Every occasion has some rituals of its own. People believe following these rituals make the occasion even more auspicious And make the whole year fortunate. New Year is welcomed all over the world with utmost celebration by lighting firecrackers, decorating homes, hosting dinners and so much more. This is something we all know but do you know every country has its own ritual to welcome the New Year and every ritual has its own meaning and reason?
Just like in Japan, people celebrate Oshogatsu with family by cleaning and decorating the entire house with natural decorations such as pine branches, plum blossoms and bamboo being in a significant role for the celebration.
Brazil has a very different way to celebrate the New Year. Brazilians believe before midnight, people should eat 7 raisins for good luck.
Then there is England, the English believe for good fortune the first guest to enter through the front door should be young, dark-headed male carrying gifts such as bread, salt and coal signifying to be full, wealthy and to stay warm the whole year.
Out of all the rituals perhaps Denmark’s way of welcoming the New Year is filled with fun and is definitely out of the box! People there save their old dishes in order to break them on each other’s front doors. This is marked as a sign of friendship. Residents allow these broken dishes to pile up at their front door to show who has the most number of friends. Weird but friendship is all about craziness and fun right?
Regardless of how it is celebrated, spreading love and happiness is perhaps the only common part of the occasion. So let’s welcome this coming year with an open heart and mind.
