The wild, whacky things people believe in
MANY persons draw a connection with what they do on January 1, the first day of the New Year, and their fate throughout the rest of the year. Many superstitions associated with the event bear the common theme that whatever is done on that day set the pattern for the year to come, while some others have to do with warding off evil spirits and bad luck.
Here are some of the ways we guarantee a good outcome through our acts on that portentous first day:
Kissing at midnight
Many persons kiss those dearest to them at midnight, not only to share a moment of celebration with favourite people, but also to ensure those affections and ties will continue throughout the next twelve months. Some believe that failing to smooch their significant others at the stroke of twelve would be to set the stage for a year of coldness.
Stocking Up
The New Year must not be seen in with empty cupboards, lest that be the way of things for the year. Cupboards must be topped up, and some money must be placed in every wallet in the home to guarantee prosperity.
Food
A tradition in Guyana is to prepare a big pot of cook-up. This will supposedly guarantee that you have food throughout the New Year. Common to the southern states of the USA, people believe that eating black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day will attract both general good luck and financial good fortune, in particular to the one doing the dining. Some choose to add other foods to this tradition, but the black-eyed pea is key.
Other “lucky foods” include lentil soup (because lentils supposedly look like coins) and pork. The explanation for this is interesting: poultry scratches backwards, a cow stands still, but a pig roots forward, so those who dine upon pork will be moving forward in the New Year. Some believe that persons must not eat chicken or turkey on the first day of the year, lest, like the birds in question, diners fate themselves to scratch in the dirt for their dinners all year (that is, they bring poverty upon themselves).
Money and Paying off bills
Householders should not begin the New Year being in debt. Checks should be written and mailed off prior to January 1st. Likewise, personal debts should be settled before the New Year arrives. Do not repay loans or lend money or other precious items on New Year’s Day. To do so is to guarantee you’ll be paying out all year.
First footing
The first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will influence the year you’re about to have. Ideally, he should be dark-haired, tall, and good-looking; and it would be even better if he came bearing certain small gifts, such as a lump of coal, a silver coin, a bit of bread, a sprig of evergreen, or some salt.
Some believe that females who first set foot in your house (first footers) should be shooed away before they bring disaster down on the household. Aim a gun at them if you have to, but don’t let them near your door before a man crosses the threshold. The first footer (sometimes called the “Lucky Bird”) should knock and be let in rather than unceremoniously use a key, even if he is one of the householders.
After greeting those in the house and dropping off whatever small tokens of luck he has brought with him, he should make his way through the house and leave by a different door than the one through which he entered. No one should leave the premises before the first footer arrives — the first traffic across the threshold must be headed in, rather than striking out.
It continues, and there are a lot more rules as to this first footer: First footers must not be cross-eyed or have flat feet or eyebrows that meet in the middle.
Nothing is stopping you from stationing a dark-haired man outside the home just before midnight to ensure the speedy arrival of a suitable first footer as soon as midnight arrives. If one of the partygoers is recruited for this purpose, impress upon him the need to slip out
Nothing goes out
Nothing — not even garbage — is to leave the house on the first day of the year. If you have anything to deliver on New Year’s Day, leave it in the car overnight. Don’t so much as shake out a rug or take the empties to the recycle bin.
Some people soften this rule by saying it’s okay to remove things from the home on New Year’s Day, provided something else has been brought in first. This is similar to the caution regarding first footers; the year must begin with something being added to the home before anything subtracts from it.
One who lives alone might place a lucky item or two in a basket that has a string tied to it, then set the basket just outside the front door before midnight. After midnight, the lone celebrant hauls in his catch, being careful to bring the item across the door jamb by pulling the string rather than by reaching out to retrieve it and thus breaking the plane of the threshold.
Work
Make sure to do — and be successful at — something related to your work on the first day of the year, even if you don’t go near your place of employment that day. Limit your activity to a token amount, though, because to engage in a serious work project on that day is very unlucky.
Also, do not do the laundry on New Year’s Day, lest a member of the family be ‘washed away’ (die) in the upcoming months. The more cautious eschew even washing dishes.
New clothes
Wear something new on January 1 to increase the likelihood of your receiving more new garments during the year to follow.
Breakage
Avoid breaking things on that first day, lest wreckage be part of your year. Also, avoid crying on the first day of the year, lest that activity set the tone for the next twelve months.
The weather
Observe the weather in the early hours of New Year’s Day. If the wind blows from the south, there will be fine weather and prosperous times in the year ahead. If it comes from the north, it will be a year of bad weather. The wind blowing from the east brings famine and calamities. Strangest of all, if the wind blows from the west, the year will witness plentiful supplies of milk and fish, but will also see the death of a very important person. If there’s no wind at all, a joyful and prosperous year can be expected by all.
Born January 1
Babies born on this day are believed to be lucky.
Letting the Old Year out
At midnight, all the doors of a house must be opened to let the old year escape unimpeded. He must leave before the New Year can come in, says popular wisdom, so doors are opened to assist him in finding his way out.
Loud noise
Make as much noise as possible at midnight. According to widespread superstition, evil spirits and the Devil himself hate loud noise. We celebrate by making as much of a din as possible not just as an expression of joy at having a new year at our disposal, but also to make sure the Devil and his minions don’t stick around. You’re not just celebrating with that gadawful din you are making; you’re scaring away evil spirits, so have fun and do a good job of it!
