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Believe it or not, I received these interesting cultural traditions in an email from my local car dealership, and wanted to pass them on!
In Germany and in Austria, it’s a common custom to celebrate the new year by trying to sneak a peek into what the future holds with a practice called Bleigießen or Bleigiessen. This tradition, translated as “lead pouring” involves melting lead in a spoon, then pouring it into a receptacle of cold water and interpreting the resulting shapes. What is seen is supposed to indicate what the year will hold. If the lead forms a ball, you’re in luck; if it forms a ring, there’s love in the air. Shapes can be interpreted as either good signs or foreboding ones. Another tradition is to not clear the table before midnight; leaving a little food on the plate is said to ensure plenty in the coming year.
In Denmark, dishes hold an entirely different place in an unusual, time-honored New Year’s tradition. Old plates are put aside throughout the year, saved for smashing on the doorsteps of dear friends. The more broken dishes that adorn your threshold, the better, as this is representative of the friendships and positive relationships you will enjoy in the coming year.
In Peru, traditions meant to invite good fortune for the coming year abound. These include the custom called baño de flores (bath of flowers), in which a bath is drawn and flowers of a particular color are added; the specific color can bring the bather luck, money, love or other prosperities in the coming year. Similarly, the use of color to attract good fortune also applies to a tradition practiced in certain South American countries; sporting new garb, particularly yellow undergarments, is thought to bring good luck. Other Peruvian traditions include throwing coins to cast away poverty, and creating muñecos, which are effigies burned to symbolically get rid of misfortunes that occurred in the previous year. Eating a dozen grapes as the clock strikes midnight is also an omen of good luck practiced in several other countries including Spain.
Scotland contributes its own interesting New Year’s traditions. The holiday, known as Hogmanay, is welcomed with plenty of merriment and intriguing traditions like “first footing” and “fire swinging.” According to the tradition of “first footing,” for good fortune to follow in the new year, the first person to enter a home after midnight should be a man – ideally “tall, dark and handsome” – and he should also bear a present meant to bring prosperity to the household such as salt or another traditional item. It is considered a bad omen if the first person to enter a home is a woman with blonde or red hair. Fireball Swinging is a tradition prominent in Stonehaven, Scotland. Celebrants create “fireballs,” usually out of materials such as chicken wire, paper or tar, which they ignite and swing in the air to signify the sun and chase away, or burn up, bad fortune from the previous year, making way for good luck in the new year.
However you celebrate, join your neighbors around the world and have a Happy New Year. I posted a list of recommended gifts on my new Squidoo page - http://www.squidoo.com/foreign-language-recommended-gift-list
as always, email me at polyglot@wor.com if you need any recommendations for products at www.wor.com - we just added new games in Spanish, French and German!!! Italian coming soon!
