It’s the time to don over-the-top outfits (let’s expect some Gatsby inspired attire in 2020) with champagne in hand (or no booze, you do you). You reflect on the past and think about New Year's resolutions, watch the Times Square ball drop from your living room or ring in the new year by eating the customary 12 raisins (yes, this is an actual thing that people in Portugal do).
And then there's the ever famous kiss at the stroke of midnight.
It turns out people have been celebrating the start of the new year by locking lips since the 8th century BC. Its meaning has involved everything from determining if you’ll find love in the coming year, to purifying oneself from evil spirits.
So when the countdown ends and you hear everyone shout “Happy New Years”, kiss with meaning or for fun or just don’t kiss at all.
Today, it seems to have less to do with superstition than it does enjoyment (who doesn’t like a solid smooch), but that doesn’t stop some from believing that a midnight kiss could guarantee them you luck in all things love for the year to come.
According to KissingMatters.com, “Historians date the practice back to the Ancient Romans who would throw a big party every New Year’s Eve called the Festival of Saturnalia where they would kiss and generally debauch one another as much as possible.”
Considering Rome’s reputation for parties, we can only imagine a lot of debauchery and kissing took place, and this tradition eventually trickled down into the rest of Europe.
Which has led us to English and German folklore, that which states that the first person you encounter in a new year, and the nature of this encounter, sets the tone for the rest of the year. No pressure, of course. You see, kissing was seen as a way of strengthening relationships you want to maintain in the future.
If a couple doesn’t kiss at the stroke of 12, folklore says that it doesn’t bode well for them.
And then there's the ever famous kiss at the stroke of midnight.
And let’s not forget that not everyone celebrating New Years does so with their significant other. As the countdown begins, single people have to make a mad dash to find someone to lock lips with, lest German folklore come true and you spend the whole year miserable and alone (again - no pressure whatsoever).
If the weight of being kiss-less at midnight is too much, you might want to try spending New Years in Scotland. During Hogmanay, a Scottish new years celebration, it is traditional to give a kiss to everyone in the room. The idea is to connect friends and strangers, and it also helps any single people feel a little less awkward.
If we fast-forward a little to the Renaissance, when masquerade balls were all the rage in Europe, kissing became a way for people to purify others of evil spirits.
The masks symbolized the immorality and evil spirits of the previous year (think Phantom of the Opera). At midnight, the masks were removed and kisses were exchanged. It was meant to purify the person, therefore giving them a clean slate for the coming year.
So to recap: It looks like the roman festival of Saturnalia lives on in our New Year's celebrations and that kissing at midnight comes with the high stakes responsibility of banishing evil spirits.
Wherever the idea really originated, it's probably not based on anything more than light-hearted tradition. So when the countdown ends and you hear everyone shout “Happy New Years”, kiss with meaning or for fun or just don’t kiss at all.
We’re certain that superstition won’t affect how you spend 2020 and the coming year will still be whatever you want to make of it (but like we said there’s always the option to go to Scotland.)
