The new year 2024 is just one month away, and we are so excited. What do you do on New Year’s Eve? Party with your friends and family? Well, you might think this is common, but actually it is not. This is not what many people in the world do on New Year’s Eve. Here are some bizarre traditions across the globe that will surely blow your mind.
New Year Eve’s Traditions That Are As Bizarre As It Gets
1. 12 Grapes Of Luck, Spain
Eating twelve grapes on New Year’s Eve—one for each hour until midnight—is a custom in Spain meant to bring luck and wealth. You’ll have luck in the upcoming year if you can complete them on time. Whether the grapes are sour or sweet, their flavour also portends the year ahead.
2. Burning Scarecrow, Ecuador
Here, individuals construct scarecrow-like effigies (referred to as año viejo) of pop stars, politicians, and other public figures by stuffing old garments with sawdust or newspaper and then covering them with a mask. Additionally, these effigies are burned at midnight on New Year’s Eve as a symbolic purging.
3. Smashing Plates, Denmark
As a good luck charm for the upcoming year, Danish people break plates and crockery against their neighbours’ doors. Unused dishes are stored throughout the year and thrown at friends’ and family’s front doors on December 31. The larger the pile of shattered china, the more friends and good fortune you are supposed to enjoy in the upcoming year.
4. Wearing Colourful Underwear, Latin America
The colour of your underwear determines your fortune for the coming year in Latin American (or South American) countries, including Bolivia, Brazil, and Mexico. Yes, according to legend, yellow will bring money, and red will bring love. Thus, each colour is essentially selected based on the individual’s goals for the upcoming year.
5. Mistletoe & Bread, Ireland
In Irish mythology, mistletoe is a berry linked to fertility. Single women in Ireland have been known to plant it beneath their pillows. The following day, they set it ablaze in the hopes of attracting love throughout the course of the year. Another custom is to ward off bad luck and evil spirits by pounding bread on doors and walls.
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6. Ringing 108 Bells, Japan
In Buddhist temples around Japan, 108 bells are rung at midnight on Japanese New Year’s Day, or Oshogatsu, to ward off the 108 malevolent passions that exist in all people. The Japanese people think that by ringing the bells, they will atone for their transgressions from the previous year. On New Year’s Day, it is customary to ring the bell 107 times, with the 108th time the
7. Keeping Round Things, Philippines
The focus of the Filipino New Year is money. The Filipinos think that if they surround themselves with round objects, it will bring them prosperity and money in the coming year (to represent currency and gold).
8. Tossing Off Old Furniture, Italy
“Out with the old” is the motto in some parts of Italy, like Naples, where it is customary to toss old, undesired furniture off of balconies on New Year’s Eve as a way to mark a new beginning for the coming year.
9. Keeping The First Foot, Scotland
The “first foot,” sometimes called qualtagh, is one of the oldest customs in Scotland. It states that on New Year’s Eve, the first person to cross the threshold after midnight must bring gifts. To bring the best luck to the house, these gifts can include cash, coal, bread, salt, and a “wee dram” of whiskey.
10. Keeping Carp Scale, Germany
On New Year’s Eve, people in Germany traditionally eat a dinner called Silvester Karpfen, or “New Year’s Carp.” Keeping a carp scale in your wallet all year is also seen as auspicious since it is said to bring luck and prosperity. But taking away the scale is thought to take away the luck.
What are your views?
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