The thorough house cleaning at the end of the year is a well-known tradition followed by many cultures. Sometimes it is associated not only with the cleansing of the home but also with the mind and body. Here are a couple of interesting cleaning rituals from across the globe that will hopefully inspire you to also clean your home.
Chinese New Year
One of the most famous days of the year celebrated across the globe is the Chinese New Year or Chun Jie. The date corresponds with the turn of the lunar-solar Chinese calendar January-February. Amongst the many rituals and superstitions that revolve around this day, the most well-known is the top-to-bottom cleaning of the home. However, be careful how you tidy your floors, to ensure good luck stays in the house always sweep inward, collect the dirt and then throw it through the back door, never the front one. During the celebrations, you are forbidden from cleaning so make sure you do a good job beforehand.
The Persian New Year
Another cleaning ritual that doesn’t correspond with Western traditions is Nowruz – the Persian New Year celebrated all across Iran. an important part of the preparations is, of course, the deep cleaning of the home. It includes the removal of all types of debris and dust, washing of carpets and sweeping of floors. Everything must be spotless for the new beginning.
Cleaning for New Year in Japan
Usually, in Oxford, we associate the deep house cleaning with the Spring, however, in Japan, it is performed by the end of the year. Back in the Edo period, the royal castle was cleaned in December, and people started to mimic this and believe they not only cleaned their homes but their bodies as well. In Japanese, this cleaning tradition is called 掃除 (そうじ, souji, to clean) and 大(おお, o-, big). The most important part of this ritual cleansing is called susuharai (煤払い, dust cleaning) and it’s performed both at home and at the workplace.
British Cleaning Traditions
Contrary to common beliefs most Births prefer to skip the deep cleaning of the home in December. You can do a fast sweeping of the floor or dust off the shelves but the serious work is left for Spring cleaning. It is customary to book some cleaning services while away for the Holidays. In most towns like Oxford, people prefer to celebrate now and deep-cleanse their homes later.
New Years Cleaning on the Balkans
The preparations for New Year’s Eve start a couple of days earlier. There are two essential things you need to know about the people from the Balkans regardless of the country – party and food. So the last day of the year is usually a ginormous feast organised by the whole family. To prepare for the celebrations, each family member has their own cleaning task. The house must be spotless before the guests arrive. So after a hard day of cooking and vacuuming comes an evening filled with delicious traditional cuisine and lots of fun.
Wash Everything Bad During the Thai New Year
Wash Everything Bad During the Thai New YearSongkran is celebrated from the 13th to the 15th of April each year, and it is one of the biggest events in Thailand. It doesn’t correspond with the Western calendar but nevertheless, the water festival for the New Year gathers millions of people every year. During this time people wash the statues of Buddha with scented water. The liquid is then collected and the elder members of the family are sprayed with. It is a cleansing ritual known to bring good fortune.