From Pig Trotters Noodle to Leap Year Newspaper; Different Countries have unusual rituals and superstitions for a Leap Year
Leap Year 2024: Every four years, the Earth says ‘Imma needs a day more (roughly) to complete my orbit’ hence we get a leap year. A leap year is a year with not 365 days in the year, but a lil more than that hence the one extra day i.e, 29 February making it a year of 366 days. The extra day has been in the calendars long enough for many civilizations to associate it with good omens and bad omens, with of course some solutions for the bad ones. In some cultures, a bowl of pig trotter noodles is cooked by a daughter for aging parents and some have a ritual of publishing a newspaper only on the extra day, 29 February every four years.
Dig in to know how cultures and people around the world treat the special extra day with extraordinary shenanigans.
Pig Trotters Noodles for Parents
For people in Taiwan, darkness looms over elderly aging parents in the leap year. It is believed that aging parents are more likely to die every four years aka leap year hence the daughters of the parents are bestowed with a solution in the form of pig trotters noodles. The daughter returns home to cook pig trotters noodles as a harbinger of good health, fortune, and tasty food really!
Greeks don’t marry in Leap Years
Greeks strongly believe a leap year is just a bad one, and advise not to get married in it. Couples who tie knots in a leap year are bound to separate per the ancient beliefs and similarly, those who separate in a leap year are most likely to not find happiness ever. Bit too harsh!
Women are given liberties
Leap year is a good omen in some places. People in Scotland, and Ireland think it's an auspicious day to deviate from the norm. On Leap Year Day, women were traditionally allowed to propose to men and celebrate Bachelor’s Day by wearing a red petticoat under their skirts. The Queen of Scotland in 1288, went as far as to make a law posing penalties on men who denied proposals from women on the day. From clothes like gloves, and gowns to a dollar bill all were penalties.
La Bougie du Sapeur
That’s French and translates to Sapper’s Candle, a newspaper published every four years in France on 29 February since 1980 and even surpasses the sale of national daily publications.
Déjà dispo aujourd’hui 🤗🤗 La bougie du Sapeur 👍 pic.twitter.com/VcySluu5E1
Seems like there are all kinds of quirks and solutions people have for the leap year.
