The transition from the old year to the new year is a significant moment for many, and superstitions surrounding this time are considered auspicious for the year ahead. Hence, the Vietnamese attach great importance to the New Year’s Eve ritual.
Families usually prepare two sets of offerings: one for the ancestral altar and another for the outdoor ceremony. The indoor offerings are dedicated to the ancestors, inviting them to join the New Year celebrations and bestow blessings upon the family. The outdoor offerings are presented to various deities and to invoke the Sun God.
It is believed that the outdoor ceremony should precede the indoor one as it involves invoking the gods and the Sun God to herald the new year. Only then can the family invite their ancestors to join in the festivities. This order is crucial in both religious and temporal contexts, signifying the need to first seek blessings from the divine beings before welcoming the ancestors.
Timing of the New Year’s Eve Ritual
There are varying practices regarding the timing of the ritual. Some families start before midnight and continue past it, while others finish their offerings before or exactly at midnight. According to feng shui experts, the ideal time to perform the New Year’s Eve ritual for the year 2024 is during the hour of the Rat, which falls around 11 p.m., with the most auspicious moment being precisely at midnight, and concluding before 1 a.m. on the first day of the Lunar New Year.
The rationale behind this timing is that before 1 a.m., the gods overseeing the affairs of the old year hand over their duties to the gods of the new year, who will then govern the family’s fortunes. Therefore, performing the ritual from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. ensures that the gods bear witness to the family’s sincerity. Conducting the ritual after midnight misses this opportunity, and doing it before midnight means it is still the old year.
Indoor or Outdoor Ceremony?
For households with multiple altars or shrines, it is customary to prepare offerings for each, along with an additional outdoor offering. The indoor altar offerings are dedicated to the family’s ancestors, seeking their blessings and presence during the New Year celebrations. Meanwhile, the outdoor offerings are presented to various deities and to invoke the Sun God.
As a result, the outdoor ceremony should take precedence, symbolizing the invocation of divine beings and the Sun God to mark the new year. Only then can the family proceed to offer prayers to their ancestors indoors. This sequence upholds the proper order of worship and aligns with the temporal significance of the New Year’s Eve moment. First, one must seek blessings from the gods and signal the new year with the Sun God’s invocation, after which the ancestors can be invited to join the festivities. Without the gods’ and the Sun God’s blessing, the new year has not truly begun.
What to Consider for the New Year’s Eve Ritual
The outdoor offerings are presented to the deity governing the incoming year’s fortunes. Typically, these offerings include incense, various fruits, fresh flowers, candles or oil lamps, betel and areca nuts, a boiled rooster (or pig’s head), sticky rice, square sticky rice cakes (or cylindrical sticky rice cakes), and wine (either clear liquor or red wine). It is important to avoid offerings with a strong odor or unclear origins.
Indoor offerings, on the other hand, are presented to the ancestors, inviting them to reunite with the family for the Lunar New Year celebrations and seeking their blessings for the coming year. These offerings usually consist of traditional savory dishes such as gac sticky rice, bamboo shoot vermicelli soup, boiled chicken, and pork pies, along with candles, lamps, betel and areca nuts, fruits, candies, cakes, wine, and beer.
The New Year’s Eve ritual holds immense significance for many families, and it is essential to approach it with sincerity and careful preparation, from the worshipper’s intentions to the choice of offerings and the timing of the ceremony.
This information is provided for divinatory reference only.
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