New Year and its significance!
Have you ever thought why do we celebrate New Year? And have you noticed that nations of the whole world celebrate this holiday?
New Year is celebrated differently by various countries. It is a holiday that is celebrated in the moment when the last day of the year is changed by the first day of the next year. Different countries celebrate it on different dates. It depends on the calendar that is official in the country. But the majority of people celebrate it on the 1st of January according to the Gregorian calendar.
It is not very important in some countries. But other countries pay particular attention to this holiday. It has some similar traditions to Christmas traditions: a New Year Tree is also put, houses are decorated with lights and ribbons, and presents are given.
And sometimes New Year has even mystical significance. People believe that all sorrows and troubles should be left in the past year and only positive expectative and wishes should accompany people the next year.
There is a special horoscope in Chine, and 12 zodiacs change each other every year. Every zodiac is named after one of 12 animals. They are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. And a person's character depends on his/her zodiac.
Every country has its own traditions that are carefully kept by every nation.
- In Italy people get rid of all old things for New Year and they put on fire the Christmas wood.
- In Japan they strike the bell 108 times. Every strike of the bell corresponds to one of vices. There are six of them: greediness, foolishness, fury, light-mindedness, indecision, and envy, but every vice has 18 variations that in total make 108.
- In England people decorate their houses with New Year Tree. But they also decorate their houses with branches of mistletoe. There are posies of mistletoe fixed even on lamps. And according to tradition, you should kiss a person that stands under the posy of mistletoe.
- In Burma New Year is in the hottest period of the year. That is why New Year is accompanied by so called "holiday of water" when people poor the water on each other when they meet. It is an original way to wish happiness for the next year.
- In Bulgaria New Year is celebrated with a lot of joy. People gather in the house of their relatives and friends and they switch off the light for three minutes. These minutes are called "the minutes of new Year kisses".
Anyway when a year ends, some period of our history ends. And it is the part of our lives that ends too.
New Year is the time when families gather to celebrate this wonderful holiday; it is a winter holiday that gives the possibility to enjoy all advantages of winter. Skating, skiing, snowballs, frost and snow are the benefits of winter that help to turn New Year in the favourite holiday of children.