New Year’s traditions set the tone for rest of the year
- Scott Daniels: We Ate Well and Cheaply
- December 27, 2018
- 1600
While many of us will be filling up on pork, kraut and mashed potatoes over the New Year, we’ll also be observing all sorts of traditions to get 2019 kicked off properly.
In just about every culture, New Year’s Day, and how we behave that day, is thought to set the tone for the rest of the year, so you want to get that day right, filling it with luck and good omens.
All those little strands of cabbage in the kraut are supposed to represent an abundance of money coming your way through the year. I hope that works out better for you than it has for me.
The practices of other cultures, especially in relation to food and celebrations, have always fascinated me. In poking around and learning New Year’s traditions found elsewhere, the Greeks stand out as a group who really, really want to cover all the bases in vacuuming up all the nearby luck they can find on the first day of the year.
If your own New Year’s Day threatens to be a lackluster affair of food binging, football and gassy uncles, here are some ideas to borrow from the Greeks to liven things up a bit.
In many parts of Greece, they hang an onion on the front door as a symbol of happiness and prosperity with some rebirth and new growth thrown in for good measure. One source I found said the onion is sometimes used to bump the heads of sleeping children to wake them New Year’s Day. Nothing says “it’s going to be a great year!” better than being thwacked with a root vegetable while you’re asleep.
Now fully awake, the children are sent out to sing carols for the neighbors, taking a small triangle for accompaniment. This tradition is to bring good wishes to others for the new year. “I hope you have a great year, Mr. Mitchell. These carols would be better if we remembered all the words, but we’ve just been wakened with an onion to the head.”
We unwittingly probably duplicate another Greek New Year’s Day tradition in our area: marathon card playing. I know there are a lot of avid card players around here, and playing card games leading up to midnight New Year’s Eve takes advantage of all the luck in the air. It’s also thought to be a good time to buy a lottery ticket.
There also is a Greek ritual in which the whole family goes outside, then are led back in by a innocent young child stepping carefully on their right foot as they re-enter, to symbolize starting the year off on the right footing. The rest of the family does the same.
In terms of food, Greeks are eating orzo and tomato soup or one of the many cabbage variations found again and again in New Year’s traditions around the world.
There also is the Vasilopita, a cake into which a coin has been baked. As the cake is sliced, the first piece is always for Christ. Then the others follow varying rules. Some give the second slice to the Virgin Mary, some say it is for the entire household, while still others dedicate a slice to Saint Basil, who is said to be a beacon of hope for those who live in poverty. The rest of the cake is distributed to all present, and only then can they look for the lucky coin, which will bring them peace, prosperity and good health in the new year.
Whatever your family does this week, I pray your traditions bring you together in happiness that spreads and grows throughout 2019.