New Year Eve
Romanians' traditions and superstitions
On New Year's Eve people prepare themselves for a new beginning. It's time for the "Little plough" and the "Big plough", two agrarian traditions. It's time to find out your future. What could the new year bring out for you?
It is said that the mood you are in the first day of the year the same you'll be the whole year. So, with this thought in mind people clean up the house and themselves. They put order in every little thing in their houses and every little thought in their minds.
After all this have been done they rest as much as they can. A long party night will come and next day they cannot sleep too much. Cause if they sleep a lot in first day of the year they'll be sleepy all the year long.
New Year's Eve morning brings us "The little plough". This is a 5-10 children band that wish health and prosperity for the new year to every householder in village.
"The big plough" comes in the afternoon. It is time for the young men of the village now. This is a larger group. "The big plough" has the same meaning as "The little plough" but the show is different.
- A girl has to go out in the yard on the New Year Eve and count nine stars. If the last one is more brighter than the others her future husband will be handsome and strong. She must pray to the star to bring him to her.
- In some places of Transylvania people put 12 soup plates turned up on the table. Under each plate they hide different objects. Unmarried young men and women come and pick up a plate. What they find under the plate talks about the character of his/her partner: the mirror means he/she will be proud ;the glass for plum brandy - drinker, bread - rich, charcoal - black soul, salt - poorness, pencil – a great person, money - wealth. Of course they laugh of all this things.
- In other places there is a custom called "The rod" – from the name of the tool used: a rod from the weaving loom. Young people gather in someone's house. They bring a personal object with them and put them in a large vase with water. There is a character called "the rod man" who reads their future. He uses two rods and beats the vase with them. He strikes up a invocation of spirits. Each player asks for an object. Any of them but his/her personal one. Now let the fun begin. But all the joy stands in the rod man's talent to find humours words and invent meanings for each person.
In any case starting from nightfall till in the morning no light must be turned off and no one must sleep. At the midnight Romanians eat fish because it brings health and welfare in new year.
I forgot a very nice custom. On the New Year's Eve young men walking throughout the village use to exchange the gateways of the quarrelled people. So they force those people talk and they may even make peace.
The New Year Eve meaning is the year what is going to "die". And, as everywhere in the world, Romanians are waiting for a New Year to come.
Previous feast day: Christmas Day
Next feast day: Saint Basil's Day.
Back to Christmas in Romania
