There is an extensive and hedonistic history behind the New Year’s Eve kiss tradition.
The holiday season and all of the major holidays are couple-centric. This is a problem for singles who enjoy their own company. The New Year’s Eve kiss at midnight has a problematic origin that singles today can cite as a reason to not participate in the tradition if they wish. The main problem with the New Year’s Eve kiss tradition is that it is believed to determine your fortune in the next year. This thought conflicts with the values of the single life.
A Concise History Of The New Year’s Eve Kiss Tradition For Singles
The New Year’s Eve Kiss Tradition Starts in Rome
The New Year’s Eve kiss tradition began in ancient times with the Romans who celebrated Saturnalia. The Saturnalia celebration was a festival done to Saturn who was the Roman god of sowing and seeds. During the Saturnalia festival, the Romans participated in debauchery from drinking, group sex, and wore costumes and masks throughout the Saturnalia festival.. This is also where the masquerade has been traced too as well. The origin of the New Year’s Eve kiss is rooted in a hedonistic Roman tradition.
The New Year’s Eve kiss tradition, or Christmas sex, continued into the Renaissance. Masquerade Balls were popular events that happened towards the end of December and, again, participants at these balls would often end in kinky sex parties after taking off their masks at midnight. There is a long history of kissing and sex to bring in the New Year.
This tradition continued in a Scottish celebration called Hogmanay. This tradition was brought to the Scottish after the Vikings invaded Scotland and influenced the Scottish culture. The historical Hogmanay tradition was to kiss everyone who was in the room to make a connection to bring in the New Year. That was a kiss to everyone in the room, not just one person or date.
Summary
This is a short concise history of the New Year’s Eve kiss tradition. There is nothing wrong with singles participating in this long and ancient tradition, but kissing someone at midnight will not bring you good fortune or a clean slate for the next year as these traditions believe. You may get lucky after popping some champagne and dirty the sheets afterward with someone who you met or brought to a New Year’s Eve party. The single life is about celebrating security, diversity, autonomy, and flexibility and those values will help you to find and work to make fortune come to you. A significant other, or a one night stand, will never bring you happiness or fortune. You are responsible for working to make those a reality in your life, whatever happiness and fortune mean to you. This New Year’s Eve celebrate being single while everyone is kissing around you at midnight and cheer again to the single life and to the New Year!
