Dispatches from Brazil: New Year's Resolution
The celebration of the New Year is taken very seriously in Brazil; after all, ensuring that the New Year will be a good one is serous business. Cultural etiquette demands white clothing (for peace), new underwear (red, for love), the eating of lentils and grapes at midnight (for money and prosperity). By not eating beef or chicken on the 31st, one guarantees that the New Year will never fall back on the old.
Búzios (small sea shells) and Tarot cards try to predict what lies ahead. Mães de Santo (the high Priestess of the Umbanda religion) divulge what deity will guide 2009 and what color to add to the white outfit that will please the gods in charge (when I was a teenager, went to a New Year’s party dressed in black. People didn’t know what to make of me). Getting the color right and incurring favors right off the bat is the best way to go in these situations. After all, the deity has a lot of people asking for stuff. The personality of the deity will also dictate what kind of year we have ahead of us, since they are technically in charge, so it's best not to piss them off.
Offerings are made to Iemanjá, the goddess of the water, the protector of sailors and children and also my very own personal guide, I’ve been told. Thousands of people go to the beach dressed in white with bouquets of yellow and white flowers. Iemanjá seems to like yellow. She also likes shiny things. Some bring elaborate boats filled with sweets and candles. An explosion of fireworks illuminates the sky at midnight, and marks the official start of the party season, that will end only on Ash Wednesday.
As for me, I thought it might be a good time to join with the throngs of people who make New Year resolutions. Sure, most of us expect to break them right away, but in a perfect world…
I’d like 2009 be a year of adventures. I’d like to push myself to do things I haven’t done. Things that I always wanted to do; things that scare me a little. I hope to broaden my horizons and be less concerned about me. While I’m still very fond of myself, I think it’s time to listen to other people. Who knows, there is always a (small) chance they’ll be right and I’ll be wrong. I also do need to get to the gym on a more regular basis. I need to be better about returning personal phone calls and I really should be more organized.
Of course I could just resolve to eat only bamboo sprouts, drink only warm water and listen only to tuba music. But what fun would that be?
Búzios (small sea shells) and Tarot cards try to predict what lies ahead. Mães de Santo (the high Priestess of the Umbanda religion) divulge what deity will guide 2009 and what color to add to the white outfit that will please the gods in charge (when I was a teenager, went to a New Year’s party dressed in black. People didn’t know what to make of me). Getting the color right and incurring favors right off the bat is the best way to go in these situations. After all, the deity has a lot of people asking for stuff. The personality of the deity will also dictate what kind of year we have ahead of us, since they are technically in charge, so it's best not to piss them off.
Offerings are made to Iemanjá, the goddess of the water, the protector of sailors and children and also my very own personal guide, I’ve been told. Thousands of people go to the beach dressed in white with bouquets of yellow and white flowers. Iemanjá seems to like yellow. She also likes shiny things. Some bring elaborate boats filled with sweets and candles. An explosion of fireworks illuminates the sky at midnight, and marks the official start of the party season, that will end only on Ash Wednesday.
As for me, I thought it might be a good time to join with the throngs of people who make New Year resolutions. Sure, most of us expect to break them right away, but in a perfect world…
I’d like 2009 be a year of adventures. I’d like to push myself to do things I haven’t done. Things that I always wanted to do; things that scare me a little. I hope to broaden my horizons and be less concerned about me. While I’m still very fond of myself, I think it’s time to listen to other people. Who knows, there is always a (small) chance they’ll be right and I’ll be wrong. I also do need to get to the gym on a more regular basis. I need to be better about returning personal phone calls and I really should be more organized.
Of course I could just resolve to eat only bamboo sprouts, drink only warm water and listen only to tuba music. But what fun would that be?
Labels: vay-kay-shun
posted by Fe at 11:36 AM
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