You’ve probably heard about such as eating twelve grapes at midnight or making sure that the man is the first to cross the threshold of the house on New Year’s Day. These are well-known traditions that are supposed to ensure prosperity.
However, there is also another, much less popular fortune-telling, which, according to our grandmothers, has even greater power. That’s before December 31st. You better remember this so as not to accidentally attract bad luck to your apartment.
According to old Slavic beliefs, December 31 is a border day on which every activity has a symbolic meaning. Unfinished or incorrectly performed duties may carry over into the entire coming year.
Our grandmothers believed that thing to remember on this day is the ban on keeping wet laundry in the apartment. Metaphorically, it was supposed to mean problems, diseases and the hardships of everyday life.
By saving them until the New Year, you keep old worries and block the flow of positive energy. You attract bad luck and sadness for the following months. Especially if your clothes are damp, you won’t be able to cry in 2026.
You will flush out the happiness that the universe has in store for you, so don’t risk it. According to tradition, fabrics should be washed, dried and stored no later than December 30, so that you can enter the future with a “clean slate”. So if you don’t have time to wash your clothes, it’s better to leave them in the basket until January and not force the washing machine.
What else should you not do on December 31st according to superstition? Apart from washing clothes on New Year’s Eve, you should not sweep in the evening or take out the garbage after dark. This heralds financial failures.
It is also better not to lend money, e.g. to neighbors or distant friends. Even if it’s only “small”, because it symbolizes giving wealth and material happiness to this specific person.
Quarrels or going to bed before midnight are also unwelcome. The latter, in turn, heralds a lack of energy in the following months. There is something else: it is not worth spending this night alone, because it may result in a feeling of loneliness in the coming year.
