Traditions And Superstitions On New Year’s Eve In Romania

Romanian folklore is among the richest when it comes to traditions and superstitions for New Year’s Eve. 

If we have already talked about the most beautiful Romanian Christmas customs, here are the most known New Year’s traditions, but also what superstitions are known throughout the country.

Romanian traditions for New Year’s Eve

Around the New Year, well-known wishes and customs are made with the aim of warding off evil spirits from the year just coming to an end and ushering in a richer and more fertile year. Going caroling is one of the most common customs and it starts even before Christmas and continues until the first days of the New Year.

The Onion calendar is a Romanian New Year custom. A custom that has its origins in Hunedoara and that anticipates what the weather will be like in each month of the year that is just starting. On New Year’s Eve, 12 leaves are unrolled from the onion and put in order for the months of the year. Half a teaspoon of salt is placed in each onion sheet, and the sheets are left on a table until the next morning. If the salt has all melted in certain months, it means that rainy months are announced, and if not, it means that dry months are coming.

Burying the Year is a custom that is still practiced today in certain areas of the country and which consists of the symbolic renewal of time, a ceremony that takes place on the night between years. It is said that time is born annually, rejuvenates, matures, then grows old and dies, to make way for another 365 days to be resurrected through new traditions.

On New Year’s Eve, unmarried girls put basil, an apple branch, and a penny in a bowl of water, and overnight it is said that they should dream of the one. At midnight, tradition says it’s good to open the door, to let the old year out and make room for the new one. One of the well-known New Year’s traditions is the kiss under the mistletoe, to be accompanied by love throughout the coming year.

On New Year’s Eve, it’s good to make a wish and welcome the coming year with high hopes. It is known from the elders that when the years pass, it is good for each person to wear a new coat, but also something red or another cheerful color because it attracts positive energies. According to tradition, on New Year’s Eve, but also on the first of January, one does not complain. 

Romanian Superstitions on New Year’s Eve

One of the most famous superstitions says that the first person to cross the threshold of the house on the first day of the New Year will influence the year that has just begun. It is said that if the first person to enter a house is a man, you will have a lucky year, but if a woman enters the house first, the New Year will be unlucky.

Another New Year’s Eve superstition is that both on the last day of the year and on the first day of the New Year, it is recommended not to spend or throw anything out of the house, not even the garbage, because with it you will throw away your and luck.

It is said that on New Year’s Eve it is not good to have any debt. Otherwise, you will remain in debt for the whole year.

On New Year’s Eve, it is good to have money in your pocket, that way you will have luck by your side.

Another superstition is that it is not good to eat poultry on the last day of the year, as it brings bad luck.

On the first day of the New Year, do not wash or sweep, because these things can attract impoverishment of the house.

What are the customs for New Year’s Eve in your country?