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Do you have your black-eyed peas, collard greens and ham hocks ready to cook New Year’s Day? Eating peas is supposed to bring prosperity because they swell when cooked. Greens symbolize money.

The Southern tradition is commonly thought to date to the Civil War when Sherman’s troops took all the stored food on their march through the South but would not take black-eyed peas, which they considered animal food.

The tradition actually has roots much deeper and is referenced in the Babylonian Talmud, compiled in 500 A.D.  It was written that black-eyed peas, gourds, leeks, spinach, and dates were good luck symbols and should be on the table on the first day of the new year. By the 16th century, the tradition was written into the standard code of Jewish law.

Israeli Jews and Sephardi Jews still continue the tradition. Sephardi Jews migrated to Georgia in the early 1700s, and some people believe their custom was adopted by mainstream Southerners about the time of the Civil War.

Other traditions surrounding New Year’s Day relate to the idea that what we do early in the year carries forward for the entire year. 

Kissing your love at midnight is supposed to ensure togetherness for the year. Making lots of noise at midnight is not only festive, it scares away evil spirits. 

The first visitor to your home in the New Year brings luck if it’s a tall, dark-haired man.  Blondes, redheads, and women are considered unlucky. That superstition harkens back to Scotland where they had “First Walks” to visit neighbors after midnight on New Year’s Eve, often bringing the gift of a burning ember of coal.

The tradition of using a baby as the symbol for the new year dates back to 600 B.C. in Greece.

New Year’s is the oldest celebrated holiday, dating back to 2000 B.C. in Babylon. They celebrated the new year on the first new moon after the first day of spring.  We think our New Year’s Eve celebration is a big party but theirs lasted 11 days.

I’ve always thought it would make more sense for the new year to begin on the first day of spring instead of Jan. 1.

But I figured there was some astrological reason for starting the year in the middle of winter. In my research I’ve learned that the Jan. 1 date is completely arbitrary, related to the adoption of the Gregorian calendar.

Another New Year’s tradition I’ve always wondered about is the singing of “Auld Lang Syne.”

The song is based on a poem by Robert Burns, written in 1796.  The words “auld lang syne” are defined as “old times” or the “good old days.”

The Guy Lombardo Orchestra played the song at midnight at a New Year’s Eve celebration at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City in 1929, and it quickly became a tradition.  The song was played by Guy Lombardo every year until 1976, first on the radio, then on television.

Each New Year may bring a fresh start, but the traditions surrounding the holiday are rooted in cultures and practices dating back hundreds, sometimes thousands of years.

Joni Carter lives in the Bethany community. Contact her at writetojonicarter@gmail.com