Start the Year with a BANG!

Happy New Year!! Today is the first day of 2011 and the whole world is going to celebrate the coming of this year. Everybody has their own way of celebrating their New Year and it is one of my favorite holidays. Each one observes some New Year traditions. Here are some of them:

Eating Lucky

• Black-eyed peas and lentils eaten on New Year’s Day are said to wealth and safety for the whole year.
• Eat 12 grapes, one grape for each month of the year, for prosperity.
• Eating pork on New Year’s Day is lucky because pigs eat moving forward. Therefore, those who eat pork will move forward in the coming year.

Lucky Fashion

• Wear something new on January 1st. It means that new clothes will be brought to you.
• Wear red underwear on New Year’s Eve to bring luck.
• Wear red clothing on New Year’s Day.

Acting Lucky on New Year's Eve

• Every door and window should be left open at midnight on to let the old year out.
• Make lots of noise at midnight. Evil spirits attempt to come into the brand new year at this time – horns and whistles chase them away.
• Dancing around a tree ensures luck, love, and prosperity.
• There should be money in your pocket at midnight.
• The pantry should be well stocked.
• Kissing your spouse or significant other at midnight ensures that you will remain intimate with that person. To not kiss means a cold relationship for the year.
• A woman shouldn’t speak until a man says "Happy New Year."

Acting Lucky on New Year's Day

• A first-footer is the first person through the door after the stroke of midnight. This person should be a good-looking, dark-haired man. He has to knock and be let in. He would ideally be carrying a piece of coal so the house will always be warm, bread so the household will always have food, money, and greenery for long life. The first-footer brings extra luck if he happens to have a high in-step.
• The first words you hear in the minutes of the New Year will set the precedence for the entire year.
• Do something you are good or successful at on New Year’s Day. This will tell how the rest of the New Year will go.
• Any baby born on New Year’s Day has good luck the rest of his/her life. The baby also brings good luck to the family.
• Nothing goes out. The flip version of this rule is that nothing goes out until something new comes in.
• No money should be spent.
• No sweeping or dusting the first day of the year. The good luck could be swept out. If you have to sweep, you should sweep towards the center of the house and use a dust pan.
• No crying January 1st, or you will be crying all year long.

Being Superstitious

• First-footers can’t have flat feet, be cross-eyed, or have eyebrows that meet in the center.
• A first-footer can’t have blond or red hair, and a woman first-footer would be disastrous.
• Poultry should never be eaten on January 1st. Poultry scratch for their food, so those who eat poultry will "scratch" for their food all year.