for
three days, during this time they hold feasts and exchange gifts which were
carefully chosen for their luck-bringing properties these include such
things as sweets or honey to ensure sweetness and peace as well as Gold,
Silver or money for prosperity. Lamps for a year filled with light.

SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa New Year
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 carnival atmosphere as there are
carnivals where people dress in colorful costumes and dance in streets to
the sound of drums.

SPAIN
Spain New year
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. Theater productions and movies are interrupted to
carry out this custom.

SWAZILAND

In Swaziland the harvest festival is called Newalaor ""first fruits""
ceremony and takes place at the end of the year.

It is a celebration of kingship, traditional 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.
Switzerland New year
THAILAND

The Thai New Year festival is called Songkran and lasts for three days from
13 to 15 April according the Gregorian calendar.

The customs are many such as people throw water over one another, under the
guise of that it will bring good rains in the coming year and all the Buddha
statues or images are washed. They visit the monastery to pray and offer
gifts of rice, fruit, sweets and other foods for the monks.

UNITED STATES
New year in 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.

PAKISTAN

New Year in Pakistan is known as Nowrooz or New Day. This day begins in
March and traditionally represents the rebirth of nature after the long
winter. The New Year begins the instant the sun is no longer in the
astrological sign of Pisces and enters Aries.

It is celebrated as a time of renewal. One of the customs of Nawrooz is the
practice of burning piles of wood. The bonfires are a symbol to destroy any
remaining evil from the previous year.

NORWAY

Norwegians make rice pudding at New Year's and hide one whole almond within.
Guaranteed wealth goes to the person whose serving holds the lucky almond.

Not to get too personal, but what color undies did you wear last night?
It could make all the difference for health and happiness in 2009.
Wearing yellow knickers at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve is
believed to usher in wealth and prosperity in many Latin and South American
cultures.
Wearing, eating or doing something to bring good luck is a New Year's
tradition the world over. Even if you forgot the golden undies last night,
there are plenty of other customs you can act on today to make 2009 a
prosperous year:
Eat black-eyed peas and collard greens: The beans symbolize luck and the
greens wealth. It is one of the varying interpretations of this American
South tradition.
Eat lentils: The circular legumes represent coins and are a popular culinary
staple in Italian and Latin New Year's meals.
Eat cabbage: The leaves of this vegetable are thought to represent money.
Eat pomegranates: Again, the seeds are thought to represent coins in some
cultures.
Get cleaning: Purging your home of old things is meant to make room for the
new and represent a fresh start.
If it has a golden color, eat it: Foods yellow or gold in color, such as
oranges, are thought to represent wealth.
Embrace circular foods: Breads, pies and orb-shaped fruits represent coming
full circle and are believed to bring good fortune.
Hope the first guest through the door is a man: If a man enters your home at
the start of the new year you're in luck; if it's a woman . . . hope for the
best.
Eat egg and spring rolls: In some Asian cultures these fried favorites
symbolize gold bars.
Parade a baby around in a basket: The ancient Greeks did this to honor
Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility.
Whatever you do, don't eat lobster, beef or chicken. All move backward or
stand to eat, both signs of bad luck