The customs of peoples on the thirty-first of December range from eating some foods or lighting fires, in order to welcome the New Year:
Grapes in Spain
A number of Spaniards have been keen for a long time to eat 12 grapes, believing that this fruit brings good luck, when they receive the New Year.
This custom is not limited to the European country, but rather it is common in other regions of the world such as Latin America and some regions of Indonesia.
Irish people banging pots in the street
At midnight and the New Year approaches, the Irish go out to the street to knock on metal pots, in a tradition also common in other countries such as Australia.
It is believed by different people that percussion pots helps to expel jinx and negative energy, so that they may pave the way for a better year.
Round fruits in the Philippines
The Filipinos put a plate of 12 fruits, but provided that those fruits are round and similar to coins, so that they are an omen and herald of a better year.
A plate of fruits is placed in the middle of the table being prepared for dinner, during the New Year’s Eve.
Cups of ashes and wishes in Armenia
Armenians write their wishes for the new year on paper, then light the fire, and put it out in cups from which they drink, and they do not hesitate to drink it despite the ashes that have settled in it.
Celebrants believe that this ritual, which dates back to Russia, helps to bring good in the new year.
Slicing apples in the Czech Republic
The Czechs cut open the apple and then quickly look at the core, because its shape is important to them, whether for optimism or pessimism about what’s to come.
And if the celebratory Czechs find the core of apple fruit similar to a star, they believe that the new year will bring good, and if it is not, they are uncomfortable with what the nascent year portends.
Jumping off a chair in Denmark
Some Danes stand on chairs, at the last moments of the year that is winding down, and as soon as the new year arrives they jump to the ground.
And the Danes follow this ritual at midnight so that their jumping is a transition from one state to another, which is better and happier.
#Eating #grapes #drinking #ashes. #strange #habits #year