Every new year grants the opportunity for a fresh start. All around the world, people have New Year’s traditions to see the old year out and to welcome the new year in. While different cultures celebrate New Year’s during different times of the year, regardless of whether you celebrate the dawn of the new year in January or another time of year, there are traditions involving windows and doors to usher in the new year.
The symbolism of windows and doors plays an important role in this, as does the sacredness of the home. Here are some traditions involving windows and doors that people use to usher in the new year.
Opening The Windows To Let Out The Old Year And Bad Spirits
Filipinos crack open their windows and doors to let the old year and negative energies out of the house and to let good energy in. This allows for a new year that is untainted by the bad energy of the old for a fresh, clean start.
Opening The Front And The Back Door At Midnight
The Irish are on the same plane as the Filipinos here. By opening their back doors, they let the old year out. By opening the front doors, they welcome the new year in. People will often wish their neighbors a happy new year as they open their front doors.
Painting The Door Red
For Chinese New Year, it’s common for people to paint their front door red. This symbolizes luck and good fortune. Chinese New Year is determined by their lunar calendar, which changes every year.
Throwing Plates At Doors
In Denmark, people gather up the old dishes that they’ve collected over the past year and throw them at the doors of their friends. In the morning, people look to see how many broken dishes are in front of their door. It’s said that the more broken dishes, the more friends one will have in the new year.
Throwing Last Year Out The Window
South Africa has a similar idea to Denmark. In the neighborhood of Hillbrow in Johannesburg, people hurl old furniture out of their windows to throw out the old year and make way for the new
Hanging Onions On Chosen Doors
In Greece, onions are considered a sign of rebirth and growth. They hang a special type of onion, a squill onion, on a chosen door in order to bring growth in the new year.
First Footing
Thought to have originated in Scotland and Northern England, this is another of the traditions involving windows and doors. It’s said that the first person to enter a home in the new year brings with them good luck. Certain items they may bring with them can also symbolize good things for the new year.
Kadomatsu
In Japanese homes, kadomatsu is a type of new year’s decoration made of pieces of bamboo, pine, and flowering kale and plum flowers. These are used to honor deities in the hope that the deities will bless the home in the new year.
Of course, there are many, many more New Year’s traditions involving windows and doors than we can include here. Across many different cultures, there are quite a few differences, but also many similarities. Even people half a world apart from each other may have very similar traditions to usher in the new year.
Usher In The New Year With Your Windows And Doors
Regardless of whether you have special New Year’s traditions involving windows and doors or you’re someone who prefers to stay home and enjoy peace, quiet, and alone time, windows play a significant role in your year. You need high-quality windows and doors in good condition in order to keep your home as comfortable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing as possible.
Peak Windows provides a multitude of different window and door services to help you have great windows in this new year. Whether you’re building a new home and you need new construction windows, you have broken glass that needs to be repaired, or you want to update your front door, you can count on the experienced professionals here at Peak Windows to take care of you.
Contact us today to learn more about our window and door services and to schedule your consultation!