New Year's Eve is a time of celebration and hope in which all the moments that have just passed are relived and the new year is toasted.
Like any self-respecting party, it brings with it many curiosities and traditions , let's discover them together:
1. New Year's Day
It was celebrated for the first time in 4000 BC and above all the chosen date was that of Halloween or between October 31st and November 1st , while in Italy it was celebrated on March 1st . The day was later changed with the introduction of the solar calendar .
2. Dress in Red
According to the Romans, red was a color linked to luck , happiness and health . Precisely because the New Year begins a " new life " they chose red as a good omen .
3. Making the Barrels
In the past, this type of celebration allowed to remove the Chinese god Nian considered a man-eater .
Now the fireworks are used to open the celebrations, the first to use them were the Chinese who invented them around the eighth century after Christ. I n Europe will have to wait until the 13th century where they began to be used for military celebrations.
4. Culinary traditions
There are those who follow them and those who do not give them particular importance. Definitely a must on December 31st are lentils , a symbol of prosperity , money and luck. Lentils are the first legume to be cultivated and carry with them religious meanings linked to Christianity the most significant is found in the Old Testament, with the episode of the lentil dish between Esau and Jacob.
Not everyone knows, however, that for those looking for a soul mate at midnight, they must savor a pomegranate .
Not sure how to cook lentils? Check it out here
5. Round foods only
The lucky foods for New Year's Eve are round ones (eg lentils, pomegranate grains). The ring is a perfect shape that symbolizes the closing of the cycle of the year .
5. Kiss under the mistletoe
Lovers at the stroke of midnight should, according to tradition, kiss under the mistletoe , the origin we owe to Scandinavian mythology. The berries of the mistletoe symbolizing the tears of the son of the goddess Frigg who was killed by a mistletoe arrow. The son soon came back to life and the goddess began to kiss all the people who passed by the plant.
6. In Scotland
According to Scottish tradition, it will be the people who will have the power to choose whether it will be a lucky or an unlucky year . After midnight, those who enter their homes will establish the fortunes of the year that has just begun.
7. In Japan
In Japan it is traditional to go to bars to drink sake and listen to 108 strokes of the gong that announce the imminent arrival of the new year. The number of strokes symbolizes the amount of sins that were committed in the previous year and that are eliminated with the arrival of the new one .
8. In Spain
In Spain at the stroke of midnight you have to eat 12 grapes. 12 like the months of the year, each grain symbolizes luck and happiness.
Even if you don't wear anything red and don't eat lentils, we wish you a Happy New Year and lots of happiness, may your dreams always come true.
Do you know all the curiosities about Christmas?
