•These are the common carols for the New Year.

It’s the beginning of the month, beginning of the yearHigh incense tree

Beginning of my good yearChurch with the Holy SeatIt’s the beginning of our Christ

Saint and spiritualHe got out to walk on earth

And to welcome usSt. Basil is comingFrom Caesarea

And doesn’t want to deal with usMay you long live, my lady

He holds (St. Basil) an icon and a piece of paperWith the picture of Christ our Savior

A piece of paper and a quillPlease look at me, the young man.

THE NEW YEAR'S DAY IN GREECE

St. Basil's (Agios Vassilis) name has been given to Father Christmas. St Vassilis Day is celebrated on January 1st, therefore the Greek Agios Vassilis, or 'Father Christmas', is associated with New Year's Day and this is

when Greek children receive their Christmas presents.

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THE NEW YEAR CAKE (VASILOPITA) WITH THE GOLDEN COIN IN GREECE

• The cutting of the vasilopita is one of the few primordial customs still surviving. In the Kronia (the celebration of the god Kronos, who was worshiped in Greece) and the Saturnalia of Rome, sweets and cakes would be prepared with a coin inside. The one who received the piece with the coin would be the lucky one of the group . . .

• The Orthodox tradition combined this custom with the New Year cake. On New Year's Eve everyone gathers around waiting for the vasilopita to be cut as the new year rolls in. When the time comes the father, in a solemn ceremony, starts to cut the cake. The first piece is for Christ, the second for the house, and then pieces for everyone present. The one who gets the piece with the coin will be the lucky one of the year!

The Tradition of the Vasilopita (with Recipe)

• For centuries upon centuries, parents, grandparents and godparents have related the following to Orthodox children about St. Basil and the Vasilopita. One year, during a time of terrible famine, the emperor levied a sinfully excessive tax upon the people of Caesarea. The tax was such a heavy burden upon the already impoverished people that to avoid debtors' prison each family had to relinquish its few remaining coins and pieces of jewelry, including precious family heirlooms. Learning of this injustice upon his flock, St. Basil the Great, the archbishop of Caesarea, took up his bishop's staff and the book of the holy Gospels and came to his people's defense by fearlessly calling the emperor to repentance. By God's grace, the emperor did repent! He canceled the tax and instructed his tax collectors to turn over to St. Basil all of the chests containing the coins and jewelry which had been paid as taxes by the people of Caesarea. But now St. Basil was faced with the daunting and impossible task of returning these thousands of coins and pieces of jewelry to their rightful owners. After praying for a long time before the icons of our Master Christ and His All-Holy Mother, St. Basil had all the treasures baked into one huge pita. He then called all the townspeople to prayer at the cathedral, and, after Divine Liturgy, he blessed and cut the pita, giving a piece to each person. Miraculously, each owner received in his piece of Vasilopita his own valuables. They all joyfully returned home, giving thanks to God who had delivered them from abject poverty and to their good and holy bishop St. Basil the Great! In remembrance of that miracle wrought by God as a result of St. Basil's love and defense of his people, Orthodox Christians have observed the tradition of the Vasilopita each year on January 1st-- the date on which St. Basil reposed in the Lord in the year 379.

A Simple Recipe for Vasilopita • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter • 1 cup sugar • 3 extra-large eggs • Grated rind of 2 large oranges • Grated rind of 2 large lemons • 1/2 teaspoon crushed/powdered sour cherry pits (Arabic mahleb, Greek makhlepi) • 2 teaspoons crushed/powdered gum mastic (Arabic miski, Greek mastikha) • 4 cups flour • 2 teaspoons baking powder • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1/2 cup milk • 1 egg yolk blended with 1 tablespoon milk • sesame seeds • blanched almonds • a clean coin - a quarter will do nicely - wrapped in silver or gold foil • Preparation• 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Thickly butter a 10-inch round spring form pan.• 2. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the sugar and beat until

the mixture is light. Beat in the eggs, one a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the orange and lemon rinds, and the crushed/powdered sour cherry pits and gum mastic.

• 3. In a separate bowl, sift together three cups of the flour, the baking powder and salt.• 4. With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the dry mixture alternately with the milk. The batter will be very

thick. Using a wooden spoon, gradually blend in the remaining flour, beating well until completely smooth.• 5. Spread the batter into the pan, press the coin into the dough until it is completely covered (don't let anyone see

where you place it!), and then smooth the top. Brush the top evenly with the egg and milk mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Gently press the blanched almonds into the top to make a Cross and spell out the date of the new year.

• 6. Bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown (if it browns too quickly, cover the top with aluminum foil). Cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing from spring form and thoroughly cool before slicing.

• Equipped with branches of pine trees and cow bell, some "Silvesterchlaus" (New Years Claus) walk toward a farm house in Urnaesch, Switzerland, to offer their best wishes for the new year. After they sing and dance the Silvesterchlaeuse receive food, hot drinks or money. It is believed that a visit by the Silvesterchlaeuse helps drive away evil spirits.

• Hardy Dutch swimmers brave the icy North Sea on Jan. 1, 2012, in Scheveningen, Netherlands. In North America, the Polar Bear club helped popularize the tradition of icy plunges in cold, winter months. Bernarr Macfadden, who founded the Coney Island Polar Bear Club in 1903, believed that "a dip in the ocean during the winter can be a boon one's stamina, virility and immunity."

• A woman holds an offering of fruits as shamans perform a ritual for good luck for the coming new year in Lima, Peru, on Dec. 29, 2011. In Peru, yellow is considered good luck, and people will often wear yellow underwear on New Year's Eve for luck in the new year. Shamans from around the country attend fairs to perform rituals that include showering subjects with yellow flowers or passing a guinea pig over subjects' bodies.

• Participants perform a fire dragon dance at a temple fair celebrating the Chinese New Year in Beijing on Feb. 6, 2011. The traditional dance of the dragon accompanied by loud drum beats and cymbals is intended to scare away evil spirits in the new year. The celebrations take place over 15 days leading up to the Lunar New Year, which falls on a new moon, and marks the end of the winter season.

• Hogmanay fireball swingers illuminate the streets of Stonehaven, carrying on the tradition of welcoming the new year on Jan. 1, 2012. Revelers celebrate Hogmanay, the Scottish celebration of New Year's Eve, in the small highland coastal town by swinging baskets of fire above their heads. At the end of the procession, the flaming baskets are thrown into the sea. There are two theories on the symbolism of the fireballs. One is that it originates in pagan ceremonies where the fireballs were created to mimic the sun, so that all things living would have the appropriate amount of sunshine. The second is that the fire was created as a way of purification to destroy demons or corruption in the air.

• Revelers cheer, confetti falls and the ball drops in Times Square during New Year's celebrations in New York City on Jan. 1, 2012. The first New Year's Eve ball was dropped in Times Square in 1907. It had 100 25-watt light bulbs, spanned five feet in diameter, weighed 700 pounds and was made of iron and wood.

• Thai children and foreign tourists spray water at each other on Khaosan road during the Songkran festival in Bangkok on April 12, 2011. Songkran is the Thai New Year which starts on April 13. The weather is at its hottest around this time of year in Thailand and people celebrate by splashing water at each other. This originates from the tradition of pouring fragrant water on Buddha images as a cleansing ritual. The collected "blessed" water would then be poured on family members to help bring good luck.

• An Andean woman reads an egg yolk inside a glass of beer during a ritual of predictions at a fair in Lima, Peru, on Dec. 27, 2011. The New Year's fairs have become a popular destination for those seeking good luck or predictions for the coming new year.

• Party goers dance in the hot summer sun during the annual New Year's Eve carnival held through the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Dec. 31, 2011. The first carnival was held in 2004, inspired by the Rio carnival and is intended to encourage leadership and creative skills among the local communities.

• Tibetans celebrate Losar, or Tibetan New Year, at a monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal on March 7, 2011. Losar can be traced back to the pre-Buddhist period in Tibet when Tibetans practiced the Bon religion. A spiritual ceremony would be held every winter, whereby people offered incense to appease the local spirits, deities and protectors. Losar usually falls on the same dates as the Chinese New Year and is usually celebrated over 15 days.

• Ινδικό άνδρες ρολό γύρω από ένα ναό, δεδομένου ότι προσφέρουν παραδοσιακές προσευχές Dandajayatra στο θεό Shiva κατά τη διάρκεια ενός τελετουργικού ως μέρος ενός φεστιβάλ που συμπίπτει με την Ορίγια το Νέο Έτος στην Mendhasal, Ινδία, στις 13 Απριλίου 2011. Το "φεστιβάλ Danda» συνεχίζεται για 13 ημέρες. Η Ορίγια νέο έτος είναι επίσης μια γιορτή της άνοιξης. Δεν υπάρχει ούτε μέρα κοινή Πρωτοχρονιάς στον Ινδουισμό. Εορτασμοί του νέου έτους να διαφέρει από περιοχή σε περιοχή.

• Dolls of Ekekos, known as the god of abundance, are displayed in a market in Lima on Dec. 30, 2011. People annually flock to the traditional markets searching for lucky charms and spiritual services from witch doctors in order to be blessed prior to New Year's Eve. People place minature versions of things they would like on the Ekekos, and then "make him happy" by placing a lit ciagrette in his mouth.

• Sumo Grand Champion Asashoryu performs "Dohyo-iri" (ring purification ritual) at the Meiji Jingu Shrine on Jan. 6, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan. It is the custom that Sumo Grand Champions celebrate the new year by performing the ritual at the Meiji Jingu Shrine.

• Andean men participate in a one-on-one fight during the Takanakuy, a traditional festivity at Chumbivilcas province in Cuzco, Peru on Dec. 25, 2011. Takanakuy, which means "when the blood is boiling" in Quechua (the indigenous Peruvian language) is an annual and ancient celebration inherited from the pre-hispanic Chanka culture that gives hundreds of Andean villagers the chance to solve their love, honor and property problems through the force of blows as a way to put differences behind them before the new year.

• Residents drink vodka during traditional "Koliady" rituals in the village of Pogost, outside of Minsk, Belarus on Jan. 7, 2011. Koliady is an ancient pagan holiday initially celebrated on winter solstice but since appropriated to celebrate Christmas and New Year according to the

Julian calendar, and other winter holidays.

• A Quechua and two Ayamara shamans celebrate the Aymara New Year in Samaipata, Bolivia, on June 21, 2011. The Aymara New Year is a celebration of the winter solstice, and indigenous peoples used the day to ask the gods for a good harvest in the coming season. Bolivian President Evo Morales declared June 21 national holiday in 2009.

• Revelers take to Princes Street for the fireworks display to celebrate the arrival of the New Year on Jan. 1, 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The traditional New Year's song "Aung Lang Syne" was written by Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788 and is an ode to old friendships. Groups of friends will often hold hands in a circle while singing, and at the start of the last verse they will crisscross their arms and then rush in towards the middle at the end.

• A Jewish woman practices Tashlikh on the first day of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, on the seafront of the Israeli city of Ashdod on Sept. 30, 2011. Tashlikh is a long-standing Jewish practice performed on the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah. The previous year's sins are symbolically cast off by throwing pieces of bread, or a similar food item, into the sea.

• People pray for prosperity in their businesses for the new year at the Kanda Shrine, known as the god of business, on the first working day after the New Year, on Jan. 5, 2011 in Tokyo, Japan.

• The One Nation float won the Craftsman Award during the 122nd annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif. on Jan. 1, 2011. The Rose Parade began in 1890 as a way to promote Pasadena as the "Mediterranean of the West." The Tournament of Roses association invited friends from the East Coast to play various games in the warm weather. Because of all the fresh flowers in the area even in the winter, the flowers were incorporated into the event and showcased.

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