New Year's Superstitions: Between Magical Thinking and Cultural Code Introduction: Rituals at the Threshold of a New Cycle New Year's superstitions represent a unique complex of rituals, prohibitions, and prescriptions observed in the run-up to the New Year. From a scientific perspective, they are not just "survivals of the past" but function as psychological tools for coping with the uncertainty of the future and as cultural markers that strengthen group identity. These practices are rooted in archaic notions of time as a discontinuous phenomenon, where the moment of transition from the old year to the new is perceived as sacred, vulnerable, and therefore filled with special power. Anthropological Roots: The Boundary as a "Liminal Zone" According to Arnold van Gennep's and Victor Turner's ritual theory, liminal states (liminality) always require special rituals. New Year's Eve is a classic liminal zone: the old order of time has already been destroyed, and the new has not yet been established. In this "timeless" interval, according to folk beliefs, the boundaries between worlds are blurred, and the future becomes particularly malleable. That is why superstitions focus on the idea of programming the upcoming year through symbolic actions. An interesting fact: the tradition of wearing new clothes on the holiday dates back to archaic rituals of "new birth" and symbolic shedding of the "old skin" of the past year. Structure of Superstitions: Classification by Mechanism of Action New Year's superstitions can be systematized according to the principle of sympathetic magic (formulated by James Frazer), where similar affects similar, and part symbolizes the whole. Superstitions-attraction (attraction of good): Abundance: The tradition of a rich table (so that the year is full) is based on the principle of similarity. The form of some dishes is also symbolic: ring-shaped (round pies, "Olivie" salads in a bowl) symbolize completeness and cyclicity. In Spain, 12 grapes un ... Read more