January 1st is Always "First Foot Day."
January 1 is always "New Years Day."
First Foot Day marks the beginning of the New Year and is said to bring luck. Who dares to enter your home first on New Year's Day? Did you know that First Foot Day celebrates a traditional for many families in the US which has to do with who steps first in your house on this day? Yessss in deed! Is it a man or a woman? Well the way the tradition goes in my family .... a man MUST be the first person to cross the threshold into our homes on New Years morning and we must not let a women come inside the house until a man does or it's bad luck.
Yep...... as a child I grew up knowing that while my Mother was cooking the traditional blackeyed peas, hog joule and cornbread..... Daddy was making his early morning rounds to all our Aunts and Uncles, cousins and neighbors house to bring them good luck. All those years we followed the tradition of passing on good luck to our loved ones but we never knew it was called First Footing, First Foot Day or First Day. Hince the saying....." Let's start out the New Year on the right foot." As you continue to read below you will see how others celebrate this Holiday.
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Where did this tradition come from?
From what we found out from our research, First Foot Day or First Footing is an old Scottish tradition. This is how the Scottish did it.
'First Foot' or 'First Footing' comes from the first person to cross the threshold into a home on the first day of the New Year. Years ago, for good luck, the first person to enter your home should of been a dark male. As this dark man knocked on your door he would of brought with him symbolic pieces of coal, shortbread, salt, black buns and some whisky. This is how the Scottish tradition did it and is believed to have come from the Viking days of long ago when it was not so lucky to have a big long haired blonde stranger arrive on your door step with a big axe.
Tradition tell us this
- .... Good luck is believed to be brought to the house by the First-Foot, and a female First-Foot is regarded with dread. In Lancashire a light-haired man is as unlucky as a woman, and it became a custom for a dark-haired male to be the one and only first-foot.
- In Worcestershire luck is ensured by stopping the first carol-singer who appears and leading him through the house.
- In Yorkshire it must always be a male who enters the house first, but his fairness is no objection.
- In Scotland first-footing was always more elaborate than in England, involving a subsequent entertainment.
- Greek culture, first-foot has a significant place among Christmas customs. Thus, it is believed that the first person to enter the house on New Year's Eve brings either good luck or bad luck. Many households to this day keep this tradition and specially select who enters first into the house. After the first-foot, also called "podariko" from "podi" which means foot, the lady of the house serves the guests with Christmas treats to ensure that good luck will come in the New Year...... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-Foot
Today is also known as "First Day" and "New Year's Day".
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More January Holidays
The Month of January is : National Oatmeal Month, Book Blitz Month, Celebration of Life Month, Cervical Cancer Screening Month, Family Fit Lifestyle Month, Financial Fitness Month, International Creativity Month, International Life Balance Month, Jump Out of Bed Month, National Be-on-purpose Month, National Clean Up Your Computer Month, National Get Organized Month, National Glaucoma Awareness Month, National Mentoring Month, National Poverty Awareness in America Month, National Returns Month.
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