Want a better New Year than 2020? These Hungarian superstitions might help you!

2020 was definitely a year that people will remember for a long time, but not because it was so good. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned things upside down: no travels, no big parties, and possibly no fireworks in Hungary. In order for 2021 to be less bumpy than the old year, in this article, we have collected Hungarian superstitions for you to try out; maybe they will make the new year a bit better for you all.

A little explanation

Hungarians call New Year’s Eve Szilveszter. It was named after Pope St. Sylvester who died in Rome on the 31^st of December. The date only became significant in 1691, however. For Hungarians before that, the beginning of the New Year was most probably around autumn or spring as the change of seasons also marked the end or beginning of agricultural activities. This might also be a reason why it is such a superstitious holiday.

What to eat?

As Hungarians love to eat, you might have guessed we have some superstitions concerning our food, and you were right. Hungarians like to eat lentil stew or soup this time of the year as it is believed to bring great fortune and luck in the new year. According to some superstitions, people cook one single almond into the stew or soup, and if the person who finds it is single, they will marry in the new year.

As with many Hungarian holidays, love prediction is also prevalent on New Year’s Eve. In some households, girls boil dumplings with little notes with names on them after midnight, and whichever comes up first will be their husband. Back in the old days, Hungarians poured lead as a form of predicting events of the new year. Whatever one would see in the strange shape as the lead cooled down after pouring would be their prediction. If it was a face-like shape with a huge nose, then their lovers would have a huge nose, and so on.

Hungarians also like to eat pork this time of year as it is believed that the pig dug up good luck; if you think about it, trained pigs can find truffles, so they can literally dig up a fortune for you. Because of this, pig slaughtering is common around this time of the year as a Hungarian tradition, but modern customs are a bit milder and nowadays, many Hungarians eat pork sausages of many different kinds.

There are a few exceptions of what not to eat on New Year’s Eve. Hungarians believed that eating chicken will mean that the animal scratches away people’s luck. Also, if you eat fish, it will slip out of your hands and swim away with your luck for the new year. Eating turkey is also bad as, according to the superstition, it will bring many quarrels and arguments in the new year as turkeys are hot-headed and bad-tempered.

People who are working in business should eat a lot of fruit on December 31 as it will make their business fruitful in the following year. Making strudels is also recommended as it is said that, just like the dough, your life will be stretched out so you will live longer. Cutting fresh bread is also a good omen as it means that you will be able to provide your everyday bread in the following year, but beware, if you eat everything on New Year’s Eve, it means that you will be lacking in the new year. Also literally, as the 1^st of January is a national holiday, and everything is closed in Hungary.

What to do during the day?