This column first appeared in January 2012.
December 31st symbolizes the end and January 1st symbolizes a New Beginning. In other words, out with the old and in with the new! On the whole, most people associate the New Year with a joyous spirit, but the holiday is also known for the varied myths and superstitions attached to it. Some of these traditions are very well known but many are obscure and outdated.
Perhaps the most common New Year myth is that a wish made at midnight will most certainly be granted. Excitement builds as the last seconds of the year tick away and everyone in the rooms counts them down together with fingers crossed and eyes closed hoping that their wish will come true. Some cultures believe that if important, or wished for, objects (in particular money) are placed under their pillows and sleep upon on this special date, the next year will bring them closer to their desire of those specific objects.
One well known worldwide belief is that if, at the stroke of midnight, you kiss your beloved or your dear ones you will be with them happily for the rest of the year. Failure to plant said smacker is sure to guarantee cold relations with them for one full year.
It is a popular belief that the first person who enters your home on New Year’s day indicates the kind of year you will have ahead. For example, it is considered a good omen if a tall, dark-haired man is the first person to set foot in your house on New Year’s Day. Your luck will be doubled if he brings a gift along for you. Some of the luckiest gifts for the New Year include a silver coin, a lump of coal, a sprig of evergreen or gift of bread. On the flip side, blondes and redheads are considered to bring bad luck, so keep them away from your threshold for at least that first day. In general on that first day, it is bad luck if a woman enters your home first, so try to keep them away too, or failing that, do not open the door! (Undoubtedly a holdover tradition from misogynistic ancient times.)
Some believe that a New Year should never begin with unpaid debts. This belief holds that all money settlements should be dealt with before the old year closes. It plays into the new beginning and fresh start a New Year brings, hence one should make sure that all debts are paid off before January 1. Practically speaking, this belief is generally accepted as being designed for small personal person-to-person debts, not mortgages and car-notes.
Some adjust this “clean slate” myth to housecleaning by changing it to “Never begin the new year with a dirty house.” But, an old rhyming myth states that you “never sweep out your home on New Year’s Day, for this will surely sweep your loved one away.” Perhaps an offshoot of that “clean slate” myth is the belief that one should always begin the New Year by wearing brand new clothes. Again, this is seen as a jump start towards prosperity. Conversely, make sure that you don’t pay back loans or lend money to anyone on January 1st. This is seen as an indication that you will be paying all year long and money would be flowing out, instead of flowing in.
Much to the disdain of pets and neighbors, one tradition holds that one should greet the New Year with loud noises. Not only for the enjoyment it brings to the practitioner, but also because these loud noises would scare away evil spirits. These loud noises might include bell ringing, fireworks, the honking of car horns and shooting. This last example is not without problems though. For while it was easy for our forefathers to discharge their firearms from the relative seclusion of a log cabin courtyard, it is not an easy feat in today’s urban/suburban world. I understand a person’s need to scare away demonic forces, but safety first and remember, what goes up, must come down.
Another New Year’s myth urges that you don’t break or wreck anything on the first day of the new year. It is widely believed that if you do, you will have a damaging New Year. Part of this myth insists that you remain happy and cheerful on the first day of the year to ensure that your year ahead will be a cheerful one. Yet another myth states that it is bad luck to wash on New Year’s Day. Washing one’s self is believed to be tantamount to washing away a family member.
Easily the most varied New Year’s Day myths revolve around food. I know that my wife Rhonda firmly believes that eating cabbage soup on New Year’s Day ensures good luck for the year to come. She has faithfully adhered to this practice for years now, although she has failed to convince the kids and I to partake. Black-eyed peas (the food, NOT the pop music group) are considered a symbol of good luck and are usually combined with cabbage or turnip greens, which symbolize money. Hence, eating a combination of black-eyed peas and either of cabbage or turnip greens ensures that you have a prosperous New Year and days filled with joy.
One of my personal favorites is the African-American tradition of eating Hoppin’ John that proliferates in the Southern United States on New Year’s Day. It is the South’s version of rice and beans dish brought over from West Africa. It consists of black-eyed peas and rice, with chopped onion and sliced bacon, seasoned with a bit of salt. A suitable substitute for bacon can be ham hock or fatback; a few use green peppers or vinegar and spices. Authentic Hoppin’ John uses “field peas” in place of black-eyed peas. Smaller than black-eyed peas, field peas are used in the Low Country of South Carolina and Georgia.
In the coastal South, eating Hoppin’ John on New Year’s Day ensures a prosperous year filled with good luck. The peas symbolize pennies or coins, and a coin is sometimes added to the boiling pot (or left under the dinner bowls for those germaphobes among us.) Adding collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, chard, kale, or cabbage to this dish are said to increase the promise of wealth because they are the color of money. Hoppin’ John is most often served with cornbread, whose golden color also represents wealth and money. On the day after New Year’s Day, leftover Hoppin’ John is known as Skippin’ Jenny. Eating the previously prosperous dish in the following days demonstrates one’s frugality, bringing hope for an even better chance of prosperity in the New Year. In France and Spain during the late Middle Ages, it was believed that eating beans on New Year’s Day brought good luck. This European superstition undoubtedly mixed with African tradition to become a New World belief.
A more specialized tradition found mostly in the South dictates that each person at the holiday meal should leave three peas on their plate to assure that the New Year will be filled with Luck, Fortune and Romance. Yet another tradition claims that counting the number of peas in a serving predicts the amount of luck (or wealth) that will come to you in the new year. In some Latin American countries and regions of the Caribbean, variants include Hoppin’ Juan, which substitutes Cuban black beans for black-eyed peas, and the Brazilian dish Feijoada, which uses black turtle beans instead of black-eyed peas.
Yet another tradition holds that carrying dried black-eyed peas in your wallet or purse brings extra money for the new year. In our region, carrying a buckeye in your pocket is claimed to be medicinally beneficial and will “cure what ails you” for the New Year.
Among the most famous New Year myths from American history tradition states that at the end of each year Father Time (representing the past year) exits through the door and hands over the key to the “Baby New Year.” As with all things American, this tradition lends itself well to the imagination. There are many great cartoons depicting the passing year as a mythical wizard bent with age and dragging a long flowing white beard behind him with bouncing be-diapered baby New Year in an oversized top hat and dated sash around his shoulder full of wide-eyed optimism for the months to come.
My favorite New Year’s Day belief is that babies born on the 1st of January will always have luck and prosperity on their side. My mother Ruth McDuffee, a 1956 graduate of Ben Davis High School, was born on New Year’s Day. She’s been gone for over 30 years now, but I firmly believe that she is the personal good-luck guardian angel for me and my entire family. Happy Birthday Mom.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.