The traditions linked to New Year’s Eve et al January 1st they are many and diversified based on local customs. There are differences both in the various regions of Italy and around the world.
Some of the most famous – such as wearing the color red, eating certain foods because they are considered auspicious, kissing under the mistletoe and paying attention to whoever enters the house on January 1st – are recurring in our country, and have origins in folklorejust like the symbols of other holidays, such as the Christmas tree and the Halloween pumpkin.
Wear a red garment
Tradition has it that on New Year’s Eve you wear a red garmentbe it underwear or a dress. This garment must only be worn once and not reused on the following New Year’s Eve.
Although in recent years this custom has taken a decidedly commercial turn, its roots are actually ancient. The color red, in fact, since the time of Romans it had a meaning of power, strength and good omen: victorious emperors wore red cloths after battles and we have evidence that the emperor Octavian Augustus wore a cloth of this color on the first day of the year. The date of New Year itself was set by the consul Quintus Fulvius Nobilior in 153 BC January 1stpreviously it was celebrated in March, coinciding with the arrival of spring.
Eat lentils, grapes, dried fruit and pomegranates
On the New Year’s table and on the first day of the new year, tradition dictates that certain foods cannot be missing. But why have these customs come down to us? The tradition of eating lentils it originates in ancient Rome, where bags full of this legume were given as gifts with the hope that they would be transformed into money. The lentil, in fact, resembles a coin and increases in volume during cooking, an attribute that is considered auspicious.
Even eating 12 grapesone for each month of the year – and possibly one at each stroke of midnight! – it is said to bring good luck. This custom seems to have originated in Spain, in the Alicante area in 1909, the year in which there was an exceptional harvest of grapes: the winemakers, to dispose of the excess, promoted the 12 grapes initiative, which was very successful and spread rapidly.
Eat pomegranates brings good luck: this fruit, since ancient Greece and then in ancient Rome, is considered a symbol of prosperity, fertility and abundance because it contains, under a leathery appearance, very juicy fruits.
Finally, the table cannot be missing dried fruit. Also in this case, the custom comes from strenae Roman, or the gifts that were exchanged during the Saturnalia celebrations, celebrations in honor of Saturn and New Year, which are the origin of Christmas gifts. Dried fruit was considered precious because, apparently hard, it contains a living and nutritious seed. Furthermore, in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance it was considered a luxury good, which is why the tradition of eating it during moments of celebration was born.
Kissing under the mistletoe
He wants the custom that kissing under a mistletoe plant bring luck to lovers and protect their union. This tradition arises from a – sad – Norse legend, narrated in the medieval poem The Prose Eddawhich collects much of the information we have on Germanic cults before the advent of Christianity.
The goddess of love Frigg dreamed of the death of Baldurhis son and Odin, father of all gods. To save him, he asked all the plants, animals and inanimate objects in the world to protect him and not harm him: all beings swore that they would defend and never attack Baldur. He forgot about the mistletoe, a plant with a quiet and harmless appearance: this was how Loki, god of deception, made the blind god Höðr shoot an arrow made of mistletoe at Baldur. Baldur died thus starting Ragnarök (the end of the world according to Germanic mythology). The tears that Frigg shed on the mistletoe transformed into the small white berries, typical fruits of this plant.
Precisely because it is at the origin of the legend the intent of protection of Frigg, who is precisely the goddess of love, over the centuries mistletoe has been associated with this feeling. The custom of hanging it during the Christmas period is typical of Victorian Christmas – the hanging mistletoe is in fact also mentioned in the famous Christmas carol Of Charles Dickens.
Entering the house with the right foot and other traditions of January 1st
In Scotland there is the tradition of first-footingwhich was then also exported to continental Europe. It is said, in fact, that the first person who enters the house on the first day of the year – or the first person you meet – can positively or negatively influence the progress of the year itself.
Along the same lines it is said that entering the house with the right foot be a good omen, since the left side was considered the side of evil and misfortune, in fact in Italian the adjective “sinistro” is also synonymous with “disturbing” (from the Latin sinisterwhich also had the meaning of “unfavorable”).
Another belief is that it is good luck to meet or have someone enter the house first elderly person: the elderly, since ancient times, have in fact been the guardians of society and of profound knowledge, as well as those who were authorized to give blessings and good indications.
