New Years Celebrations

Alternatively known as ‘Tondo Matsuri’, ‘Sai No Kami’, ‘Sagicho’’ and Dondo Yaki’, Dōsojin Matsuri are special New Year Fire Festivals. They are held in shrines and public spaces to bless and then burn the previous year’s New Year’s decorations on a huge bonfire constructed of a wigwam of bamboo.

Shimekazari (sacred New Year decoration made from braided rice straw and good luck charms) and other New Year ornaments are taken down from homes and ceremoniously burned on the fire to secure good health and a fruitful harvest the following year. The calligraphic wishes or prayers of young children (called kakizome) are also placed onto the bonfire. As the children’s’ prayers are burnt, they are lifted up into the air towards the gods, bringing success to the children in the new year.

The loud crackling and popping sounds made by the burning bamboo is believed to tell listeners whether or not they will receive good fortune in the year to come.

Dōsojin is also the name for the Shinto guardian deities, which are closely associated with fertility in crops and people. At Dōsojin Matsuri, prayers are made to Dōsojin statues for successful births and bountiful harvests. One of the largest celebrations of Dōsojin Matsuri takes place at Nozowa Onsen in Nagana Prefecture.

Fire and snow always go well and the Nozawa Onsen Fire Festival, Nozawa Onsen Dosojin Matsuri exemplifies this as one of the three great fire festivals in Japan.

Taking place on January 15th every year, the festival is staged to celebrate the birth of a family’s first child, to dispel evil spirits and also to pray for happy marriage.

 

Each year crowds gather for the famous Dōsojin Matsuri, a kind of cleansing ritual for men aged 25 and 42 years, the so-called ‘unlucky ages’ in Japan. The 42-year-olds’ task is to defend a purpose-built two-story shrine, which they sit upon as it is besieged by fire at the hands of the 25-year-olds and onlookers.

It takes roughly one hundred villagers to build the shrine for the Nozawa Fire Festival. The trees are cut down in October and brought down from the mountain and through the village on January 13th prior to being made into a huge wooden structure or shaden. After the shaden has been constructed, the priest from Kosuge shrine performs a ceremony endowing it with a dosojin.

The highlight on January 15th is a “fire-setting battle” which ends up with the setting fire of the shaden with blazing torches by the offensive team and the offering of torches to the deity, making the festival truly spectacular and exciting.

The main spectacle involves a small group of 25 year old villagers guarding the base of the three story structure, and another group of very inebriated 25 year old men sitting atop the structure drinking and cheering on their teammates. Directly across from the structure, a massive bonfire is lit, which is flanked on both sides by excited visitors.

The villagers light their bamboo bundles on fire and walk in groups as large as 10 to the structure to do battle with the guards. The men at the base form human shields and use tree branches to extinguish the flames. The entire battle can last for over 2 hours and became very intense and violent at times with men shoving, jumping, slapping, and hitting each other with lit bundles of bamboo.

The entire festival is quite lengthy and can take up to four hours from the beginning to the end. Some observers gather just for the main attraction which is the battle between the guards and the torch bearing villagers. Add liberal servings of saké to all of the above and you’re sure to go home buzzing after seeing quite a spectacle – and maybe a bit scorched from the flames (don’t wear your new down jacket).

This famous Japanese festival is nationally designated as an important intangible folk cultural property. It originally began as an invocation for a good harvest, health and good fortune in the coming year, but has been expanded to include a good ski season as well.

Sources:

January 1st is Apple Gifting Day. This unusual food holiday of unknown origin is a nice way to start the new year. Up until the 17th century, apple was a generic term for fruit other than berries. The apple symbolizes many things such as love, knowledge, bounty, good heath, beauty, and rebirth. One possible meaning behind giving an apple is to wish the recipient good health and a fruitful year. Give apples to friends and family. There are over 7,000 types of apples, so look for a new variety to give out each year.

From The Wisdom of Trees by Jane Gifford, we have this:

The apple teaches the lesson of love and faith, generosity and gratitude. Love not just between man and woman but as the driving force behind our existence and the relationships that we share with others; faith both in ourselves and in others; and generosity and trust in the understanding that a heart that is open to give and receive is both the gateway to personal happiness and fulfillment and the key that unlocks the secrets of the Otherworld.

The generous apple satisfies body, mind, and spirit, and warns against miserliness, for like attracts like. What we give will be the measure of all we receive.

Sources:

January 1st marks the beginning of a New Year, a year of new beginnings, new hopes, and new adventures. But why January 1st? To fully understand this, we must travel back in time, back to antiquity. The Ancient Romans began the new year in the middle of March. This was logical because at this time of year life begins to emerge from the dead of winter. Leaves begin turning green, flower buds sprout from the ground, and signs of new life are everywhere. Hibernating animals awake from their slumber and baby animals take their first steps.

Then along came Julius Caesar with his own ideas. During a trip to Egypt, Caesar had seen a marvelous, intriguing calendar. He brought it back to Rome where he and his scholars began to interpret and tamper with it to create the Julian Calendar. Unfortunately, while making these changes they completely lost the accurateness of the Egyptian calendar. During this time, they decided that January 1st would begin the new year.

After years of editing and corruption of the Julian Calendar, Pope Gregory XIII established the Gregorian Calendar in 1582. This calendar solidified the dates and was thought to better encompass the four seasons. Most countries use this calendar today.

There were and are other calendars used around the world. The Aztec, the Hindu, the lunar, and the Jewish calendars are a few examples. Asian countries follow the lunar calendar and celebrate the New Year in January or February while Diwali begins the New Year in India in October or November. The Jewish New Year commences in late September to early October.

For all people the New Year is a time of celebration. It is a time to reflect on our past, to forgive others, and to make amends. It is a time to look forward to our futures and to cherish our family and friends.

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.
A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.
-Bill Vaughan

To everyone, everywhere, we wish you a Happy New Year.

Found at: Web Holidays

According to some calendars, August 1st is the Egyptian New Year. So if you’d like to rethink those New Year’s Resolutions from back in January, or if you’d like to do some spells or rituals for the New Year but don’t want to wait another four months, today is a golden opportunity.

“Wipe the slate clean
dream a new dream.”

With a little bit of imagination, the above quote can be used to create a spell for new beginnings. Here’s an example. You will need a small chalkboard or dry erase board, or a piece of paper, a pencil, and an appropriate eraser.

Light a white candle and think about the resolutions you made for the New Year, in particular, the ones that you were unable to keep. Write them on the chalkboard. As you write each one, say out loud:

“I don’t have to do this
if I don’t want to!”

Now, take your eraser, and begin erasing the resolutions. As you erase, chant the following incantation over and over until the chalkboard (or whatever you used) is totally clean.

“I wipe the slate clean,
I dream a new dream.”

You now have a clean slate, and an opportunity to create a whole new dream. Enjoy!

Note: This post was put together by Shirleytwofeathers you may repost and share if you give me credit and a link back to this website. Blessed be.

The Iroquois Mid-Winter Ceremony, for continuation of all life-sustaining things is a series of rituals, observed by the six tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, which celebrates new beginnings and serves as a spiritual new year. The ceremony does not have an official date on the calendar, but rather is determined when the first new moon arrives while both the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor constellations are visible, which occurs in either February or January.

  • According to one calendar, this will be Feb 19 thru Feb 28, in 2018.
  • According to other star maps, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor can be seen above the horizon in northern areas all year.

The major events of the Midwinter Ceremony consist of the Tobacco Invocation, the Dream Sharing Ritual, the False Face Society, the Peach Stone Game, the Bear Dance, the White Dog Sacrifice, the Great Feather Dance, The Big Heads and the Stirring of the Ashes, and a closing ceremony. These events take place over the course of ten days with no specific order, but generally begin with The Big Heads and the Stirring of the Ashes and ends with a closing ceremony.

  • Big Heads and the Stirring of the Ashes

Generally, the first of the activities is the Big Heads and the Stirring of the Ashes. A group of anonymous messengers called the Big Heads visit the tribe’s longhouse. They wear ceremonial outfits made of buffalo skins and braided corn husk masks which symbolize the hunt and the harvest.

They also carry a corn mashing mallet used in the Stirring of the Ashes. In the Stirring of the Ashes, the Big Heads go from house to house stirring the ashes in fire pits of each household while they ask that the New Year brings renewal and fertility to the land. This is gesture of gratitude to “The Creator” as ashes serve as a symbol of the earth and the cycle of life.

  • Tobacco Invocation

The next ritual to usually take place after the Stirring of the Ashes is the Tobacco Invocation. It consists of sprinkling tobacco in the embers remaining from the Stirring of the Ashes or outright smoking as an offering. The smoke that rises from the burning tobacco symbolically rises to the heavens to sign of giving thanks and to give messages to the Creator and other spirits.

  • Dream Sharing Ritual

The Dream Sharing Ritual serves as a ritual of healing. It serves as a way to get rid of troubling thoughts and a way to make wishes come true as the Iroquois believe that dreams represent ways to resolve real life problems. Tribe members would describe their dreams in front of others so they may give their interpretation of the events that take place in the dreams.

The person who has the best interpretation has to then aid the tribe member in seeing that the issue gets resolved. For dreams that represent physical or mental ailments, they dreamer is sent to the False Face Society which is a group of medicine men.

  • False Face Society

The False Face Society is a group of Iroquois medicine men who wear masks made out of wood. These people can consist of either men or women, but only the men wear the traditional masks. They are said to have the ability to scare off the evil spirits that cause illness. Those who are deemed of needing healing during the Dream Sharing Ritual are sent to these medicine men during their gathering. Healing rituals consist generally of blowing or rubbing hot ashes from a fire on those in need of curing.

  • Bear Dance

The Bear Dance is another healing ritual that coincides with the False Face Society gathering. It is conducted by both men and women by lumbering and waddling like bear counter clockwise around a person that was ill.

This can be done either privately or publicly. The Iroquois believed that this dance can heal the problems of person that were placed upon them from the previous year.

  • Peach Stone Game

The next event is the Peach Stone Game. This game symbolizes the Iroquois creation story where the Creator and his evil brother played a game in competition during the creation of the Earth, the renewal of the Earth like the Stirring of the Ashes, and the battle for survival of crops.

The game consists of six peach pits which are colored black (through burning for example) on one side. They are placed in a bowl and shaken while two teams take turns placing bets in the form of beans on how many black sides will face up. The teams are given an equal number of beans, and the first team to lose all of their beans loses the match. The results of this game are also used to predict the success of the coming year’s harvest.

  • White Dog Sacrifice

One of the following events is the White Dog Sacrifice. Originally, this ritual consisted of killing a white dog, a symbol of purity, by strangulation as to leave no marks. The dog was then adorned in red paint, feathers, beads, wampum, and ribbons. It was placed on fire along with tobacco so that smoke may carry their, sacrifice, and prayers to the Creator.

Today, however, the act of killing a white dog is replaced by a white basket due to the animal cruelty in the original proceedings of the ritual.

  • Great Feather Dance

The final event before the closing ceremonies is the Great Feather Dance. The dance is held on eight night of the nine-day festival, and serves as way to welcome the new spiritual year as well as thanking the Creator. Dancers wear traditional tribal clothing and turtle shell rattles, and dance to two singers that sit facing each other. They give thanks to all the Creator has bestowed upon them during the previous year by dancing in rhythm and shaking the rattles.

The event finally concludes with a closing ceremony where a speaker presenting an overview of the events and address of thanksgiving. New tribal council members who will lead the people until the next event are chosen and presented to the crowd. By the end of this ceremony, all members of the tribe are purified and a new year is welcomed.

Source: First Nation Rituals

full-moon

Daeboreum (literally “Great Full Moon”) is a Korean holiday that celebrates the first full moon of the new year of the lunar Korean calendar which is the Korean version of the First Full Moon Festival. This holiday is accompanied by many traditions. The 2017 date is February 11, in 2018 the date is March 2.

Many customs and games are traditional on this day, which is also sometimes called the Great Fifteenth. The Fifteenth, or Full Moon Day, marks the end of the New Year season in Korea and is regarded as the final opportunity to ensure good luck for the coming year.

It is considered lucky on this day for people to routinely repeat their actions nine times—particularly children, who compete with each other to see how many “lucky nines” they can achieve before the day is over.

It is common to celebrate the Great Fifteenth with kite flying and kite fighting, which is done by covering the strings with glass dust and then crossing them so that they rub together as they fly. The string held by the more skillfully manipulated kite eventually cuts through the string of the less successful kite, sending it crashing to the ground.

Another popular sport on this day is the tug-of-war. In some areas, an entire town or county is divided into two opposing teams. It is widely believed that the winners will bring in a plentiful crop and will be protected from disease in the coming year.

One familiar custom is to crack nuts with one’s teeth. It is believed that this practice will help keep one’s teeth healthy for the year.

In the countryside, people climb mountains, braving cold weather, trying to catch the first rise of the moon. It is said that the first person to see the moon rise will have good luck all year or a wish will be granted.

People play the traditional game named Jwibulnori (쥐불놀이) the night before Daeboreum. They burn the dry grass on ridges between rice fields while children whirl around cans full of holes, through which charcoal fire blaze. These cans fertilize the fields and get rid of harmful worms that destroy the new crops.

For breakfast, a five-“grain” rice consisting of rice, millet, Indian millet, beans, and red beans is served (gok includes grains and beans). This is eaten with various dried herbs. One of the special foods of Daeboreum is Yaksik (약식 / 藥食). This treat is made of glutinous rice, chestnuts, pinenuts, honey, sauce, and sesame oil.

Also there is wine drinking for Daeboreum. It called ‘Ear-quickening wine (귀밝이술)’. This alcohol means that if someone drank this alcohol, he or she would be quick to hear and hear good news for one year.

On this day, Koreans traditionally do not give any food to dogs since it is believed that dogs that eat on this day will contract gad flies and become ill during the coming summer.

Sources: Wikipedia and Answers.com

candles (1)

The seventh day of the Chinese New Year, traditionally known as Rénrì (人日, the common man’s birthday), is the day when everyone grows one year older. In some overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, such as Malaysia and Singapore, it is also the day when tossed raw fish salad, yusheng, is eaten for continued wealth and prosperity.

This day is filled with omens about human fate. For example, any person or animal born on this day is considered doubly blessed and destined for prosperity. So, consider taking out a divination tool today and seeing what fate holds for you.

In Chinese mythology, Nüwa is the goddess who created the world. She created the animals on different days, and human beings on the seventh day after the creation of the world. The order of creation is as follows:

  • First of zhengyue: Chicken
  • Second of zhengyue: Dog
  • Third of zhengyue: Boar
  • Fourth of zhengyue: Sheep
  • Fifth of zhengyue: Cow
  • Sixth of zhengyue: Horse
  • Seventh of zhengyue: Human.

Hence, Chinese tradition has set the first day of zhengyue as the “birthday” of the chicken, the second day of zhengyue as the “birthday” of the dog, etc. And the seventh day of zhengyue is viewed as the common “birthday” of all human beings.

To generate Nüwa’s luck or organizational skills in your life, make and carry a clay Nüwa charm. Get some modeling clay from a toy store (if possible, choose a color that suits your goal, like green for money). If you can’t get clay, bubblegum will work, too. Shape this into a symbol of your goal, saying:

From Nüwa blessings poured,
Luck and order be restored.

Renri is the day, when all common men are growing a year older and the day is celebrated with certain foods according to the origin of the people. The ingredients of the dishes have a symbolic meaning and they should enhance health.

To honour Nüwa’s creation of animals either vegetable dishes will be eaten or a raw fish and vegetable salad called yusheng. Yusheng literally means “raw fish” but since “fish (鱼)” is commonly conflated with its homophone “abundance (余)”, Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homonym for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.

Almost no Chinese celebrate on this day. Some people just eat potatoes with angel hair noodle. The long noodle stands for longevity. In the past, seven vegetables which can repel the evil spirits and sickness away were eaten. They are as follows:

  • Celery, Shepherd’s Purse Spinach, Green Onion, Garlic, Mugwort and Colewort

Ancient Chinese had a tradition of wearing head ornaments called rensheng, which were made of ribbon or gold and represented humans. People also climbed mountains and composed poems. Emperors after the Tang dynasty granted ribbon rensheng to their subjects and held festivities with them. If there were good weather on Renri, it was considered that people will have a year of peace and prosperity.

Fireworks and huapao are lit, so Renri celebrates the “birthday” of fire as well.

Since the first days of zhengyue are considered “birthdays” of different animals, Chinese people avoid killing the animals on their respective birthdays and punishing prisoners on Renri.

Nowadays in zhengyue, Renri is celebrated as part of the Chinese New Year. Chinese people prepare lucky food in the new year, where the “seven vegetable soup,” “seven vegetable congee” and “jidi congee” are specially prepared for Renri. Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese use the “seven-colored raw fish” instead of the “seven vegetable soup”.

In Japan, Renri is called Jinjitsu. It is one of the five seasonal festivals. It is celebrated on January 7. It is also known as Nanakusa no sekku, “the feast of seven herbs”, from the custom of eating seven-herb kayu to ensure good health for the coming year.

The celebration of the feast in Japan was moved from the seventh day of the first lunar month to the seventh day of January during the Meiji period, when Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar.

Sources: 365 Goddess and wikipedia

In ancient Egypt, the saving of mankind was commemorated every year on the feast day of Hathor/Sekhmet (Jan 7). Everyone drank beer stained with pomegranate juice and worshiped

the Mistress and lady of the tomb,
gracious one,
destroyer of rebellion,
mighty one of enchantments

A statue of Sekhmet was dressed in red facing west, while Bast was dressed in green and faced east. Bast was sometimes considered to be Sekhmet´s counterpart (or twin depending on the legend), and in the festival of Hathor they embodied the duality central to Egyptian mythology. Sekhmet represented Upper Egypt while Bast represented Lower Egypt.

  • Note:

The dates for this feast day vary widely.  In the book, Festivals of Light, August 7 is given as the Inebriety of Hathor, with a similar description of the festivities.

145af4c80ce552d556e7aeddbc3810cd

A branch of the plum-tree placed over the door at New Year’s is very luck bringing, as the tree is so beautiful and fruitful.

The orange is placed over the door in Japan on New Year’s day so that the family shall continue perpetually, and generation after generation shall follow each other like the buds, flowers, and fruit.

Cook cabbage on New Year’s day and you will have good luck all the year.

Decorated apples stuck on three skewers are exchanged for luck on New Year’s day in Great Britain.

It is lucky to have the last glass from the last bottle of wine on New Year’s.

At Bromyard, England, at midnight, December 31st, a rush is made to the nearest well or spring of water, and he who gets the first drink of it, “the cream of the well,” will have fine luck all the coming year.

The last glass of wine or spirits drained on New Year’s eve is called the “Lucky Glass,” and whoever is fortunate enough to get it, will be successful during the coming year.

In Japan oranges are hung up on New Year’s day as a charm to insure the long life of the family.

Just before midnight on New Year’s eve, the Chinese put on new or clean garments so as to enter the new year purely, and thus gain good fortune to themselves.

On New Year’s eve at Biggar, Lanarkshire, a large bonfire of thornbush is lit and kept burning all night, and the boys jump over it for luck during the year.

A present of money given in China at the end of the old year is an auspicious omen for the new year.

Money presents from members of a household to each other are strung on a red string as a symbol of joy.

New Year’s night quiet and clear indicates a prosperous year.

The Chinese think New Year’s day is the luckiest of the year.

If you leave a glass of wine standing between eleven and twelve on New Year’s night, and it runs over, the vintage will be good that year.

The Chinese say that if a man sits up for ten years in succession and sees the New Year come in, that he will have a very long life.

It is lucky to rise early on New Year’s morning.

If a person receives money on New Year’s day, it is a good omen, for they say that he or she will continue to do so all the year.

If the first carol singer who comes to the door on New Year’s morning, is brought in at the front door, taken all through the house, and let out at the back door, it will bring luck to the house for a year.

The Europeans as well as the Japanese hang the “lucky bag,” a square of white paper tied with a red and white string, over their gates on New Year’s day for luck.

If you put a coin into the spout of a pump on New Year’s eve, and bring it into the house the instant the clock has struck twelve, you will have a prosperous year.

The Germans have a superstition that if you serve “Hopping John” (peas and rice boiled together) at dinner on New Year’s day, you will be lucky all the year.

In China a small white cock is killed on New Year’s day, to bring good luck for the coming year.

It brings good luck to place a piece of money on the window on New Year’s eve.

A triangular cake, filled with mince meat, was formerly baked, and bits of it fed on New Year’s day to the cattle in Coventry, England, for good luck.

It is said to bring good luck through the year if you place a diamond, or a gold or silver coin, in a glass of water and drink of the water the first drink you take on New Year’s morning.

Feed the birds well on New Year’s morning by placing a sheaf of wheat or barley or some bread outside your house, then good luck will attend you, and good crops and prosperity come to you during the whole year.

To have peas for dinner on New Year’s day is said to bring money all the year.

The inhabitants of Heligoland have a custom on New Year’s eve to perambulate the streets with broken pots and pans which they place before their friends’ doors, and the man who has the largest heap is the luckiest and most popular.

For fishermen to draw blood with hook or gun on New Year’s morning is to insure a plentiful year.

It is considered good luck in England to sand the steps on New Year’s day.

On New Year’s eve the Chinese tie small gourds around the children’s necks as a safe-guard against the small pox. Some Chinese put paper masks on their children on New Year’s eve, believing that the small-pox god will pass them by, and not recognize them.

In Germany it is said that the person who eats millet and herring on New Year’s day, will never be wanting of money during the year. Others eat seven or eight kinds of cake, one of them made of powdered poppy seed mixed with flour and water, in order to insure prosperity during the new year.

In the neighborhood of Gorlitz and in the Ukermark, on New Year’s eve, straw bands are placed under the table and the guests rest their feet upon them; and afterwards they are taken out into the orchard and bound around the trees, so that they will bear well the next year. (German.)

In Turkey, on New Year’s Day, every stranger entering the house must throw salt on the fire for luck.

At midnight on New Year’s eve the Japanese father dressed in his richest attire sword in hand or sabre in his girdle, and with a box of roasted beans in his left hand, goes alone all through the house with his right hand scattering the wonderful beans around, saying: “Avaunt demons! Begone devils! Enter Fortune! Come in Prosperity!” This causes the evil spirits to leave.

The teacher in China who must send poems on New Year’s day to the parents of his pupils, sits on New Year’s eve writing them with a dish of rice and a vase of flowers before him on the table, these offerings to the sun causing him to write better rhymes.

To receive a letter containing good news on New Year’s day, is a sign of good news coming all the year.

“He who is born on New-Year’s morn
Will have his own way as sure as you’re born.”

In one locality in England, bands of straw were put under the feet on New Year’s day while at table. When the meal was finished, one person got under the table and another one sat on his back and drew out the bands of straw. These were taken to the orchard and bound around trees, which were thereby insured to bear a full crop of fruit the next year.

Place a gold coin on the threshold when you lock your door on New Year’s eve and take it off in the morning when the Church bell rings; you will then have money to spend all the year.

On New Year’s day cakes called “Poplady” were eaten for luck. They rudely resembled the human figure with two dried currants or raisins for eyes, and another to represent the mouth; the lower part being formed somewhat like the case of an Egyptian mummy. This cake is no doubt a relic of Egyptian or Roman superstition.

New Year’s night is celebrated in Hungary, the same as in most other countries, by much shouting and boisterousness generally. This is kept up all night, until daylight; to scare bad luck and evil spirits away, they say.

Source: Encyclopaedia of Superstitions, Folklore, and the Occult Sciences of the World

happy-new-year

In Madagascar New Year’s is celebrated with much feasting and sacrificial killing of oxen takes place.

Chinese custom requires that every boy who calls on his neighbors or relatives on New Year’s day, should receive a couple of loose-skinned oranges, or he is considered shamefully treated. The name of orange means luck, fortune, and auspiciousness.

On New Year’s eve while the clock is striking twelve, repeat three times: “Good Saint Anne, good Saint Anne, send me a man as fast as you can,” and you will become engaged within a year.

At the beginning of the New Year in Natal, a ceremony is performed by the chief by spurting from his mouth a mixture of the New Year’s fruits in different directions as if upon his enemies. After this ceremony it is lawful for the people to eat the New Year’s fruits. They are only eaten by stealth before.

It was a custom of the Jews to serve up sheep’s head on New Year’s at their chief entertainment, as a mystical representation of the ram offered in sacrifice for Isaac. When a family or company sat down to this repast, each person took a piece of bread and dipping it in honey, said, “May this year be sweet and fruitful.”

In several parts of Belgium it is customary for the people to make waffles on New Year’s day. Around Liege the first waffle is crossformed or cut cross-wise, and placed on the chimney-piece as a New Year’s gift to the crucifix. It is believed that this waffle or cake is blessed; it does not rot and a small piece given to a sick man or beast makes them recover.

An old New Year’s custom which is still observed in some of the northern counties of England, is called “Going about with a vessel cup.” Poor women and girls desirous of obtaining charity take two dolls, representing the Virgin Mother and Infant Jesus, and go about from house to house during the week before New Year’s singing a quaint old carol and at its conclusion presenting for the receipt of alms a small cup, which is known as a “vessel cup.” To turn one of these vessel cup singers unrequited from your door is to forfeit all good health and good fortune for the approaching new year.

In Westmoreland and Cumberland early in the morning of New Year’s the “Taex Populi” assemble carrying stangs (long poles) and baskets. Every inhabitant or stranger who falls into the hands of this ruffian band will be sacrificed to their favorite Saint; a man is mounted on a stang, a woman is basketed, and carried shoulder high to the nearest balance and weighed. None are allowed to follow their accustomed occupations on this day.

In Guria in Asiatic Russia, the New Year is prepared for a month before the time comes; the people pen up poultry, turkeys, ducks and geese; but the chief animal for food is the pig which is fatted up a month before and killed two or three days before New Year’s. Continue reading

If an image has posted without permission please leave a comment and I will happily remove it, replace it, give credit, link love ~ whatever you prefer.

Subscribe
If you'd like to stay up to date on everything that is posted here, subscribe via email:

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives
Moon Tracker
Calendar
March 2024
M T W T F S S
« Mar    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
Christmas


I think it's time to go shopping... maybe even buy some really cool stuff at my online shops!!

Stats