25 New Year’s Superstitions From Around the World

The new year brings new opportunities, new adventures, and for many, an eagerness to leave behind the difficulties of the past year. As you reflect on last year and make plans for the New Year, consider incorporating some fun and meaningful New Year’s traditions, superstitions, and rituals into your celebration. If you are really intested in learning more about the history New Years Traditions For Good Luck covers all the details you are looking for. Also, What NOT To Eat On New Year’s Day gives you a run down of what not to do!

Whether you’re hosting an intimate gathering at home or heading out to watch fireworks with friends, these global practices can infuse your festivities with extra luck, laughter, hope, or purpose. Read on for the backstory behind these quirky customs as well as easy tips for how to observe them yourself. Ok, so the list is long, but this year certainly wasn’t what we’d imagined it would be, so we thought we would be as thorough as possible when giving you our list of 25 New Year’s Superstitions.

Whether you are looking for love, money, or health, these superstitions have you covered!

1. Wear a lucky color. Whether it’s your dress or underwear, in many cultures, they feel the right color going into the new year is key. White is for peace. Red is for love & passion. Brown is for stability. Gold is for wealth. Green is for harmony & health. Yellow for prosperity & orange for happiness. Start picking out your color New Years Lucky Colors
2. First Kiss…hugs & kisses at midnight ensure twelve months of affection. Even if it’s virtual, blow kisses at the stroke of midnight to loved ones.
3. Make a lot of noise right after midnight (like banging together pots and pans) is said to help ward off evil spirits. This is how fireworks became popular for New Years!
4. Flip open a new calendar with it’s 12 unmarked months, is perhaps one of the most universally hopeful acts…representing a clean slate, or new start.
5. Money. Have cash in your wallet to bring more money in the new year – an empty wallet means cash flow problems all year.  In some cultures, women have money in their shoes or bra, so they have money on them at the stroke of midnight.  While on the subject of money, don’t loan any money out on New Year’s Day or it is believed you will be loaning things out all year.
6. Write wishes on paper and burn them so they are fulfilled. While you watch them burn, release old wounds, negative thoughts, mistakes, or anything holding you back. Focus on only positive thoughts and how your new year will look. If it’s too cold out, another option is to burn candles. Burn a white candle to get rid of negative energy & bring peace. Burn a blue candle for peace, healing, or forgiveness. Purple candles for tranquility & wisdom, red for love, green for health, or orange for creativity.
7. Walk with an empty suitcase around the block. This will ensure you will travel in the coming year. New Year’s Superstitions To Travel More
8. Place coins or silver outside. In Germany, each family member puts a coin outside the front door under the mat and then brings it in on New Years Day to bring money for the coming year.  Leaving it outside represents leaving your troubles behind.
9. Sweeping the house just before midnight to get out all of the “negativity from the previous year.”  In Japan, after cleaning out their homes, they hang bamboo sticks on the front door for prosperity.  It’s also good luck to put clean sheets on the bed for New Year’s Eve.  While we are on the subject of cleaning, make sure and get it all done on New Years Eve. No cleaning on New Year’s Day or you can clean out good luck. Don’t even take out the trash or do laundry or dishes, so make sure to stock up on paper plates! Laundry, in particular, is said to “wash someone out of your life.”
10. Open your window and doors for a few minutes shortly after midnight to let out the old year and allow the new one in.
11. Throw Water.  Many Latin cultures take a cup or bucket of water and throw it over their shoulder shortly after midnight.  It symbolizes getting rid of last years’ sadness and problems.
12. Work:  Write a short blog or to-do list for your job.  Don’t work for a long time, just something quick – it is said that will lead to success in your job in the near year.
13. Lucky Scents. Diffuse some essential oils or light incense in certain scents to create the right environment in your home.  Bergamot is thought to bring success and money.  Try adding a drop in your purse or wallet. Ginger has a long history of bringing luck in Asian countries. Patchouli is said to promote optimism and happiness.  Juniper berry is good to release stress, improve relaxation & cleanses any harmful energies.  Lavender is also great for relaxation, meditation, calms the mind, and helps bring mental clarity. Basil is used for protection.  Frankincense is used for purification. Sage clears the air of negativity. Check out New Years Lucky Scents and Essential Oils
14. Go in Circles. For a considerably safer New Year’s tradition, travel to the Philippines and celebrate the circle of life in the New Year. In the Philippines, literal circles and round objects are used to celebrate the occasion. Locals dress in polka-dotted clothing and fill their tables with round food and fruit. Borrowing a tradition from Spain, grapes are a commonly used round fruit, and the object is to eat twelve of them starting when the clock starts chiming at midnight, and finishing before the clock stops.
15. Paint Your Door Red. In China, residents paint every door of their house red. This is meant to symbolize good fortune and happiness. They also hide everything that’s sharp, including all of the knives, so that no one accidentally cuts themselves and brings about bad luck to the household for the coming year. Short cut…cover your door with red wrapping paper for the night.
16. Right foot forward. This literally means the first time you walk into your house after new years, step in with the right foot. In parts of Greece the person stepping in performs a podarki jig. One step forward with the right saying “enter good,” and then taking two steps back and saying “evil out.” Then someone smashes a pomegranate in the front of the house. Last but not least, all family members dip their fingers into a honey jar and lick the honey so that the life in the house will be sweet all year.
17. Use colors to decorate.  In Mexico they decorate their homes in different colors with a particular goal in mind – yellow is for blessings of improved employment, white for better health, red for an overall improvement in lifestyle and love, or green for better financial circumstances in the coming year.
18. Throw Furniture. In South Africa and Italy, furniture and appliances are thrown out the window and onto the street in an attempt to clean out their homes for the New Year. It’s common for fireworks to be shot out of windows as well.
19. New Year’s Superstition …To Find a Husband. It’s in no way uncommon for people to deliberate their relationships and life situations at the start of a new year. What’s interesting about Belarus is that the women there do more than just think about their romantic future; they’ve come up with ways to predict it. Common games include one in which a group of women each has a small pile of corn, which they take turns throwing at a rooster. The first woman whose corn is eaten by the rooster will be the first to get married.
20. New Year’s Superstition …First Guests:  Some cultures believe the first person to step into your house on New Years’ can make or break your luck.  It should be a loved one with good intentions – a child is a good option as they are pure of heart.  Oh yes – and the first step into the home should be with the right foot.

What to Know what NOT to do on New Year’s

1. Don’t cut things!  Chinese believe that using knives, scissors or anything sharp on New Year’s Day is bad luck as you will “cut off” the New Year’s fortune.
2. Don’t eat chicken or lobster. Browse the list of New Years lucky foods to avoid eating anything that may bring you bad luck in the New Year. Make sure and include beans, greens & cornbread in your menu for luck. We have some great ideas for you New Years Lucky Soups, Lucky Fruits for New Years, Lucky Food Recipes for New Years and New Years Eve Food Traditions
3. Nothing taken out of the house the first day of the year – not even garbage, or it is said that you will be “losing” things all year.
4. Avoid crying: Unless they are tears of joy, avoid crying as it is thought that it could cause unhappiness all year.
5. Pay off your debts:  If you can start the new year with little to no debt, then you can start the year with a clean slate.  That’s tough around the holidays, so if you can’t pay your bills, then come up with a budget that you can stick to as part of your new years resolution, so that you pay those bills off as soon as you can. Making minor changes like bringing your lunch to work instead of eating out can help you save money quickly.

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