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The reason people kiss on New Year’s Eve – and when superstition dates back to appeared on www.mirror.co.uk by The Mirror.
Kissing is a New Year’s tradition, but where did it come from? Experts suggest this act is rooted in folklore, with some even suggesting it originates back to Roman times
Image: Getty Images)
During the party season, there are many festive traditions that people partake in, even if we’re unsure why we do them in the first place.
One of them is giving a loved one a kiss when the clock strikes midnight to mark the start of new year. While its a nice way to bring in the new year, have you ever thought the reason behind this magical action?
It’s thought to originate from ancient cultures, and rooted in superstition. In German and English folklore, the first person you encounter in the New Year determines whether you have good or bad fortune in the year ahead. Meaning, kissing a loved one at the stroke of midnight will indicate a strong relationship throughout 2024.
Not only that, but the historic tradition can be traced back to the Romans, who would indulge in a party for the pagan celebration Saturnalia towards the end of December. The festivities involved costumes and lavish feasts.
So, some believe that giving someone a smooch at the stroke of midnight is a tamer version of this ancient tradition. As well as that, kissing at midnight was also tradition during the Renaissance, when masquerade balls were popular across Europe.
At midnight, people would remove their masks, and kisses were a way of purifying each other from evil. It was a way of starting the new year with a clean slate, according to Joanne Wannan, author of ‘Kisstory: A Sweet and Sexy Look at the History of Kissing’.
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Image:
Getty Images)
According to GQ, during Hogmanay, the Scottish new year celebration, it is tradition to give a kiss to everyone in the room – not just the one person – and the idea is to connect friends and strangers. Now, the popular NYE superstition dictates that if you kiss someone on New Year’s Eve, you will have a year of luck in love.
In Entertaining from Ancient Rome to the Super Bowl: An Encyclopedia, it said: “Over time people may have begun to take a proactive approach by kissing someone they knew and liked at the first moment of the New Year.”
Alexis McCrossen, professor of history at Southern Methodist University and expert on the holiday, said that before the 19th century, it was only celebrated on New Years Day. In the USA, German immigration influenced the way Americans celebrate New Year’s Eve now.
He said: “A lot of the German immigrants moved to American cities and sort of shaped a lot of American culture. They had an impact on the emergence of New Year’s Eve as a time to celebrate and party.”
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