New Year’s traditions in Hungary

All countries have their own traditions when it comes to celebrating the New Year. In Hungary New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day traditions have interlocked with the aim of bringing health, wealth, fortune and happiness to the next year by doing magic.

Making noise at midnight is very important. Partly, so that everybody is awake and will work hard in the next year and partly, so that the flock turns to its other side at the beginning of the next year. Bigger boys went from house to house and alarmed the stock by tinkling and snapping whips. It was believed that this way they ensured the health and reproductiveness of the animals. The boys were then served with wine, schnapps, and desserts and gifted with different presents.

A wide range of superstitions can be connected to the New Year. This is when we make resolutions and kick off our success in the next year. January 1^st only became the beginning of the New Year a few centuries ago. Before that, it started in autumn or spring. But the traditions haven’t changed with time; it is still believed that New Year’s Day plays an important role in the New Year’s success.

Many people make a type of small round cake (pogácsa) or torte and hide a coin in it. The one who gets the piece with the coin will be very fortunate. People also made garlic calendars to forecast the next year’s weather. They put salt on the 12 cloves that represent the 12 months. The clove that gets the dampest represents the rainiest month of the upcoming year.

Girls tried to foretell who’s going to be their future husband by putting names into dumplings. They then cooked them in boiling water, and the one that first came to the surface contained the right name. People also used lead and wax to foretell the future. They poured hot lead or wax into cold water and tried to work out the future by the shapes that were formed.

Let’s see some other superstitions. Housework and arguing were forbidden on this day because it meant misfortune. Eating poultry is bad luck because hens scratch backwards. You should be careful with fish as your luck might drift away with it. However, fish is considered to bring luck in other regions. Wealth can be lengthened with different types of strudels.

In some parts of the Transdanubian region, baking small round cakes (pogácsa) with feathers is a special way of foretelling the future. They apportioned one cake to all family members and stuck feathers into them. The feather that got burnt while baking meant that the person wouldn’t live the next feathery cake baking.

It was forbidden to borrow or lend anything. Who previously borrowed something, gave it back until New Year’s Eve. It was also a custom to shower first thing in the morning to stay healthy. The person who went to the well first, got the “golden water” which meant luck for the whole year. It was forbidden to call the doctor or go to the doctor to avoid diseases in the next year.

The rolling of a fiery wheel is a tradition celebrated on bigger events in Transylvania. A wheel wrapped in straw is set
on fire and it is then rolled down on a hillside. It was believed that the wheel connected the last year with the New Year.

Eating pork brings good luck as the swine roots forward. Another food that symbolises fortune is lentils. We eat lentils in any form as the first meal on New Year’s Day. Other leguminous plants also bring good luck. And last but not least, we shouldn’t forget about the emblematic symbols of fortune like horseshoe, clover and chimney sweepers.

Happy New Year!

Source: Daily News Hungary