New Years

Gabriela J. Bachman Professor Lathrop Writing 1 19 October, 2009 New Years at Home As I described in audition maven, New Years for my family is a rattling all-important(prenominal) event and we celebrate it with a number of activities based in superstition. According to Wikipedia (1) superstition is specify as a credulous belief, not based on modestness. The word is commonly applied to beliefs and practices skirt luck, prophecy and spiritual beingnesss, dowryicularly the irrational belief that future events can be influenced.Despite the fact that universality is the main religion in my country, all Peruvians believe in superstition. New Years Eve is when multitude confirm these superstitions by performing a variety of strange rituals such as burning a Muneco de Ano Nuevo, wearing yellow wrist bands, eating grapes at mid shadow, and placing lentils in our pockets, all these in order to commove some luck and prosperity into our life. In the following paragraphs I pass on be making a deeper analysis on the meaning of these rituals and explaining why these rituals are still being carried by Peruvian families.One of the some famous rituals and the starting time I described in essay one is create and burning our first Muneco de Ano Nuevo. A Muneco de Ano Nuevo is an effigy of an important public somebody that had caused a big commotion during the year. Since in the yesteryear decades, politics has been a topic that has caused deception and discontent to Peruvians this is the reason why effigies are mostly created to roleplay politicians as showed in this passage from essay one we made an effigy of Alberto Fujimori, who was the president at that time, and who didnt have a good reputation. Since my family is very(prenominal) interested in politics, this ritual is a joy for them. The tell of the ritual they enjoy the most is the burning of the effigy. This doesnt mean we want to see the real person in flames, but we see it as type of anger therapy, a s meaning of puddleting loose of all the frustrations we have accumulated towards the politician during the past year, hoping he will change and consequently, he will help to bring prosperity to our country. Besides releasing our anger, building and urning the Muneco is also intended to bring the family unneurotic into a last activity of the ending year, and first activity of the starting year, hoping family unity will be maintained throughout the entire year. Everyone has an important role in this activity. Although my siblings and I were in charge of building the Muneco de Ano Nuevo,, my unit family contributed in different aspects, as this sentence from essay one clearly illustrates it we used mammys tan pantyhose to build the face, dads old blue jeans and black suit summit to build the body, and my grandfathers white tennis shoes to make the feet. A very important role in this ritual is the role of the males, which is to protect their children by doing the most dangerous ac tivities involved in this ritual, as this passage from essay one shows my dad and uncles closed the street, sat the Muneco in the middle of the street, bathe it on gasoline, and lighted it on flames. A superstition that is more focused with our history is wearing a yellow wristband in New Years Eve. As I said in essay one my mom gave to each of us a yellow wrist band which we wore the entire night. In Peru, yellow is the dominating color of New Year because is associated with hope, happiness, and optimism.Likewise, yellow is the color of the good things in life such as the sun and gold. But this superstition has a deeper meaning of just being the color that identifies a celebration in fact it has a connection with the past. For our ancestors, the sun was our God, and the gold was the jimmy used to venerate him, but when Spain colonized Peru, they stole our gold and forced natives to change their religion. This is the main reason why we celebrate New Year in Yellow, as a way to awa rd faithfulness to our roots and ancestors, hoping our country will never have to go through this pain again.Lastly, two family orientated superstitions that were also mentioned in essay one are eating grapes at midnight and placing lentils in our pockets. Eating grapes in force(p) when the clock strikes midnight is a common superstition practiced in Peru and Latin America in general. the right way after, my mom and aunts ran to the kitchen to get the grapes () they handed us a bowl with dozen grapes each, which we ate under the fudge. This sheath, as strange as it seems, involve us getting under the table to eat twelve grapes in only twelve seconds.Per each grape that we eat, which represents a month of the year, we get to ask a wish. If all the grapes are sweet, it means it will be a good year in contrast, if for example the fourth grape was sour or not as sweet as the other ones, it means that April is not going to be a good month. As for the reason why we have to get und er the table to eat the grapes, I think this just help us on concentrating when enquire for the wishes and to avoid choking since all the grapes must be eaten very fast. Another family oriented superstition I mentioned is to carry lentils in our pockets during New Years Eve.In my country, people consider lentils as being a very nutritious food because it contains a big amount of proteins, minerals, and vitamins. As I mentioned in essay one my mom handed us a handful of lentils that we put in our pockets for the entire night. The illustration of the fetch handing out lentils to her kids symbolizes the love and care the mother has towards their kids, providing nourishment and making sure they have the vitamins they need to jump strong. By practicing this superstition, we believe food will be available on our table throughout the whole year.Also, lentils resemble coins, thus we believe that carrying lentils in our pockets during New Years Eve will bring funds to our home. (Transit ion) Although I have immigrated to a new country and culture, I will maintain these beliefs in my family, and I will pass it onto my children as my grandparents did to my parents, and my parents did to me. And whether or not all these superstitions are true, they have become part of the Peruvian history and folklore, making our New Years celebration unique. Work Cited (1) Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Superstition. Web. 19 Oct. 2009. http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Superstition