(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Saturday Top Comments: Superstition and the New Year [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-30 Shall we begin with a song? Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. We strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Please please please include a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-)), so we can credit you with the find! Welp, it’s that time of the year. This is the time of the year when Superstition reigns Supreme. As the year turns (Of course this is the Western Gregorian Calendar), cultures all over the world fall back into ancient superstition and ritual to ensure prosperity and luck during the new year. Let’s take a look at some superstitions from around the world. First, let’s look at food. GERMANY: Eat the round things. One of Germany’s traditions is to eat round foods—specially made cakes, bagels, donuts, as long as it’s a circle. Representing a full year of luck SPAIN: Eat twelve grapes at midnight, one for each month, making a wish for each. POLAND AND SCANDANAVIA: Eating pickled herring at midnight. Herring is a very plentiful fish in the area, so it signifies a year of plenty CHINA: NO white food on New Year’s Eve. Tofu, cauliflower, white beans, all that stuff. White is a bad luck color. Instead, eat colorful food. AMERICAN SOUTH: Pork, beans (black eyed peas or crowder peas), and leafy greens. All to bring luck and prosperity. A Digression: Watch Michael Twitty in a conversation with Max Miller about the complex southern traditions and how they intertwine with those of enslaved people: And now for some more: CLOTHING: Wear your red undies on New Year’s Eve. Yellow is also a preferred color. Wear Polka dots. Symbolizing coins. NOISE: Many cultures have a tradition of banging pots, setting off fireworks, and such to drive away evil spirits OTHERS: Don’t clean your house New Year’s Day. Open all the doors and windows on New Year’s Eve, so the new air can drive out the bad air In the Scottish tradition of “First Foot”, welcome the first one to set foot in the house after midnight. Of course, in Scotland if the “first foot” is blonde or ginger, it means bad luck. Don’t eat chicken or turkey: They scratch backwards to eat. Don’t eat beef: They stand still. Every culture and every FAMILY have their own superstitions. What are some of yours? And now on to Tops! TOP COMMENTS Brillig's ObDisclaimer: The decision to publish each nomination lies with the evening's Diarist and/or Comment Formatter. My evenings at the helm, I try reeeeallllyy hard to publish everything without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down. Please remember that comment inclusion in Top Comments does not constitute support or endorsement by diarist, formatter, Top Comments writers or DailyKos. Questions, complaints or comments? Contact brillig. From belinda ridgewood: Surely I scarcely need to mention, at this point, that this top comment comes from today's APR by Greg Dworkin. In response to considerable discussion about the person Denise Oliver Velez so rightly refers to as "Nikkki Haley", MargaretPOA crafted the REAL reason poor Nikkki will never be Trump's running mate. TOP MOJO Top Mojo for yesterday December 29, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on FAQing Top Mojo. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/30/2214607/-Saturday-Top-Comments-Superstition-and-the-New-Year?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/