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COLOMBIA
Superstitions
Superstition is an integral part of the Colombian tradition during the New Year's Eve festivities, when families gather to wish for a new year that will bring them success and good fortune. No one in Colombia leaves anything to chance, because superstitions, or agüeros as they call them, come in all shapes and sizes -- from the ones that seek the perfect love to the ones that make it possible for someone to have good fortune, good health, financial success or travel during the new year.
The way to get these rituals to work is simple and it only takes the right disposition to get the appropriate materials and use them in the manner "prescribed."
For those who want to take a more active role when they make their wishes for 2001 this year, we are presenting here some of the most common superstitions practiced in Colombia, which according to some are quite effective.
And why not? No one seems to be the final authority on these topics, not even those who practice them all, and most certainly not the ones who don't believe in any of them. The truth is that these superstitions are a traditional part of Colombian culture that still has many followers.
In the five seconds right before midnight, as people are counting down from five, those who are superstitious try to do their part as best they can to secure a wish, sometimes subjecting themselves to a true test of endurance:
They take a glass of champagne that they're holding in their right hand and drink it in one quick sip; they eat 12 grapes, and ask for 12 wishes; they go around the block with a briefcase; they put on yellow underwear; they kiss someone of the opposite sex; they read the future on an egg; they read their cards; they 'see' the future on a peeled potato; they put ears of wheat around their homes and sing popular ditties.
But, behind all of this, there are the personal reasons each individual has, no matter the race, social class, gender or age, to perform these popular rituals to feel safe about their fate in the new year.
From a cultural perspective, superstitions are popular beliefs that are carried from one generation to the next and that are adapted to the needs of those who practice them according to their place and time.
Most of the superstitions known and practiced in Colombia originated in France, from where the Spaniards emulated them and later passed as part of their cultural inheritance to the conquered territories in Latin America. This is how Javier Ocampo López describes it in his book Supersticiones y agüeros colombianos:
"For most Colombians the best way to ring in the new year is in the company of family, dancing and celebrating, (and) of course, always standing up. Because when one starts the new year in bed or asleep, this is an omen of bad luck, bad health and no money.
That's why, families in Colombia are very lavish about their New Year's Eve celebrations, in proportion to their means, and always include at least one of the traditional superstitious rituals."
Protect your home
1. At midnight, repeat the following prayer for San Sylvester to protect your home from witches and evil doers: "Señor San Silvestre del monte mayor, guarda nuestra casa y su alrededor de bruja hechicera y hombre malhechor".
2. The Ear of Wheat: Place an ear of wheat in your living room on January first to symbolize good luck and peace.
3. Aloe Vera: Hang a new leaf of Aloe Vera or Sábila on the back of your entrance door at home or office. Do it on January 1. Some people do it with a piece of bread, as a symbol of good fortune.
4. Clean: This New Year's Day clean your house in and out, sweep all the rooms, the living room, dinning room and other areas. This will get rid of bad energy.
5. Water: Go door-to-door asking for water to water your home and have good luck.
6. Incense and Myrrh: Burn incense and myrrh in every corner of your home, to let the holy smoke take away all the bad things from the last year and let the good luck come in. Repeat aloud "que entre el bien y salga el mal" (Let good in and evil let out).
Good Fortune Tricks
1. The Kiss: Make sure that the first thing you do when it's time to wish people a happy new year is kiss someone of the opposite sex. Get a spot between two people of the opposite sex for a better chance.
2. Change Clothes: Some people recommend changing clothes right at midnight and wearing all white to ward off diseases and curses.
3. Yellow Underwear: This superstition is more for women than for men. On this day, you should wear a pair of yellow underwear inside out, because, according to the tradition, it will bring you good luck and a few admirers here and there.
4. Take a bath: When midnight comes, take a special bath prepared with seven different aromatic herbs: rue, sagebrush, myrtle, chamomile, walnut wood, laurel, and hemlock. Then you lather three times with soap (the officially recommended soap is jabón Rey). While you're bathing, keep a happy and positive attitude and repeat or sing some prayers. The next day, accompany your breakfast with a strong cup of coffee aromatized with flower of rue, or have a mixed drink made with aguardiente, rum, chicha and cloves.
Whoever takes this bath will have positive energy all year and will keep bad energy away.
Don't forget that this bath has to be taken with permission from God and Mother Nature in order to get better results.
5. Wear Brand New Clothes: Put on something new on New Year's Day and eat well. This will bring you good fortune and success.
Objects, Fruit and Food:
1. On New Year's Eve: Using old clothes, make a figure resembling a man and fill it with sawdust, paper and fireworks if they are legal where you live. Put it in a park, plaza or on the side of the road and light it on fire at midnight in effigy of the bad things that happened in the last past. Write and stick signs on it with all the bad things so they go away with the "old year dummy."
2. Slamming the Door: As the bells toll midnight to welcome the new year, slam the front door of your house. This, according to the tradition, is done to kick out the bad spirits that may have been lurking in the house in the last year.
3. Fat Pockets: The idea is that right at midnight you should have money in all your pockets. Traditionally, bills are favored over change, so you always have money during the new year.
4. Jewels in Champagne: Right at midnight you should put all of your jewels in a glass of champagne. According to the experts, this will bring you plenty of good luck and money throughout the year. Then you have to pour champagne all over yourself.
5. Coins: Ask one of the people who are celebrating the new year with you for three coins. Do it in the name of the Holy Trinity, the Sacred Family and the Three Kings. Keep the coins because they will bring you good luck throughout the new year. There are others who collect 13 coins of the same denomination and count them several times as the midnight hour approaches.
6. Green Bills: As the bells toll nearing the midnight hour, you have to wrap a new bill in a leaf of lettuce and keep it in your wallet so that you have money at all times during the new year.
7. Trip: Grab your bags, briefcase or duffle bag and walk around the block or around your apartment building, and say goodbye to all the people you find along the way. Ask your relatives to wish you a happy trip and many successes. This should procure a year full of adventures for you.
8. Cards: There are some who customarily get their cards read on New Year's Eve or on New Year's Day, because these are the days of the year with the most energy.
9. The 12 Grapes: Place 12 grapes in a glass of champagne or wine. As the clock gongs 12 times, start eating the grapes one by one and making 12 wishes for 2001. These grapes represent the 12 months of the year. If you practice this tradition, good health and money will never fail you.
10. Sahumerios: This special potpourri is used to neutralize negative energy and welcome good fortune.
An appropriate mixture should include cinnamon, cloves, coffee, myrrh, incense, storax, sugar and pine or cedar cones. Works best on New Year's Eve at midnight.
11. Potatoes: Pick three potatoes. Leave one totally peeled, another one half peeled and the last one with the skin. Throw them under your bed past midnight with the lights off. The next day, wake up at 6 a.m. and stick your right hand under the bed without looking to grab one.
The potato you get will show you how your year is going to be. If you get the peeled potato, the new year is not going to be that good for you; if you get the one that's half peeled things will go so-so for you; and if you get the potato that is not peeled, your year will be very good indeed.
12. The Bowl of Lentils: Eat a bowl of lentils on the first day of the year. This will bring you good luck.
13. The Egg: Crack an egg in a glass of water when the clock marks the midnight hour. Place it under your bed until midnight the next day, January 1, and take a close look at it: if there are a lot of silver bubbles, you'll have plenty of money; if there are only a few, you won't be getting much money this year; if the whites are shaped like a little boat, you'll make a long trip; if they look like the contour of a house, you'll buy a house or move; if you see two figures crowned with bubbles and a long garment, there will be a wedding; if the whites and the bubbles make a little cradle, there will be a baby; if you see something like a tomb or a dark spot, this means there will be mourning and if you don't see any shapes or bubbles and the egg sinks to the bottom of the glass, it means that the year will bring bad luck and terrible things. The egg in the glass is a tradition of the plains (llanos) and according to the experts, the glass will tell you everything you need to know. If you're going to have a home, money, work, or if there's going to be a death in the family.
Another way of checking to see if you're going to have good luck in the new year is doing what the people from the Colombian department of Nariño do: They hold hands while they're standing on a street curb and when the midnight hour is approaching they all jump at the same time; whoever falls is bound to have a bad year.
Once the new year has started, figure out how much time you've spent in all of these "tests," because even if they don't work, you may have managed to set a record by eating the most grapes in the least amount of time, burn some extra calories, change your eating habits, buy new clothes and get your house spick-and-span to sleep in the first day of the year.
Hopefully you'll begin the New Year free from stress after so much hustle and bustle...
But, even if you don't, have a Happy New Year!... The important thing is to keep up this positive attitude for the rest of the new year and just maybe all of your wishes will come true.
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