In Mexico and other Latin American countries, women wear yellow
underwear on New Year's Eve to bring good luck and wealth in the year to
come. Red underwear indicates a New Year's wish for an exciting love
interest!
Sweeping the Feathers, by Victor Gabriel Gilbert. It's the custom in Mexico to thoroughly clean the house prior to the start of the New Year--you don't want to bring any leftover mugre (dirt) into the clean, fresh year.
Superstition or not, many people here in Mexico have the custom of ritos del Año Nuevo (New Year's rituals). Some rituals include foods, others prescribe certain clothing, and still others warrant attention for religious interest.
As
the clock strikes midnight, it's common to eat twelve grapes--one at
each ding, one at each dong of the bell. While eating the grapes, you
make a personal wish for each grape you consume, welcoming the new
year that's beginning. Mexico Cooks! finds that it's helpful
to write down the twelve wishes so as not to forget one or choke in
the rush to swallow the grapes before the clock finishes striking the
New Year's earliest hour!
Eating
a tablespoonful of cooked lentils on New Year's Eve is said to bring
prosperity and abundance. You can also give raw lentils--just a
handful--to family and friends with the same wish.
On
a small piece of paper, write down the undesirable habits and customs
you'd like to let go of in the New Year that's just starting. Burn
the paper, then follow through with the changes!
Choose three stones that symbolize health, love, and money. Put them in a place where you will see them every day.
Light
candles: blue for peace, yellow for abundance, red for love, green
for health, white for spirituality, and orange for intelligence.
Spill
clean water on the sidewalk in front of your house as the clock rings
in the New Year. Your house will be purified and all tears will be
washed away.
To
have money for your needs all year, have some bills in your hand or
in your pocket to welcome the arrival of the New Year. Some people
fold up the money and put it in their shoes!
Take
your suitcase for a walk. Legend is that the farther you walk with
your suitcase, the farther you'll travel. Several New Year's Eves ago,
Mexico Cooks! and a few friends celebrated by walking our
suitcases around the block, and we all traveled far and wide during
the new year that followed.
Mexico Cooks! wishes all of you a muy Próspero Año Nuevo--and especially wishes that your red underwear brings you (or keeps you) the love of family, friends, and that special someone.
Very nice article.
I'll try the suitcase next year.
Huges!
Posted by: Mary Becerra | January 06, 2013 at 02:41 PM
Cristina, this year we spent the new year on the coast of Michoacan. All in the little hotel shared a new years eve dinner and one of the guests gave each of us a white liston with a bell on it. We were to write all of our deseos for the new year on it and hang it on the doorknob of our room overnight. She said that this was a tradition that many here carry out. Many of the guests did this. Quite a nice touch.
Posted by: sheila velazco | January 05, 2013 at 10:15 AM