“For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice.”
T.S. Eliot
All art by John Bauer
Wandering fairies, returning ancestor spirits, and talking animals comprise some of the folklore and old superstitions associated with the new year in Europe. I suspect, though, that for many who read this page that the new year really began after the solstice, and, of course, our ancestors did not follow the calendar year as we know it today. That said, the Duchas.ie archives contain lots of Irish folklore and customs relating to the new calendar year as well.
Taken in isolation many of the traditions might seem strange but looking at the much older beliefs connected to spirits, luck, ancestors and the land, we can discover their connections. For example, in this piece from 1938 we can find evidence of doors being left open to allow the bad luck to leave and the good luck to arrive. We can also see how people felt that the first initial contact of the new year would establish, hopefully, a pattern of fortune and positive energy and influence.
“Doors are thrown open about ten minutes to twelve on New Years Eve to let the old year out and to let the new year in. There is always an anxious time on the morning of New Year’s Day lest any ill-disposed person should be the first to enter the house and sometimes doors are kept religiously closed until some person known to be “good natured” first calls and that person gets a very assuring and cordial invitation to “come in.” https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428026/4369429/4475228
Attached to this is a variation of the Dumb Supper which I wrote about for a previous piece at Samhain. The same procedure is followed on New Year’s Eve with the front and back door of the household being left unlocked and a place set at the table for the relatives who had died during the previous year. As an aside, in Chile a popular New Year’s Eve custom is for the family to actually spend the night in the cemetery and sleep next to a loved ones grave.
https://www.hngn.com/…/worlds-most-bizarre-new-years…
In Iceland, huge bonfires are lit in order to illuminate the way for wandering fairies and elves. We also see variations of this custom in Ireland but it is quite an isolated tradition now. Banging bread against the household walls, for example, would be an attempt to dispel bad spirits. Perhaps this concept links to the belief behind many Asian stories of shaman attracting helpful household spirits in this vein. This is done by creating an effigy called an ongon. More on this in a future post.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/…/encyclopedias…/ongon
Another lesser known custom throughout Europe is the belief that a person can communicate with animals on this night. I have also seen this tradition applied to Christmas Eve as well so perhaps it was originally a post-Solstice custom? In some countries, specific animals are more receptive to being spoken to. In Belgium, for example, it is cows one should speak to in order to hear your fortune for the year ahead. But whoever, and whatever, you end up speaking to, I wish everyone the very best going forward into 2022 and thanks for all the support and shares.
David Halpin
David Halpin is a writer from Tallaght, now living on the Carlow/ Wicklow border. He has been writing about Irish Forteana and spirituality for over thirty years and has had his articles published in magazines and books throughout the world. David’s photographs of Ireland’s sacred sites have been published in journals and articles worldwide and in 2020 were included in An Taisce’s annual report on the Irish landscape. David is also a reviewer of esoteric writing and as well as publishing for The Occult Book Review, he also contributes regularly to newspapers, magazines and online publications. His articles have appeared in The Wild Hunt, New Dawn Magazine, Coire Ansic, and he is a regular contributor to Ancient Origins. David also runs the blog, Circle Stories, where he focuses his writing upon the topics of consciousness and folklore.
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