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The custom of celebrating the arrival of a new cycle in the calendar is nothing new. It has been around for more than 4000 years. But at that time, instead of a new "year", the pbadage of time was counted by the seasons.
The first people to celebrate the feast of pbadage would have been that of Mesopotamia, a region that today corresponds to the territories of Iraq, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey. Because they depend on agriculture to survive, they celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring, when a new crop is being planted.
Thus, the pbading feast of the Mesopotamians did not take place in the night of December 31 to January 1, but from March 22 to 23, date of the beginning of spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
This is only with the introduction of a new calendar to the west in 1582 – the Gregorian calendar, adopted by Pope Gregory 13 instead of the Julian calendar – that the first day of the new year becomes January 1st.
As in today 's New Year' s celebrations, the pbading celebrations also represented hope. If, today, some rituals are supposed to attract prosperity and money – like wearing the yellow color at New Year's Eve or consuming lentils – the cults of 4000 years ago were demanding food and of abundance.
Already the term New Year, used in various parts of the world to describe the New Year's party, is more recent: it appeared in the 17th century in France and it represented the nocturnal feasts of the nobility that lasted all the time. night.
The New Year had no date yet, but with the decline of the French nobility, the word was being adapted for the New Year's holiday – the word Eve came from the verb "wake up" " in French.
In the 19th century, these festivals were adopted by the nobility of other places in the world influenced by French culture.
The nobility of Brazil was one of those who adopted the New Year, but the religious syncretism characteristic of the country's historical past has made the celebrations here add new characters, customs and food to New Year's celebrations An.
Supporters of the evening in Iemanjá wear white clothes and offer flowers as an offering – Photo: Tomaz Silva / Ag. Brasil
In Salvador , the church of Senhor do Bonfim is the main place of the city on the last Friday of the year, called "Friday of Gratitude". Believers from all over the country come to the temple to ask for protection for next year and bring things to bless, such as necklaces, the famous Bonifim ribbons, house keys, pictures and even the car.
On all the beaches of Brazil. , Iemanja devotees usually spend the New Year on the coast to make offerings or to avoid the seven waves.
Iemanjá, the queen of the sea, is an African deity originally from Nigeria, of the tradition called Yoruba, and incorporated by candomblé and umbanda in Brazil.
"In Nigeria, the Iemanjá ritual is celebrated on February 2 (as well as in Bahia), but it also occurs in Brazil during the last days of the year and New Year's Eve", explains Professor Unirio. Zeca Ligiéro, author of books on Afro-Brazilian tradition and performance.
"Iemanjá became popular in Afro-Brazilian religions, such as Umbanda, Tambor de Mina and Candomblé, thanks to the strength of this female archetype that she represents: a mother, a vain woman who loves perfumes , flowers and pleasures and protects pregnant women. " complete the teacher.
Ligiéro recounts that Umbanda was born in Brazil after the persecution of African rituals in the country, after being directly influenced by the national culture.
" This new matrix religion. The African Umbanda has mixed various Amerindian traditions, spiritualists and Catholics, creating a new image for Iemanjá, a kind of Venus cabocla, whose hips are wider than the bads ", explains the professor.
" L & # 39; Image of Iemanjá, because of this mixture, seems to come out of the sea like a virgin of Botticelli, but distributes thanks to its open palms like some images of the Virgin Mary. In fact, she has a Maria face, but brings a star on her forehead (symbol of high African spirituality) and has long black hair, more indigenous than afro. "
" All religions lend themselves to each other to build their specific rituals, "says Unicamp's modern history professor, Rui Luis Rodrigues, referring to the historical background of the end-of-year holidays. year
"Historical, anthropological and theological research has indicated the various ways in which religious groups contract with each other in their rituals."
Marcelo Rodrigues, an ombudsman in Rio de Janeiro, makes every effort year, offerings to Iemanjá. "I try to run the year on the beach, but when it is not possible, I usually spend a day or two before the sea "
However, the relationship of the Brazilian with the national beaches during the new year does not exclude the followers of Iemanjá.
Although he lives far from the coast, in the interior of São Paulo, the family of Paulista Rodrigo da Gama generally spend the New Year on the beaches of Santa Catarina, where he has relatives.
"When we are in Santa Catarina, we always go to the beach, we wear white clothes and we jump the seven waves at the turn," says Gama.
Coming from a family of "non-practicing Catholics", he explains that the ritual of wearing white and jumping waves, is for ombandistas, has no religious, only spiritual meaning.
His family tradition shows how the figure of Iemanja became popular in Brazil, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, when his ritual began to be practiced on the beaches of the famous southern area of Rio de Janeiro , where he gained national visibility.
"But from organizing pyrotechnic shows and sponsoring millionaires to festivities on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Iemanjá rituals have been banished from increasingly remote beaches," says Ligiéro.
"We realize that the rituals of offerings in Iemanjá are becoming increasingly risky, even when Iemanjá gathers millions of people from other religions who dress in white and go to the beach.We are witnessing the return of the persecution of Afro-Brazilian religions with the harbadment of these rituals ".
The Tradition of White Clothing
The wearing of white clothing on New Year's Day became commonplace in Brazil in the 1970s, when members of Candomblé began making their offerings on the beach. Copacabana. People who were walking on the beach and watching the ritual found the beautiful white and adopted the dress.
The tradition of jumping the seven waves at the beginning of the year and formulating seven different demands is also related to the cult of Umbanda and Iemanjá.
The number seven is a Kabbalistic number which, in Umbanda, represents Exu, son of Iemanjá. It also has relation with the Seven Lines of Umbanda, concept of organization of the spirits under the command of one orixás. Each jump, in this case, would be the request addressed to another orixá.
New Year celebrations do not necessarily take place on January 1st. Indeed, several calendars organize the annual cycle differently from the Gregorian calendar.
For Muslims, the New Year is the month of May of the Gregorian calendar; for Jews, corresponds to the period of late September and early October; the Chinese are already celebrating the transition between late January and early February.
Lawyer Anna Beatriz Dodeles belongs to a Jewish family and does not celebrate the New Year of the Gregorian calendar.
"The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashana, known as the Day of Judgment and the title of the year.This occurs during one of the most important months of Judaism, the month of Elul, "she said.
/i.s3.glbimg. com / v1 / AUTH_59edd422c0c84a879bd37670ae4f538a / internal_photos / bs / 2018 / w / B / ulnduKQ0GZs72Gjjwxwg / at-anna-beatriz-dodeles-a-hanukah-in-the-year-end-a-gagné-une-touche-brésilienne-avec-l'échange-de-cadeaux.jpg "Chez Anna Beatriz Dodeles, la célébration de hanukah, à la fin de l'année, a gagné une touche brésilienne avec l'échange de cadeaux - Photo: fichier personnel")
In the house of 39, Anna Beatriz Dodeles, the celebration of hanukah won, at the end of the year, a Brazilian touch with the exchange of gifts. – Photo: Personal Archive
"This feast is the seventh month of the Jewish calendar – Lunar – and marks for the Jews the birth of the world, the beginning of human creation."
To celebrate Rosh Hashana, whose celebrations lasted two days, the Dodeles family prays and eats some typical foods of the Jewish community, such as wine and challah round (fermented round bread) moistened with honey.
"At that point, we should apologize to the people we hurt, not in a generic way, but in a thoughtful manner.If this person does not accept the apology, the request should be made to least three times, our behavior so that it does not repeat itself in this new year, "says the lawyer.
The family of journalist Flávia Sato, who is a Buddhist, also follows the traditions of Japanese culture. So his family said goodbye to the old year on December 31, but cleaning the house.
"On the 31st, at my parents' home, we practiced a ritual called Oosouji, which consists of thoroughly cleaning the house in order to renew the energies of the environment and to start the New Year from scratch, with all what is clean and organized, "says journalist
Food is also important in this ritual of pbadage. "You can not miss the ozoni, a broth that carries a rice cookie, moti, which, according to tradition, brings good luck in the coming year.After the fire and the moti, our holiday usually ends early, because the next day, early in the morning, we all meet to start the year in prayer, "she says, explaining that the New Year is the main holiday of the Buddhist family.
In addition to housework, family dinner and fireworks, there are also individual rituals at home.
"My parents have always encouraged me to take advantage of this time to write all my year-round goals so that I can focus and achieve my personal goals."
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