NEW
YEAR GAMES AND CEREMONIES
People have always celebrated
the turning of the year, though in different countries and times the
date was different. One of the places where the New Year is most
enthusiastically recognised is Scotland’s Hogmanay. The main focus is on
New Year’s Eve and the transition between the old and new year. The name
Hogmanay comes from the old solar hero giant of the North, Hogmagog.
The ancient custom of New Year
fires to burn out the Old Year has survived in Scotland and other area
of Celtic, Scandinavian and Teutonic influence. The fires purified the
New Year, kindled new energies and burned all the old bad luck and this
is recalled in candle ceremonies like the one below.
Feasts were held because if the
year began with a good fire and plenty of food, sympathetic magic (in
which you act out what you want to happen) decreed that it would
continue to yield prosperity and abundance. Nuts and eggs were often
given as symbols of the fertility of the coming year.
Bell ringing, the sounding of hooters, cannon fire, fireworks and in
more recent times car horns at midnight goes back to the primitive
belief that malevolent spirits assembled at celebrations, especially at
transitions in the year. The noise drove them away. You can of course
still celebrate with outdoor bonfires and fireworks.
In places influenced by Celtic,
Scandinavian and Teutonic customs, all the doors of a dwelling are
opened just before midnight by the head of the household to let out the
bad luck and then closed. A dark-haired man, representing the New Year
knocks at the front door on midnight (see below) to bring in the New
Year and good fortune
An older Scottish First Footing
goes back to the pre Christian Horned God of winter ceremonies. A young
man, covered in a cow hide runs round the outside of the house, while
his fellow revellers bang sticks on the walls. The following is a
slightly more subdued but equally fun version, but if you have guests
who would like to dress up in skins and tolerant neighbours, the more
exuberant revels will easily fit in with the game below and they can
join the First Footer.
Because New Year is
traditionally a time for divination to look forward to the future,
having symbolically left behind the past at midnight, try these
favourite games of mine on New Year’s Eve
The Candle and Calendar Game
Equipment
- A large dark-coloured
candle in a holder and a deep metal tray or a metal pot with sand to
stand candles on,
- A large single sheet
calendar of the current year soon to be gone with large squares
marking the days.
- A white candle in a
holder to also stand on the tray or in the pot;
- Noisy objects such as
bells, wind chimes, saucepan lids, etc
- A red pen.
- A very accurate watch,
chiming clock (best of all) or stop watch as timings are crucial
- A ball of red wool
Game in a hurry
Can’t be simplified if
you’re to get the in rush of good luck
How to play
• Make sure for both games in
this section everyone playing a key role knows what they are doing when
and that you have deputies to ensure the timings go smoothly so for
example the candle lighting for the New Year is happening as the First
Footer is knocking on the door. It may sound chaotic but it always
happens somehow
• Depending on how many people
are present begin about ten minutes before midnight. Each person writes
in red ink on one of the squares of the calendar a disaster they would
sooner lose or forget.
• More than one person can
write in a square over the others’ messages.
• When this is done light the
youngest man present lights the dark candle on the tray (you can
supervise younger people).
• The youngest female present
ties up the calendar with the red wool anyhow making nine knots to
fasten it.
• The oldest man present tears
a corner off the calendar and burns it in the dark candle flame(or on an
open fire if you have one), as everyone says nine times very fast
Old year
turn
Old year burn.
Bad luck, do not return - ever.
• The rest of the calendar can
be ripped to shreds by any children or teenagers present or by any
people who feel the old year is all too forgettable
• The pieces are thrown in an
old metal pot and must be put outside the door before midnight.
• At two minutes to midnight
everyone except the First Footer gathers round the candle pot or tray
and a mother, grandmother or the oldest woman present lights the white
candle from the dark one and just before midnight everyone counts down
to midnight
• On the first stroke of
midnight, everyone blows out the black candle and shouts:
Come in New Year. You are welcome
• At this point the First
Footer from the game below enters.
• As he or she does so,
everyone bangs and rattles the noisy objects to get the New Year luck
energies flowing in the dwelling. Only when the New Year has properly
been brought in can everyone toast its health.
The First Footing Game to
bring good luck into your home
This flows naturally
into the game above
Equipment
- A small cloth drawstring
bag to hold the items listed below
- A copper, a silver and a
gold coloured coin to bring prosperity to the home and all present
- A few wrapped sweets,
dried fruits and nuts to ensure all present will have enough
practical resources such as food and fuel and also good health
- Two or three symbols of
different trades such as a pen, a tiny calculator or a small
screwdriver so all present will have good jobs or a source of income
during the coming year
- A twist of paper
containing 2 or 3 dried herbs (such as basil, juniper berries, pine
needles, sage or thyme. These are traditional cleansers and bringers
of health and long life. They can be bought in the cooking section
of any supermarket.
- Three coins or gold-coloured
or clear glass nuggets in a dish for each person present to
symbolise New Year resolutions.
- A large bowl of water.
- The same chiming clock or
accurate watch as for the game above
How to play
• Prepare your lucky bag with
the above ingredients in advance and choose who will represent the
spirit of the New Year. Traditionally this is a dark-haired male but of
course women can equally bring in the New Year. Dress him or her in dark
coat and hat and give them the bag
• Five minutes before midnight
send them outside until midnight strikes.
• Place the bowl of water next
to the tray of black and white candles it or in front of the hearth if
there is one
• As midnight strikes, the
person or people within shout:
Come in, New Year. New Year, you are welcome and make a noise(as in the
game above)
• The first footer enters by
the front door, with the bag shuts the door and goes out of the back
door, saying:
Out you
go, Old Year. Your time is past
• Then the first footer comes
back in through the back door and shuts it, walks upstairs to the top of
the house and then comes back down again, shouting all the time
Happy New Year or more traditionally ‘May Hogmagog bless the house and
all that belongs to it, cattle, kin and timbers. In meat, clothes and
health of all therein, may fortune abound.’
• He or she deposits the bag
on the hearth (or in front of the white lit candle from the game above.
• The New Year is toasted with
everyone who wants making a wish or blessing on the house and those
present and for the world.
• Each person present then in
turn throws their three coins or nuggets in to the bowl of water, making
a silent New Year resolution for each. Do not throw the water away until
2 January as you don’t want to wash the good luck away on New Year’s
Day.
• On January 2 plant the coins
or nuggets under a tree or large bush that luck may likewise grow
through the year.
• Hide the bag near the hearth
or near the heart of the home where people gather to relax’
• If you wish you can make
tiny lucky bags for your guests to take home
The Results
Happiness and good luck will
remain with the house and all present
Tips:
On New Year’s Eve, clear out
all your old clutter, dust away any cobwebs and sweep last year’s luck
out of the front door. Put all rubbish outside before midnight.
Make sure you are laughing at
midnight on New Year’s Eve, as what you are doing when the year turns
will influence your happiness and moods for the year.
About the games:
Each game offers a traditional
form of New Year divination to explore the possibilities of the year
ahead. They methods tap into our own intuitive awareness that the
conscious mind cannot access
Guests can try more than one
form of divination that can answer absolutely any question. The idea of
such divination is that at transition times such as Halloween, Christmas
and New Year the boundaries of time are much more fluid and so it is
possible to speculate more accurately about the future. You aren’t
summoning up spirits or anything weird and so there is absolutely no
danger, psychic or psychological.
In earlier times tin was
melted over a flame and then thrown into a metal bucket of cold water to
form an image or the initial of a future partner. However this can be a
bit hazardous indoors, especially with New Year merriment.
The games in this section use
a technique called scrying, an old word that means seeing images in a
reflective surface such as water. The medium used such as candle wax
creates images on the surface of the water that suggest answers to
questions. Images are a very effective way of conveying information from
the unconscious mind (see also Pass the Crystal Ball on page 00 that
also involves scrying). Eggs that are used in a common New Year scrying
method are also a traditional good luck, prosperity and fertility
symbol.
Candle Wax or Egg Divination
Equipment
- For candle wax divination
you will need two brightly coloured lighted candles that have the
colour going all the way through the candle. Dipped paraffin or
church candles don’t work so make sure the candles are wax. Dyed
beeswax candles are especially good. Place them in holders when not
in use
- A large bowl of cold
water in a clear glass bowl. You can have two or three bowls and
several sets of candles if you have a number of people
- For egg divination you
will need a supply or eggs, a sharp large but fine needle and a bowl
of very hot water
Game in a hurry
Use the herb method described
below and also in Pass the Crystal Ball
Alternatively use an egg separator and have a big jug of separated egg
whites ready plus an electric kettle ready to refill the bowl/s.
How to play
• Each person will need fresh
water
• They should ask a question
aloud and then for the candle method, by far the easiest and least messy
should hold a candle in each hand and shake the wax on to the surface of
the water.
• You will obtain two images,
the first a moving image as the wax flows across the water surface and
then a static one as the wax sets. The first image tell you the action
to take and the second the outcome of that action. So if you asked
whether you would travel, you might create a boat which would indicate
journeying overseas and the second image a house, suggesting you might
even have the chance to settle abroad as a result of the trip.
• The second method with the
eggs is like when you are boiling eggs and the shell cracks and the
white leaks all over the pan of water.
• Fill a heatproof bowl with
hot water (not boiling as boiling will solidify the egg white and is not
so effective). Either prick a hole in the side of the egg to release the
egg white as you tip it on the water or crack it and hold the shell
together so the white drips out (it’s not the end of the world if you
get a tiny bit of yolk in the bowl, though this is heavier) Again two or
three people can work in separate bowls, at the same time if you have a
lot of guests.
• Ask a question and tip or
drip the egg white slowly on to the hot water. You will get fabulous
swirling white pictures through the water that in non boiling water
won’t solidify. These will give you more than one image that can
together answer different facets of the question.
• Always add the egg to the
hot water and not vice versa.
You can swirl the water with your finger and obtain several consecutive
images. So in relation to the travel question you might again get a boat
and a house but also a figure, suggesting you will meet a potential
lover abroad and that is why you will stay
Follow up Activities
Masses to do at New Year. The
first water drawn from a well on New Year’s morning was said to bring
great fortune and happiness. A modern version of this custom is to turn
on the cold tap in the sink as soon as daylight breaks or before you
leave the party whichever is earlier. Run the tap fast so that the water
bubbles. Use a new glass if possible to drink a glass of water straight
down and without speaking. This will bring you good luck and also ensure
your words are wise
In the morning or when
you leave the party, dance around the nearest tree twelve times
clockwise), naming a month for each circuit. You will have happiness,
luck and prosperity all the coming year.
You can read more suggestions in Cassandra’s Party Games, published by
Piatkus Books.
Debbie and I wish you
every happiness and success in 2012
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