In Colombia we have this tradition of making “old guy” dolls that are burn on new years eve with messages from all the things we want to left behind. When my cousin changed his name, we named the old guy with his dead name and burned it.
Mind your local laws regarding burning things out in the open. But i think it would be super cool if people started adopting this.
I don’t know how similar the tradition is to the colombian one, but in ecuador the doll is called the “old year”. It’s stuffed with old newspaper and sawdust, clothed in old, unusable pants and shirt and wears a papier-mâché mask of whatever you want. It’s common to put a mask of a politician
My (white American) family has something similar, but probably has a common origin:
On Jan 1, we will have a fire. Fireplace, fire pit, even a candle. We then write our regrets on paper and burn them. It’s private, and you don’t have to share what you are burning, but you can.
In Colombia we have this tradition of making “old guy” dolls that are burn on new years eve with messages from all the things we want to left behind. When my cousin changed his name, we named the old guy with his dead name and burned it.
damn, that’s sick
I’m totally doing this when I come out with a name change. Freakin epic. 🤘
Is it cultural appropriation if I steal this?
Because I’m definitely stealing this.
Mind your local laws regarding burning things out in the open. But i think it would be super cool if people started adopting this. I don’t know how similar the tradition is to the colombian one, but in ecuador the doll is called the “old year”. It’s stuffed with old newspaper and sawdust, clothed in old, unusable pants and shirt and wears a papier-mâché mask of whatever you want. It’s common to put a mask of a politician
Same, but we don’t usually involve politics.
I think it’s been adapted enough to be safe.
My (white American) family has something similar, but probably has a common origin:
On Jan 1, we will have a fire. Fireplace, fire pit, even a candle. We then write our regrets on paper and burn them. It’s private, and you don’t have to share what you are burning, but you can.
We’ve been doing this since I was a child.
Cool, i didn’t know this tradition was also done outside of ecuador. Do you also burn it out on the street and jump over it?
Don’t remember the jump over part. It’s funny talking with people of Equador, it’s like eeey we do the same thing here! Everytime.
We burn el viejo in Mexico too :) no jumping, it used to have fireworks inside