Happy New Year! Whether you’re nursing the hangover from a good New Year’s Eve or you were up bright and early to seize the new beginning, you might want some help in starting 2023 off on a good foot.
These New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day traditions from around the world are said to encourage good luck and abundant fortune.
After the challenges of the last few years – Brexit, Covid-19, the cost of living crisis and more – looking forward to a brighter 2023 certainly can’t hurt – right?
Try these New Year’s traditions and see what results follow…
Put some cash under a rug
A Romanian myth suggests putting money under a rug or carpet before midnight strikes – and if you do, you’re increasing your chances of a monetarily prosperous New Year.
Face the waves in Rio de Janeiro
It’s said that Rio natives wave goodbye to bad luck by spending midnight in the ocean water, facing toward the waves.
Though perhaps a trip to Brazil won’t be exactly practical for everyone, if you live near a beach, you can try this one anywhere.
Wear white
In Brazil and elsewhere around the globe, it’s also thought that wearing white clothing helps promote peace of mind for the year ahead.
Let’s hope so!
Keep your suitcase empty (and start walkin’)
If you’re hoping 2023 will be full of adventure and, all being well, holidays abroad – this Colombian tradition is for you.
Emptying a suitcase and taking it for a stroll is said to channel good fortune in the travel sphere for the following 12 months.
Enjoy some southern US-style cornbread
On New Year’s Day, it’s tradition for folks living in the southern United States to enjoy a meal of cornbread, leafy greens, and black-eyed peas.
According to AllRecipes, the peas are said to represent pennies, greens represent dollars and cornbread represents gold.
Whether it works or not, at least it’ll taste nice?
Scatter coins around your house
In the Philippines, some families wear clothes adorned with polka dots and spread coins around every room of their house – just as the clock turns to midnight.
If you’ve got some loose change spare, surely it’s worth a shot, right?
Smash up your unused plates
Shun bad spirits and say so-long to negative vibes with this slightly crazy tradition from Denmark.
The tradition would have you head to a friend’s house and (with their permission) smash an old plate on their door.
Jump for joy
In many countries, it’s traditional to climb up on to a sofa, chair or stand on a higher surface and ‘jump’ into the next 365 days at midnight.
An easier one to fulfil – without having to say goodbye to your kitchenware or book a flight to Brazil.
Choose pork for dinner (over chicken or turkey)
It’s likely you’ll be stuffed from Christmas feasts and festive overeating, but if you do fancy a big dinner on New Year’s Day, heed this advice.
It’s thought that eating pork is lucky for the New Year, as pigs put their feet forward. The same logic applies to chicken and turkey, as they tend to scratch their feet backwards. Honestly, who knows if it’s true?
If you’re strictly vegan, load up on extra green vegetables instead. Eating green is said to be very lucky on January 1.
Avoid your dishes, laundry and other chores
Apparently, the old wives who invented this tale didn’t enjoy doing their washing at all.
It’s believed in many places that doing laundry, cleaning dishes or doing a host of other chores on New Year’s Day is bad luck. It ‘flushes good fortune down the drain’.
Another superstition is much darker, suggesting that a laundry load completed on January 1 will ‘wash a family member away’ in the year ahead.
Eat 12 grapes at midnight
Okay, so it might be a little late for this one, but even if you’ve missed the deadline, grapes are fruit and that’s good for you.
A Latin American tradition involves eating 12 grapes at the strike at midnight. It represents 12 positive, joyful months ahead.
Eating other round fruits also invites good luck and ushers in a happy New Year. Easy!
MORE : Christmas traditions explained – From why we eat turkey to who invented Christmas crackers
MORE : Brits welcome 2023 with spectacular New Year’s fireworks displays
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