Do You Know This New Year's Day Superstition? Any Special Customs YOU Have?
By Maggiepie
@Maggiepie (7816)
United States
January 1, 2010 12:33am CST
I've just completed my annual New Year's Day (NYD) ritual. At midnight, I open my door & let the cold air & the wild & cheery sounds of the city wash over me...the shouts, laughter, fireworks (some very big ones not too far distant tonight!), the car horns...a few sirens.... Then I pray that God will bless us all: the city, the world, everyone--human or animal--& myself. And then I ask Him to bless the year, that we'll thrive in every way, spiritually, peacefully & financially. I leave the particulars up to Him, as He knows what we need.
But I confess I also indulge a little rogue superstition that crosses my mind each New Year's Eve (NYE). There's an old superstition (from whence it comes, I've no idea) which maintains that, whatever we do on NYD, we'll do all year. Oy! I take no chances...LOL! I make a point of doing the things I hope to do all year! I don't actually believe it, but, hey, it makes for a good start to the new year anyway---so what's the harm?
So, if this "theory" is true, I'll be staying up late...
...MyLotting, job-hunting (finding would be better!), saying prayers, taking my meds as I should, & other good activities. As examples, I'll be taking care of mail, checkbook, lesson plans for my ESL classes (due to start next week!), etc., etc.
You know...sensible stuff.
But I'll also sleep late, write poetry, draw artworks, & read.
Do you have this superstition, or any others (such as the one that says if you eat salt pork & black eyed peas, you'll have good luck all year)?
Do you have any rituals? Do you bother to make NYD resolutions? (If I do that, they're along the lines of, "I will not become rich, be sure to hum off-key, ignore housework to spend more quality time with my cat, &...oh, yeah, get more sleep! 
)
Seriously, though? If you're usually alone on NYE, do you make little plans just to amuse yourself, or do you pray?
Or, do you just go to bed & ignore the whole rigmarole? 
So? Share, already! :)
Maggiepie
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! (& MERRY CHRISTMAS--it's still going, you know!)
...MyLotting, job-hunting (finding would be better!), saying prayers, taking my meds as I should, & other good activities. As examples, I'll be taking care of mail, checkbook, lesson plans for my ESL classes (due to start next week!), etc., etc.
You know...sensible stuff.
But I'll also sleep late, write poetry, draw artworks, & read.
Do you have this superstition, or any others (such as the one that says if you eat salt pork & black eyed peas, you'll have good luck all year)?
Do you have any rituals? Do you bother to make NYD resolutions? (If I do that, they're along the lines of, "I will not become rich, be sure to hum off-key, ignore housework to spend more quality time with my cat, &...oh, yeah, get more sleep! )
Seriously, though? If you're usually alone on NYE, do you make little plans just to amuse yourself, or do you pray?
Or, do you just go to bed & ignore the whole rigmarole?
So? Share, already! :)
Maggiepie
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! (& MERRY CHRISTMAS--it's still going, you know!)2 people like this
7 responses
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
1 Jan 10
Happy New Year Mags. I'm not superstitious and I don't make resolutions but it would be nice to think that the sun shining so bright on this first day of the year is an indication that we may escape last years beginning of damp and mould.
There's more of a fanfare out here on the 6th than actually at New Year, so I do hope it's sunny for that one as it must be totally hideous for the poor child who has to dive into to the sea to retrieve the cross which the Pappas has just chucked in.
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
1 Jan 10
Well, I'm not really superstitious; I just enjoy playing.
Boy, I hear that re the mold! I'm allergic to most molds. And this year having been unusually wet, I'm living on Benadryl pills, yet still exploding with violent sneezing, daily, not to mention the painful itching!
It's a gorgeous day here. The sunlight is spectacularly beautiful, & has given everything a golden, warm appearance--which, combined withe the very cool temperature--has conjured up my favorite kind of weather!
So, you're in Greece; what do folks do there? Is "Pappas" something like a priest? I'd hate to have to dive into the sea in Winter! Brrr! I'll stick to my peas & bacon!
Happy New Year, Thea! 
Maggiepie
HAVE A HAPPY 2010!
Boy, I hear that re the mold! I'm allergic to most molds. And this year having been unusually wet, I'm living on Benadryl pills, yet still exploding with violent sneezing, daily, not to mention the painful itching!
It's a gorgeous day here. The sunlight is spectacularly beautiful, & has given everything a golden, warm appearance--which, combined withe the very cool temperature--has conjured up my favorite kind of weather!
So, you're in Greece; what do folks do there? Is "Pappas" something like a priest? I'd hate to have to dive into the sea in Winter! Brrr! I'll stick to my peas & bacon!
Happy New Year, Thea!
Maggiepie
HAVE A HAPPY 2010!
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
1 Jan 10
Good morning Maggie & happy 2010. I have always hear that about what u do today, also have heard not to wash clothes on new year's day because u will wash someone out of your family. I really don't believe alot of the hoopla but i will cook peas today. lol.
1 person likes this
@ANTIQUELADY (36440)
• United States
1 Jan 10
Thanks niece, i hope U & HUGO have a wonderful year. Love & HUGS TO BOTH OF U.
1 person likes this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
1 Jan 10
I see you take no chances, either! Very droll. I haven't heard that about washing clothes & family--interesting! I wonder what else different cultures do or think? I know that the extra noise-making was originally a way of driving away any bad spirits that might choose to do one harm, & the "need" to be in a crowd of friends helped, too. It surely has developed into its own thing, now, though, complete with massive parties, wild drinking, etc. I've no clue when or where the fireworks were incorporated into the fun, but I'm glad they were!
My mom & step-dad did the salt pork & black-eyed peas bit. I'm not fond of the salt pork (I'd use bacon, now, if I could afford it), but I love black-eyed peas! I don't know from where that custom came. I do know Dad was from Pennsylvania, & hadn't grown up with it, He scoffed at the practice, saying "Back home, these peas are the sort of thing we fed to the cattle." But he tried them, & decided he liked the peas, & ceased to object when Mom cooked them, thereafter.
Side note: I reckon the "cattle fodder" might have been popular in the South due to the War Between the States, since people were forced to eat whatever they could here after they lost the war. OR, possibly, it was begun in the last Depression. Just speculating.
Thanks--& have a wonderful, blessed new year! Woohoo! Pop! BOOM! Pow! Whee!
Maggiepie
HAVE A HAPPY 2010!
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
7 Jan 10
Hi Maggie
No I do not make any resolutions any more, I do not wonder any more what is ahead for me this time
This is the first New Year in 40 years that I have not cried, no fear of entering it and decided as from now I take Day by Day
This for me is a relief and I tend to stick to it
I am looking for a new Place and had my first disappointment today, but I took it in my Stride I did not get upset like I would have done this time last Year
No I will do my best to stay positive always and not let things get me down like they used to
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
9 Jan 10
Hi Gabs! I'm glad to hear you have a happier mindset, but I'd be interested (in a pm) to hear what was going on, & why it's different, better, now. What made you cry?
The only way to stay sane & happy is to take things as they come. Don't hold grudges (as dogs worry bones); it only hurts you. If you need to talk, if you write a pm (please do, I mean it!), then I'll send you my phone number. If you get the dark blues--even if it's 4 AM--call me. I know what it is to need an ear, on rare occasions, to listen at such times.
God bless you, hun.
Love,
Maggiepie
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY 2010!!!
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
1 Jan 10
Yes, as I type this, you're probably 15 minutes away, or, knowing you, maybe only 5! Have a safe (driving) New Year, hun!
Maggiepie
HAVE A HAPPY 2010!
Have a safe (driving) New Year, hun!
Maggiepie
HAVE A HAPPY 2010!
@Loverbear (4918)
• United States
3 Jan 10
Two things that I DON'T do for the New Year is make resolutions and make any profound statements. I am a bit superstitious about making profound statements because in 2000 I turned to my Mom and said that 2000 was going to be our year for great things to happen. I ended up having to have her airlifted to the hospital May 22 and by July 13th she had passed away. So, I learned a valuable lesson and don't make statements about things going good.
I do set goals for myself. I start out small and go to larger ones that are a bit more difficult but obtainable by the end of the year. This New Years, after I drove Bill home, I finished cleaning up my kitchen so that I wouldn't face the mess I had made while I was cleaning cupboards and getting thing sorted to store until I finish the remodel on the kitchen. I also sorted jewelry... Then I climbed in bed and fell asleep and woke up around ten in the morning. (I didn't go to bed until 2 a.m. so it wasn't some 12 hour sleep-a-thon. 
) Oh, and I also gave all the fur buddies a special New Year's treat.
) Oh, and I also gave all the fur buddies a special New Year's treat. 
@writersedge (22563)
• United States
1 Jan 10
My friend says that you're supposed to burn a candle indicating what you desire for the New Year. She says Babyberry is for abundance. I'm allergic to most candles except for cinnamon, vanilla, and balsam. Not sure what they're for.
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
1 Jan 10
I think "babyberry" is kind of cute!
The candle idea is nice, I think! There's a "candle language" list (similar to a "flowers language" list, or a birthstone list)? Hmm! Maybe someone here will know it...or, hey! Discussion fodder! Ah, well, I'm probably too busy to use it though, so I release the topic to someone else who would know more about them, anyway...:)
How sad you're allergic to candles, though! I enjoy them--especially vanilla (though the scent makes me yearn for cookies & cake! Haha!), pine, & frankincense. (Snnniiiifff! Ahhhh...that last one...must be what Heaven smells like, or that, & roses! /^})
As to what the 3 scents you mentioned--"what they're for"--why, smelling good, of course!
Maggiepie
HAVE A HAPPY 2010!
@dawnald (85137)
• Shingle Springs, California
2 Jan 10
I just stay up until midnight, sometimes there's champagne, and say "Happy New Year". But Richard has started this thing with the kids where the pop poppers at 9 PM. But I'm from California, not New York, so I wait.... :-)
