CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — From burning Palo Santo to eating black-eyed peas, in my African American and Latino household, we took New Year's Eve traditions very seriously.
New Year's Eve traditions look different in every household. I'm showing you how cultures across Corpus Christi are welcoming the New Year.
Victoria Prewitt is the owner of "Positive Intentions" a spiritual store along Everheart. Born in Mexico, I wanted to know what Latin traditions Prewitt follows this holiday, so I sat down with her and asked.
"Florida water which is traditionally used. You see sage which is used," Victoria Prewitt, Owner of Positive Intentions, said.
She says most of her customers come in for a limpieza, also known as a spiritual cleansing.
"They do want to go into the new year being cleansed," Prewitt said.
She says burning candles and incense are very popular within Latin culture, also taking baths or cleaning with Florida water, a spiritual cleansing water.
"They'll wash their walls with it. And pushing everything negative from last year out the front door," Prewitt said.
So I asked her what she believes you can do at home, to help your New Year become a little sweeter.
"Cinnamon at the front door to bring in prosperity," Prewitt said.
On the Westside of the city, I met with Dorothy Wade. She tells me her birth certificate shows she was born on a plantation, so all she knows are Black Southern traditions.
"Of course you had to have the black eyed peas. Because those black eyed peas, were for luck," Dorothy Wade said.
The history behind the tradition is that black-eyed peas look like coins, so it helps bring in money.
When people deny these traditions, she says:
"It's worked for me. I'm here at 72 years of age," Wade said.
And says sticking to these traditions didn't just bring in luck — it helped save families.
"Even if we were mad at each other, by the time we got back to the kitchen table, we weren't," Wade said.
So whether you eat black-eyed peas or clean with Florida water, traditions are traditions that can help you ring in the New Year.
As the clock counts down and a New Year begins, these traditions remind us that no matter how we celebrate, we're all hoping for a better year.
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