‘For a season that’s supposed to bring joy and good cheer to people, there is an awful lot of horrific beasts and creatures associated with Christmas.
Some are terrifying like the Yule Cat (Jólakötturinn) of Iceland which is said to prowl around in the night in search of naughty children to feast on, unless they’re wearing new clothes, in which case, they’re safe.
Another frightening creature which should probably be part of the Halloween canon instead is Krampus, the folkloric devilish creature who accompanies St. Nicholas, and gives naughty children lumps of coal and a bit of a scare. Countries whose lore features Krampus include those in the Central and Eastern Europe regions like Slovakia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania.
Poland, on the other hand, has a merry beast in Turoń, who is an auroch-like creature which dances around in festivals and is said to bring blessings of a good harvest, being a symbol of fertility, virility, and abundance to the people of the land. Turoń is probably the least monstrous on this list as it doesn’t punish anybody for being naughty, although it did chase children around.
And then, there’s the French and their Père Fouettard, literally Father Whipper. Much like Krampus, this old miser of a character tags along with Old St. Nick and gives children lumps of coal or beatings when they have been naughty. Sometimes, they get both, which is what earned him the nickname.
Then, going back to Iceland, we have Grýla the witch or ogress, and her 13 sons called the Yule Lads. Grýla, much like Jólakötturinn, likes to eat naughty children, whom she boils in a pot. Her 13 sons, on the other hand, are naughty pranksters who go gallivanting around town, stealing and harassing people. They also give obedient children gifts and naughty children rotten potatoes.
From these, we can infer that most of these monsters were created simply as deterrents for children’s misbehavior. However, apparently, the Yule Cat also encouraged people to work harder. Since children needed new clothing to protect themselves from the clutches of the 12-foot black cat, this prompted many farms working on wool to increase their productivity.
Nowadays, these monsters have simply become part of some Christmas traditions like Krampuslauf, not necessarily as a means of scaring children during Christmas….’ (Neatorama)
Daily Archives: 31 Dec 23
R.I.P. John Cutler, 73
‘Longtime Grateful Dead producer/engineer John Cutler died at age 73 on Christmas Eve after a long illness as per his brother, Bill Cutler. John Cutler’s numerous credits include co-producing the Grateful Dead’s final two studio albums — 1987’s In The Dark and 1989’s Built To Last — with Jerry Garcia…
John Cutler began doing odd jobs for the Grateful Dead in the early ’70s including the repair of amps. Cutler served as the band’s advance man before their famed September 1978 trip to Egypt for a series of concerts by the pyramids of Giza. After that, he signed on full time as an employee of the Grateful Dead. Among his duties was making a mix used by local radio stations or for television broadcasts, while FOH engineer Dan Healy would do the house mix…
Following Garcia’s death, John Cutler produced and engineered Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia live and studio archival releases. Rob Wasserman, Sanjay Mishra, Backbone, Gov’t Mule, New Grass Revival and Warren Zevon were among other artists Cutler worked with in production or engineering capacities…’ (Jambase)
Man Tries to Fix the Universe By Realigning One Manhole Cover at a Time
‘Comedian Jared Ewy, who is the founder of Green AF, took it upon himself to fix the universe by realigning one manhole cover at a time. His very first effort centered around a particular cover on a street in Beaumar, Colorado that didn’t align with the painted traffic line….’ (Laughing Squid)
Shavian alphabet info | 𐑖𐑱𐑝𐑾𐑯 𐑨𐑤𐑓𐑩𐑚𐑧𐑑 𐑦𐑯𐑓𐑴
An alternative alphabet for English
‘Towards the end of 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis had just ended, it was still a year-and-a-day until the first episode of Doctor Who would air, and a remarkable book was published. It was not the content of the book that was so astonishing; Bernard Shaw’s play Androcles and the Lion was fifty years old by this stage. This edition of Androcles and the Lion witnessed the birth of an entirely new alphabet, and its publication was a close-run thing.
The Shaw alphabet, which came to be more commonly known by the latinised name of “Shavian”, represented the culmination of a lifetime of advocacy by Irish playwright, writer and wit, Bernard Shaw. It was perhaps the subject on which Shaw wrote most earnestly, often—but not always—casting aside his love of levity to argue on purely rational grounds about the economic inefficiencies of silent letters and absurd spellings, and the failure of traditional orthography to offer any instruction to children (or adults, for that matter) on how to speak English….’
𐑑𐑩𐑢𐑹𐑛𐑟 𐑞 𐑧𐑯𐑛 𐑝 1962, 𐑞 ·𐑒𐑿𐑚𐑩𐑯 𐑥𐑦𐑕𐑲𐑤 𐑒𐑮𐑲𐑕𐑦𐑕 𐑣𐑨𐑛 𐑡𐑳𐑕𐑑 𐑧𐑯𐑛𐑩𐑛, 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑕𐑑𐑦𐑤 𐑩 𐑘𐑽-𐑯-𐑩-𐑛𐑱 𐑩𐑯𐑑𐑦𐑤 𐑞 𐑓𐑻𐑕𐑑 𐑧𐑐𐑦𐑕𐑴𐑛 𐑝 ‹·𐑛𐑪𐑒𐑑𐑼 𐑣𐑵› 𐑢𐑫𐑛 𐑺, 𐑯 𐑩 𐑮𐑦𐑥𐑸𐑒𐑩𐑚𐑩𐑤 𐑚𐑫𐑒 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑐𐑳𐑚𐑤𐑦𐑖𐑑. 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑞 𐑒𐑪𐑯𐑑𐑧𐑯𐑑 𐑝 𐑞 𐑚𐑫𐑒 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑕𐑴 𐑩𐑕𐑑𐑪𐑯𐑦𐑖𐑦𐑙; ·𐑚𐑻𐑯𐑼𐑛 𐑖𐑷𐑟 𐑐𐑤𐑱 ‹·𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑮𐑩𐑒𐑤𐑰𐑟 𐑯 𐑞 𐑤𐑲𐑩𐑯› 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑓𐑦𐑓𐑑𐑦 𐑘𐑽𐑟 𐑴𐑤𐑛 𐑚𐑲 𐑞𐑦𐑕 𐑕𐑑𐑱𐑡. 𐑞𐑦𐑕 𐑦𐑛𐑦𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑝 ·𐑨𐑯𐑛𐑮𐑩𐑒𐑤𐑰𐑟 𐑯 𐑞 𐑤𐑲𐑩𐑯 𐑢𐑦𐑑𐑯𐑩𐑕𐑑 𐑞 𐑚𐑻𐑔 𐑝 𐑩𐑯 𐑦𐑯𐑑𐑲𐑼𐑤𐑦 𐑯𐑿 𐑨𐑤𐑓𐑩𐑚𐑧𐑑, 𐑯 𐑦𐑑𐑕 𐑐𐑳𐑚𐑤𐑦𐑒𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑩 𐑒𐑤𐑴𐑕-𐑮𐑳𐑯 𐑔𐑦𐑙.
𐑞 ·𐑖𐑷 𐑨𐑤𐑓𐑩𐑚𐑧𐑑, 𐑢𐑦𐑗 𐑒𐑱𐑥 𐑑 𐑚𐑰 𐑥𐑹 𐑒𐑪𐑥𐑩𐑯𐑤𐑦 𐑯𐑴𐑯 𐑚𐑲 𐑞 𐑤𐑨𐑑𐑦𐑯𐑲𐑟𐑛 𐑯𐑱𐑥 𐑝 ·𐑖𐑱𐑝𐑾𐑯, 𐑮𐑧𐑐𐑮𐑦𐑟𐑧𐑯𐑑𐑩𐑛 𐑞 𐑒𐑳𐑤𐑥𐑦𐑯𐑱𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑝 𐑩 𐑤𐑲𐑓𐑑𐑲𐑥 𐑝 𐑨𐑛𐑝𐑩𐑒𐑩𐑕𐑦 𐑚𐑲 𐑲𐑮𐑦𐑖 𐑐𐑤𐑱𐑮𐑲𐑑, 𐑮𐑲𐑑𐑼 𐑯 𐑢𐑦𐑑, ·𐑚𐑻𐑯𐑼𐑛 𐑖𐑷. 𐑦𐑑 𐑢𐑪𐑟 𐑐𐑼𐑣𐑨𐑐𐑕 𐑞 𐑕𐑳𐑚𐑡𐑧𐑒𐑑 𐑪𐑯 𐑢𐑦𐑗 ·𐑖𐑷 𐑮𐑴𐑑 𐑥𐑴𐑕𐑑 𐑻𐑯𐑩𐑕𐑑𐑤𐑦, 𐑪𐑓𐑩𐑯—𐑚𐑳𐑑 𐑯𐑪𐑑 𐑷𐑤𐑢𐑱𐑟—𐑒𐑭𐑕𐑑𐑦𐑙 𐑩𐑕𐑲𐑛 𐑣𐑦𐑟 𐑤𐑳𐑝 𐑝 𐑤𐑧𐑝𐑦𐑑𐑦 𐑑 𐑸𐑜𐑿 𐑪𐑯 𐑐𐑘𐑫𐑼𐑤𐑦 𐑮𐑨𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑩𐑤 𐑜𐑮𐑬𐑯𐑛𐑟 𐑩𐑚𐑬𐑑 𐑞 𐑰𐑒𐑩𐑯𐑪𐑥𐑦𐑒 𐑦𐑯𐑦𐑓𐑦𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑕𐑦𐑟 𐑝 𐑕𐑲𐑤𐑩𐑯𐑑 𐑤𐑧𐑑𐑼𐑟 𐑯 𐑩𐑚𐑕𐑻𐑛 𐑕𐑐𐑧𐑤𐑦𐑙𐑟, 𐑯 𐑞 𐑓𐑱𐑤𐑘𐑼 𐑝 𐑑𐑮𐑩𐑛𐑦𐑖𐑩𐑯𐑩𐑤 𐑹𐑔𐑪𐑜𐑮𐑩𐑓𐑦 𐑑 𐑪𐑓𐑼 𐑧𐑯𐑦 𐑦𐑯𐑕𐑑𐑮𐑳𐑒𐑖𐑩𐑯 𐑑 𐑗𐑦𐑤𐑛𐑮𐑩𐑯 (𐑹 𐑨𐑛𐑳𐑤𐑑𐑕, 𐑓 𐑞𐑨𐑑 𐑥𐑨𐑑𐑼) 𐑪𐑯 𐑣𐑬 𐑑 𐑕𐑐𐑰𐑒 𐑦𐑙𐑜𐑤𐑦𐑖.
Wendell Berry: To Know the Dark
‘To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings….’
New Year’s Customs and Traditions
This is the annual update of my New Year post, a longstanding FmH tradition. Please let me know if you find any dead links:
I once ran across a January 1st Boston Globe article compiling folkloric beliefs about what to do, what to eat, etc. on New Year’s Day to bring good fortune for the year to come. I’ve regretted since — I usually think of it around once a year (grin) — not clipping out and saving the article. Especially since we’ve had children, I’m interested in enduring traditions that go beyond getting drunk [although some comment that this is a profound enactment of the interdigitation of chaos and order appropriate to the New Year’s celebration — FmH], watching the bowl games and making resolutions.
A web search brought me this, less elaborate than what I recall from the Globe but to the same point. It is weighted toward eating traditions, which is odd because, unlike most other major holidays, the celebration of New Year’s in 21st century America does not seem to be centered at all around thinking about what we eat (except in the sense of the traditional weight-loss resolutions!) and certainly not around a festive meal. But…
Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. Parties often last into the middle of the night after the ringing in of a new year. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year’s Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.
“Traditional New Year foods are also thought to bring luck. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes “coming full circle,” completing a year’s cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year’s Day will bring good fortune.
Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another ‘good luck’ vegetable that is consumed on New Year’s Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year’s Day.”
The further north one travels in the British Isles, the more the year-end festivities focus on New Year’s. The Scottish observance of Hogmanay has many elements of warming heart and hearth, welcoming strangers and making a good beginning:
“Three cornered biscuits called hogmanays are eaten. Other special foods are: wine, ginger cordial, cheese, bread, shortbread, oatcake, carol or carl cake, currant loaf, and a pastry called scones. After sunset people collect juniper and water to purify the home. Divining rituals are done according to the directions of the winds, which are assigned their own colors.
First Footing: The first person who comes to the door on midnightshould be a dark-haired or dark-complected man with gifts for luck. Seeing a cat, dog, woman, red-head or beggar is unlucky. The person brings a gift (handsel) of coal or whiskey to ensure prosperity in the New Year. Mummer’s Plays are also performed. The actors called the White Boys of Yule are all dressed in white, except for one dressed as the devil in black. It is bad luck to engage in marriage proposals, break glass, spin flax, sweep or carry out rubbish on New Year’s Eve.”
Here’s why we clink our glasses when we drink our New Year’s toasts, no matter where we are. Of course, sometimes the midnight cacophony is louder than just clinking glassware, to create a ‘devil-chasing din’.
In Georgia, eat black eyed peas and turnip greens on New Year’s Day for luck and prosperity in the year to come, supposedly because they symbolize coppers and currency. Hoppin’ John, a concoction of peas, onion, bacon and rice, is also a southern New Year’s tradition, as is wearing yellow to find true love (in Peru and elsewhere in South America, yellow underwear, apparently!) or carrying silver for prosperity. In some instances, a dollar bill is thrown in with the other ingredients of the New Year’s meal to bring prosperity. In Greece, there is a traditional New Year’s Day sweetbread with a silver coin baked into it. All guests get a slice of the bread and whoever receives the slice with the coin is destined for good fortune for the year. At Italian tables, lentils, oranges and olives are served. The lentils, looking like coins, will bring prosperity; the oranges are for love; and the olives, symbolic of the wealth of the land, represent good fortune for the year to come.
A New Year’s meal in Norway also includes dried cod, “lutefisk.” The Pennsylvania Dutch make sure to include sauerkraut in their holiday meal, also for prosperity.
In Spain, you would cram twelve grapes in your mouth at midnight, one each time the clock chimed, for good luck for the twelve months to come. (If any of the grapes happens to be sour, the corresponding month will not be one of your most fortunate in the coming year.) The U. S. version of this custom, for some reason, involves standing on a chair as you pop the grapes. In Denmark, jumping off a chair at the stroke of midnight signifies leaping into the New Year. In Rio,
The crescent-shaped Copacabana beach… is the scene of an unusual New Year’s Eve ritual: mass public blessings by the mother-saints of the Macumba and Candomble sects. More than 1 million people gather to watch colorful fireworks displays before plunging into the ocean at midnight after receiving the blessing from the mother-saints, who set up mini-temples on the beach.
When taking the plunge, revelers are supposed to jump over seven waves, one for each day of the week.
This is all meant to honor Lamanjá, known as the “Mother of Waters” or “Goddess of the Sea.” Lamanjá protects fishermen and survivors of shipwrecks. Believers also like to throw rice, jewelry and other gifts into the water, or float them out into the sea in intimately crafted miniature boats, to please Lamanjá in the new year.
In many northern hemisphere cities near bodies of water, people also take a New Year’s Day plunge into the water, although of course it is an icy one! The Coney Island Polar Bears Club in New York is the oldest cold-water swimming club in the United States. They have had groups of people enter the chilly surf since 1903.
Ecuadorian families make scarecrows stuffed with newspaper and firecrackers and place them outside their homes. The dummies represent misfortunes of the prior year, which are then burned in effigy at the stroke of midnight to forget the old year. Bolivian families make beautiful little wood or straw dolls to hang outside their homes on New Year’s Eve to bring good luck.
In China, homes are cleaned spotless to appease the Kitchen God, and papercuttings of red paper are hung in the windows to scare away evil spirits who might enter the house and bring misfortune. Large papier mache dragon heads with long fabric bodies are maneuvered through the streets during the Dragon Dance festival, and families open their front doors to let the dragon bring good luck into their homes.
The Indian Diwali, or Dipawali, festival, welcoming in the autumnal season, also involves attracting good fortune with lights. Children make small clay lamps, dipas, thousands of which might adorn a given home. In Thailand, one pours fragrant water over the hands of elders on New Year’s Day to show them respect.
- a stack of pancakes for the New Year’s breakfast in France.
- banging on friends’ doors in Denmark to “smash in” the New Year, where it is also a good sign to find your doorstep heaped with broken dishes on New Year’s morning. Old dishes are saved all years to throw at your friends’ homes on New Year’s Eve. The more broken pieces you have, the greater the number of new friends you will have in the forthcoming twelve months.
- going in the front door and out the back door at midnight in Ireland.
- making sure the First Footer, the first person through your door in the New Year in Scotland, is a tall dark haired visitor.
- water out the window at midnight in Puerto Rico rids the home of evil spirits.
- cleanse your soul in Japan at the New Year by listening to a gong tolling 108 times, one for every sin
- it is Swiss good luck to let a drop of cream fall on the floor on New Year’s Day.
- Belgian farmers wish their animals a Happy New Year for blessings.
In Germany and Austria, lead pouring” (das Bleigießen) is an old divining practice using molten lead like tea leaves. A small amount of lead is melted in a tablespoon (by holding a flame under the spoon) and then poured into a bowl or bucket of water. The resulting pattern is interpreted to predict the coming year. For instance, if the lead forms a ball (der Ball), that means luck will roll your way. The shape of an anchor (der Anker) means help in need. But a cross (das Kreuz) signifies death. This is also a practice in parts of Finland, apparently.- El Salvadoreans crack an egg in a glass at midnight and leave it on the windowsill overnight; whatever figure it has made in the morning is indicative of one’s fortune for the year.
- Some Italians like to take part in throwing pots, pans, and old furniture from their windows when the clock strikes midnight. This is done as a way for residents to rid of the old and welcome in the new. It also allows them to let go of negativity. This custom is also practiced in parts of South Africa, the Houston Press adds.
- In Colombia, walk around with an empty suitcase on New Year’s Day for a year full of travel.
- In the Philippines, all the lights in the house are turned on at midnight, and previously opened windows, doors and cabinets throughout the house are suddenly slammed shut, to ward off evil spirits for the new year.
- In Russia a wish is written down on a piece of paper. It is burned and the ash dissolved in a glass of champagne, which should be downed before 12:01 am if the wish is to come true.
Romanians celebrate the new year by wearing bear costumes and dancing around to ward off evil- In Turkey, pomegranates are thrown down from the balconies at midnight for good luck.
- How to Celebrate the New Year in Greenland? Terrify Everyone.‘ Masked figures chase people throughout Mitaarfik….’
“It’s a bit bizarre when you think about it. A short British cabaret sketch from the 1920s has become a German New Year’s tradition. Yet, although
The 90th Birthday or Dinner for One
is a famous cult classic in Germany and several other European countries, it is virtually unknown in the English-speaking world, including Britain, its birthplace.” (Watch on Youtube, 11 min.)
So if the Germans watch British video, what do you watch in Britain? A number of sources have suggested that it is Jools Holland’s Hootenanny, “even though it’s awful and everyone hates it.”
On a related theme, from earlier in the same week, here are some of the more bizarre Christmas rituals from around the world.
Some history; documentation of observance of the new year dates back at least 4000 years to the Babylonians, who also made the first new year’s resolutions (reportedly voews to return borrowed farm equipment were very popular), although their holiday was observed at the vernal equinox. The Babylonian festivities lasted eleven days, each day with its own particular mode of celebration. The traditional Persian Norouz festival of spring continues to be considered the advent of the new year among Persians, Kurds and other peoples throughout Central Asia, and dates back at least 3000 years, deeply rooted in Zooastrian traditions.Modern Bahá’í’s celebrate Norouz (”Naw Ruz”) as the end of a Nineteen Day Fast. Rosh Hashanah (”head of the year”), the Jewish New Year, the first day of the lunar month of Tishri, falls between September and early October. Muslim New Year is the first day of Muharram, and Chinese New Year falls between Jan. 10th and Feb. 19th of the Gregorian calendar.
The classical Roman New Year’s celebration was also in the spring although the calendar went out of synchrony with the sun. January 1st became the first day of the year by proclamation of the Roman Senate in 153 BC, reinforced even more strongly when Julius Caesar established what came to be known as the Julian calendar in 46 BC. The early Christian Church condemned new year’s festivities as pagan but created parallel festivities concurrently. New Year’s Day is still observed as the Feast of Christ’s Circumcision in some denominations. Church opposition to a new year’s observance reasserted itself during the Middle Ages, and Western nations have only celebrated January 1 as a holidy for about the last 400 years. The custom of New Year’s gift exchange among Druidic pagans in 7th century Flanders was deplored by Saint Eligius, who warned them, “[Do not] make vetulas, [little figures of the Old Woman], little deer or iotticos or set tables [for the house-elf] at night or exchange New Year gifts or supply superfluous drinks [another Yule custom].” (Wikipedia)
The tradition of the New Year’s Baby signifying the new year began with the Greek tradition of parading a baby in a basket during the Dionysian rites celebrating the annual rebirth of that god as a symbol of fertility. The baby was also a symbol of rebirth among early Egyptians. Again, the Church was forced to modify its denunciation of the practice as pagan because of the popularity of the rebirth symbolism, finally allowing its members to cellebrate the new year with a baby although assimilating it to a celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus. The addition of Father Time (the “Old Year”) wearing a sash across his chest with the previous year on it, and the banner carried or worn by the New Year’s Baby, immigrated from Germany. Interestingly, January 1st is not a legal holiday in Israel, officially because of its historic origins as a Christian feast day.
Auld Lang Syne (literally ‘old long ago’ in the Scottish dialect) is sung or played at the stroke of midnight throughout the English-speaking world (and then there is George Harrison’s “Ring Out the Old”). Versions of the song have been part of the New Year’s festivities since the 17th century but Robert Burns was inspired to compose a modern rendition, which was published after his death in 1796. (It took Guy Lombardo, however, to make it popular…)
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here’s a hand, my trusty friend
And gie’s a hand o’ thine
We’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne
Here’s how to wish someone a Happy New Year around the world:
- Arabic: Kul ‘aam u antum salimoun
- Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo means “Good Parties and Happy New Year”
- Chinese:
Chu Shen TanXin Nian Kuai Le (thanks, Jeff)- Czechoslavakia: Scastny Novy Rok
- Dutch: Gullukkig Niuw Jaar
- Finnish: Onnellista Uutta Vuotta
- French: Bonne Annee
- German: Prosit Neujahr
- Greek: Eftecheezmaenos o Kaenooryos hronos
- Hebrew: L’Shannah Tovah Tikatevu
- Hindi: Niya Saa Moobaarak
- Irish (Gaelic): Bliain nua fe mhaise dhuit
- Italian: Buon Capodanno
- Khmer: Sua Sdei tfnam tmei
- Laotian: Sabai dee pee mai
- Polish: Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
- Portuguese: Feliz Ano Novo
- Russian: S Novim Godom
- Serbo-Croatian: Scecna nova godina
- Spanish: Feliz Ano Nuevo
- Swedish: Ha ett gott nytt år
- Turkish: Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
- Vietnamese: Cung-Chuc Tan-Xuan
[If you are a native speaker, please feel free to offer any corrections or additions!]
Which of these customs appeal to you? Are they done in your family, or will you try to adopt any of them? However you’re going to celebrate, my warmest wishes for the year to come… and eat hearty!
[thanks to Bruce Umbaugh (here or here) for original assistance]
Related?
- Lucky Foods for the New Year (wholefoodsmarket.com)
- New Year’s Day food traditions around the world (examiner.com)
- Lucky foods to Eat on New Year’s Day (kasamba.com)
- 10 Good Luck Foods (beatcancer2010.wordpress.com)
- Good luck food for New Year’s Day (mnn.com)
- New Year’s Eve Traditions 3 (languagelearnersandteachers.wordpress.com)
- How to Manifest Good Luck in the New Year (norinedresser.wordpress.com)
- New Year’s foods for prosperity and luck?
- What’s Cooking in January
- Pickle, Peach, Carp Drops Mark New Year
- It’s New Year’s Eve, You’re Drunk and Damnit, You Drove
- Regency Christmas Traditions: Hogmanay (trsparties.com)
