My grandmother Higdon was a superstitious woman. She was always looking out for her family by telling us to be careful not to break a mirror or we would have seven years of bad luck, not to let a black cat cross our path, not to walk underneath ladders, and NEVER open an umbrella in the house. Any one of these could cause some long-term disaster.As this year ends, I remember my childhood and the most important thing we did as a family on New Year's Day--that was to have a big helping of black-eyes peas. Meme (that was what I called my grandmother) said that it would bring us prosperity. It seemed to work; we always had enough money to meet our needs.
Some other New Year's superstitions and traditions:
*Kiss your lover at mid-night to assure love all year long.
*Open you doors and windows at mid-night to let the old year out and the new year in.
*Wear new clothes on New Year's Day so that you have new garments all year.
*A baby born on January 1 will have good luck all their life.
***Is there a special tradition you practice on New Years that may have been handed down or practiced by your ancestors or family?
12 comments:
The only one I ever knew about was the black eyed pea tradition.My Grandfather came from a family that was full of these superstitions but he was the only child in the family that didn't believe in them.
Mistress Meeyee- Eating black-eyed peas seems to be a popular one.
I've never liked the blackeyed peas and cabbage rolls. eww. Got white beans with the Christmas hambone going and a huge pot of chicken noodle soup. Will probably do a gumbo or chili for the First. :)
Angie- Now that sounds delicious..better that the peas.
Well Barbara, I've wracked my brain and cannot come up with any New Year's traditions in my family! We kind of wing it each year. But I do like yours, and think I'll adopt some.
Joanne- I think some of these were brought to the South by the early settlers....my family among them.
We always, always have blackeyed peas! And a toast at midnight.
Wow, Pat, how wonderful that you're keeping tradition alive!!
We don't really have any traditions to start the New Year out. That sounds pathetic. Maybe we had better think of something and get it started. Neither of our families did either.
Lea- It's never too late to start a family tradition. They make wonderful memories.
We're not tradition people, well, for New Years anyway. It's always just sort of been "just another day". But, one thing that we did growing up was have sweet potatoes and black eyed peas. I forget which is what, I know one is supposed to mean good luck for the New Year.
So I do serve that on New Years Eve to my family. But we rarely stay up to the count down, at least not since we've had a child. We're too pooped! I think I will start a new tradition however for New Years Eve. Family game and movie night, and we can try and stay up as late as our bodies will let us. Happy New Year!
ChristaCarol- I like those ideas!
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