How did the superstition of kissing at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve start?

Answer 1

I think it is a tradition, not a superstition. It is a fresh start to a New Year, and you kiss the one that will carry over into that year. So, in the area of romance, it is a clean slate. "May old aquantince be forgot and never brought to mind," etc. Therein the kiss carries the person you with with you, so as not to be forgotten.

Answer 2

Never heard of it being a superstition. Just a way of wishing friends and family a Happy New Year.

Answer 3

Never known that to be a superstition it's just part of wishing friends and family a Happy New Year

Answer 4

The answer can be found in the bible viewed together with Julius Caesar who, in 46 B.C.E., decided that the calendar year would begin on January 1,
(the act of kissing or touching one�s lips to those of another (Pr 24:26), to another person�s cheek, or, in an exceptional case, even to his feet (Lu 7:37, 38, 44, 45), served as a token of affection or respect. Kissing was common not only between male and female relatives (Ge 29:11; 31:28) but also between male relatives. (Ge 27:26, 27; 45:15; Ex 18:7; 2Sa 14:33) It was likewise a gesture of affection between close friends.�1Sa 20:41, 42; 2Sa 19:39. Kissing might accompany a blessing. (Ge 31:55) )

Answer 5

New Year?s Day: ?In ancient Rome, the first day of the year was given over to honoring Janus, the god of gates and doors and of beginnings and endings. . . . New Year?s Day became a holy day in the Christian church in A.D. 487.??The World Book Encyclopedia (1982), Volume 14, page 237

?Has your year got off to a bad start?? asked an article in New Scientist magazine. ?Not to worry, there are at least 14 other new years around the world left to choose from.? Actually, only the countries that have adopted the Gregorian calendar count January 1 as the first day of the year. It was Julius Caesar who, in 46 B.C.E., decided that the calendar year would begin on January 1, and this was retained when Pope Gregory revised the calendar in 1582. As different cultures developed their own calendar systems, at least 26 different New Year?s Days cropped up. Of those that remain today, the Chinese system is the oldest. For them, the New Year starts this year on February 7. The Jewish New Year will fall on October 2. The Muslim calendar, a totally lunar one, will have its own date as well?May 8. (Kissing) In Biblical times the act of kissing or touching one?s lips to those of another (Pr 24:26), to another person?s cheek, or, in an exceptional case, even to his feet (Lu 7:37, 38, 44, 45), served as a token of affection or respect. Kissing was common not only between male and female relatives (Ge 29:11; 31:28) but also between male relatives. (Ge 27:26, 27; 45:15; Ex 18:7; 2Sa 14:33) It was likewise a gesture of affection between close friends.?1Sa 20:41, 42; 2Sa 19:39. Kissing might accompany a blessing. (Ge 31:55)


(Superstitions) There are two factors, though, that nearly always lie behind superstitions?fear and ignorance. Fear of God?s wrath, the Devil, sickness, death and many other such things regularly promotes superstitious beliefs and acts. People will grasp at straws to ward off calamity. Brewton Berry writes in You and Your Superstitions: ?Superstition is nothing more than another chapter in history?s years of research to conquer security. And since education, prohibition, sermons, satires and science have failed miserably in their fight against superstition; only SECURITY will succeed in destroying it.? Closely related to fear as a cause of superstition, is ignorance of the true cause of many calamities and especially, ignorance of the Biblical view, of many woes that afflict mankind.

So in conclusion, I think that you have asked a question that has never had any thing written about it till now. I have often explained the origin of traditions by telling this story?There was a woman who, every time she cooked a ham would cut the end off of the ham. When asked why she does this she said ?My mother always cut the end of her hams off so if it?s good enough for her to do it then I can do it too?. So her mother was then approached and asked why she cut the end off her hams to which she replied ?My mother always did so I did too?. So the grandmother was aproched and asked about this strange cutting off of the end of the ham to which she replied. ?My pot was to small and the hams would not fit so I had to cut the end off to get them in the pan.?

Hopefully you can take some of this and draw out, an answer to your question.


Midnight~Angel :)

Answer 6

If you're with a date, it's the chance to get a kiss from them (it was more important during olden times when kissing wasn't something you did every day). Dates didn't get a kiss every time they went out. So it meant more back then. It is also the chance to kiss someone you WISH was a better friend. :-)

Answer 7

There is no superstition in it. It is just wishing everyone a happy new year.

Answer 8

It's not so much a superstition but has more to do with just plain wild lust.

Well, it always is with me.

Answer 9

I agree with songbyrd, it's a tradition, a kinda "kiss and make up " forgiving what's gone in the 'old' year and re-dedicating friendships and love for the 'new' one. Bit like re-doing marriage vows !

Answer 10

Probably just some teenager looking for an excuse to kiss a girl he liked.