Most of us here in the United States are celebrating the coming of a New Year. At the stroke of midnight on January 1, we rang in 2018!
Many cultures follow different calendars and celebrate the New Year at different times. The Lunar New Year is one example.
No matter when you celebrate, there are many traditions around the world for ringing in the New Year.
Here is a look at a few of them:
Chasing away bad luck
Many cultures have traditions meant to scare off demons and bad luck. This often involves using fire or loud noises – or both – often in the form of fireworks!
But there are other ways people do it, too.
In Scotland, for example, people hold bonfire celebrations. And men from villages walk through the streets swinging giant blazing fireballs over their heads. These fireballs represent the sun and they are supposed to clean the coming year.
In Panama, people use bonfires to burn likenesses of popular celebrities and political figures. These doll-like effigies represent the old year. Burning them brings a fresh start for the New Year.
Of course, some traditions meant to avoid bad luck do not involve fire at all.
For example, just before the New Year, people in Denmark find the highest surface they can and jump from it as the New Year starts. This is so they can jump into January! The hope is that they leave behind the bad spirits and bad luck of the previous and enter a New Year full of promise and new beginnings.
Some Finnish people like to drop molten tin into cold water. Then they look at the shape and try to figure out meaning from it. For example, if it looks like a train, perhaps the New Year will bring travel. If it looks similar to a heart, perhaps it means the New Year will be filled love and romance!
Food for good luck
Many cultures have certain foods that are said to bring good luck.
In the southern part of the United States, people often eat black-eyed peas and pork for good luck in the New Year. In other parts of the U.S., people eat sauerkraut with pork sausage on New Year’s Day.
In Spain and some other countries, as the clock strikes midnight, people eat 12 grapes. These 12 grapes represent the 12 months of the year. And eating them all in the first 12 seconds of the New Year guarantees that the year will be filled with good luck.
In the Philippines, many people eat and display 12 round fruits to bring them a prosperous year.
And in Japan, people eat soba noodles on New Year’s Eve. While they eat they try not to break the long noodles -- which represent longevity.
Clothing traditions
To start the New Year off on the right foot, many people like to wear new clothing. But some traditions take it a step farther than that.
In Japan, for example, people who believe in Buddhism may dress up like the zodiac animal for the coming year. Then they go to a temple to, literally, ring in the New Year. At Buddhist temples, monks will ring a bell 108 times, one for each humanly sin.
Объяснение:
Most of us here in the United States are celebrating the coming of a New Year. At the stroke of midnight on January 1, we rang in 2018!
Many cultures follow different calendars and celebrate the New Year at different times. The Lunar New Year is one example.
No matter when you celebrate, there are many traditions around the world for ringing in the New Year.
Here is a look at a few of them:
Chasing away bad luck
Many cultures have traditions meant to scare off demons and bad luck. This often involves using fire or loud noises – or both – often in the form of fireworks!
But there are other ways people do it, too.
In Scotland, for example, people hold bonfire celebrations. And men from villages walk through the streets swinging giant blazing fireballs over their heads. These fireballs represent the sun and they are supposed to clean the coming year.
In Panama, people use bonfires to burn likenesses of popular celebrities and political figures. These doll-like effigies represent the old year. Burning them brings a fresh start for the New Year.
Of course, some traditions meant to avoid bad luck do not involve fire at all.
For example, just before the New Year, people in Denmark find the highest surface they can and jump from it as the New Year starts. This is so they can jump into January! The hope is that they leave behind the bad spirits and bad luck of the previous and enter a New Year full of promise and new beginnings.
Some Finnish people like to drop molten tin into cold water. Then they look at the shape and try to figure out meaning from it. For example, if it looks like a train, perhaps the New Year will bring travel. If it looks similar to a heart, perhaps it means the New Year will be filled love and romance!
Food for good luck
Many cultures have certain foods that are said to bring good luck.
In the southern part of the United States, people often eat black-eyed peas and pork for good luck in the New Year. In other parts of the U.S., people eat sauerkraut with pork sausage on New Year’s Day.
In Spain and some other countries, as the clock strikes midnight, people eat 12 grapes. These 12 grapes represent the 12 months of the year. And eating them all in the first 12 seconds of the New Year guarantees that the year will be filled with good luck.
In the Philippines, many people eat and display 12 round fruits to bring them a prosperous year.
And in Japan, people eat soba noodles on New Year’s Eve. While they eat they try not to break the long noodles -- which represent longevity.
Clothing traditions
To start the New Year off on the right foot, many people like to wear new clothing. But some traditions take it a step farther than that.
In Japan, for example, people who believe in Buddhism may dress up like the zodiac animal for the coming year. Then they go to a temple to, literally, ring in the New Year. At Buddhist temples, monks will ring a bell 108 times, one for each humanly sin.