Hanukah, but there are some that we all celebrate like New Years. New years is celebrated all around the world to celebrate the new and what comes with that, even though you might celebrate one way there are many different versions of it in every corner of the earth, I will be talking about Spain, Greece, Brazil and more.
One tradition on new year’s is observed in Brazil. The tradition is jumping into the ocean while wearing white, this tradition comes from Candomblé (an African religion that spread out to Brazil in the 1800s), this tradition symbols spiritual cleansing and peace the event takes place on this night to celebrate Lemanjá, the Brazilian goddess of the sea. The big part of the event Is where everybody runs into the sea on midnight and jumps over seven waves each one represents a different request the swimmer is making to a different deity kind of like a New Years resolution or wish. On New Years Eve many people celebrate with friends or family, and most people also celebrate with a final dinner of the year with friends and family before the new year, and with the meal there are beliefs like lucky food. Lucky food is a food or certain amount of food that makes the person who eats it lucky and in some places in the world this is apart of New Years Eve. In Italy the belief is that if you eat exactly 12 spoonful’s of lentils at each chime of the clock at midnight, Estonians eat 7, 9, or 12 times on New Year’s Eve, they believe that you gain the strength of meals you eat in people for example 9 meals would give you the strength of 9 men. In Scotland there is a tradition known as Hogmanay. Hogmanay is a tradition that states that you must party from December 29th to the end of New Years Day. One part of Hogmanay is that much like in the United States, people gather to sing “Auld Lang Syne” as the clock strikes midnight, another part of Hogmanay is first footing,” which involves being the first to visit friends and neighbors, often with a symbolic gift in hand.
I have an interview with Neil Nadkarni, I said “ what is your news years tradition” and he responded with “ I watch The Great Classic which is an outdoor hockey game, I heard this one is going to be in Florida”, I also interviewed Kate Larsen, I asked “what is a special new year’s tradition that you do” she responded “ I eat fondue and we drink pickle juice”. This data shows that there are many fun and weird ways to celebrate the new year even right here in the USA.
There are many ways to celebrate the New Year throughout the world like lucky foods, running into the ocean, Hogmanay and many more, so with all of these traditions in so many different places, how do you celebrate New Year Eve?
