It is New Year’s Eve. Just before the clock strikes midnight, the front door closes on the year that is ending. Someone steps briefly into the dark street and returns holding a pomegranate.

They cross the threshold carefully, leading with the right foot. The pomegranate is thrown hard onto the floor, bursting open. Banknotes fall with it,  “so the money will come.”  Someone says “me to kalo” -which can be roughly translated to, “with good fortune.” Others laugh. No one objects.

Because, for that brief moment, everyone believes the same thing: that what happens now will somehow set the tone for the entire year ahead.

This familiar scene, repeated in thousands of Greek homes, brings together two of the country’s most enduring New Year customs: wishing “kali chronia” (“happy new year”) and the podariko – the tradition of selecting carefully who steps first into the house. They are traditions performed almost automatically, yet behind them lies a centuries-old way of thinking about time, luck and the human urge to tame uncertainty.

Why Beginnings Carry Weight

Both customs rest on a simple but powerful idea: beginnings matter. Since antiquity, people have believed that the first day, the first action, the first step of a new cycle influences everything that follows. Greek folk wisdom captures this perfectly in the saying, “A good day shows from the morning.”

The change of the year has never been just a date on a calendar. It is the changing of the guard, the end of one cycle and the start of another. And throughout history, these moments have always been steeped in ritual.

What Greeks Mean When They Say “Happy New Year”

In Greek, kali chronia- Happy New Year is more than a polite greeting. The word kaló (“good”) does not only mean pleasant or joyful. It also carries other significance, such as favorable, protected, free from harm. Saying kali chronia functions almost like a spoken blessing, a verbal shield for the year to come.

Versions of this wish exist everywhere: Happy New Year, Bonne année, Buon anno. Across cultures, people are not simply wishing happiness, but health, abundance, safety and stability. Time itself is treated as something living,  capable of kindness, but also of hardship.

Podariko: The First Step Into the Year

The same logic explains the concept of podariko, the first step into the home after the new year begins. Whoever steps inside first is believed to kick-off “the year, thus that person is chosen carefully. They should be kind, lucky and healthy,  ideally a child, since childhood is associated with innocence and purity.

Leading with the right foot is also essential. From ancient times, the right side has been seen as auspicious, while the left was linked to misfortune. This way of thinking survives in everyday superstition: an itchy right hand means money is coming in; an itchy left hand means money is going out. A ringing right ear signals good news; the left, something unpleasant.

The Pomegranate and the Promise of Abundance

The pomegranate is one of the strongest symbols of prosperity in Greek culture. Its countless seeds represent wealth, fertility and good luck. The farther they scatter across the floor, the more abundance is believed to spread throughout the home. In some areas, banknotes are thrown along with the fruit, reinforcing the wish that money will “stick” to the new year.

Other customs echo the same hope, such as tasting honey for a “sweet life.” Each small ritual is meant to ensure that only good things cross the threshold and that misfortune stays outside.

A Tradition Beyond Greece

Greece is not alone in treating the first visitor of the year as significant. In Scotland and northern England, the tradition of first footing follows strict rules.

The first guest must bring symbolic gifts, such as food, fuel or money, meant to guarantee prosperity in the year ahead. Sometimes the visitor carries a branch from an evergreen tree, symbolizing resilience and long life. Until this first visit takes place, nothing should leave the house and no family member should go out.

The visitor greets everyone present and is then welcomed in return, often leaving behind a piece of coal for the fire, a practical symbol of warmth and survival.

Podariko in the Modern World

In today’s hyper-connected world, podariko has quietly evolved. For many people, the first phone call, the first text message or even the first notification on their smartphone feels like an omen for the year ahead. Yet the underlying idea remains unchanged.

These customs are ways of giving structure to uncertainty, of using symbols where control is impossible, and of starting a new cycle with hope rather than fear.

Because no matter how modern life has evolved, people still want to believe, even for a moment that if the beginning is good, then the year that follows just might be as well.