Love, money, travel, or whatever one's heart desires, there's some local charm or ritual to make it come true as the new year makes its entrance.
FOR THOSE SEEKING LOVE
According to lingerie shops, the custom of buying red underwear to beckon love and yellow to improve income is widespread.
Witch doctors and shamans, however, recommend setting a New Year's table with shiny dishes, the finest tablecloths and "goblets decorated with cinnamon sticks and red candles" if you wish to find love or get married.
They also suggest getting ahold of a picture of one's true love, lighting seven red candles and simply praying. Wearing a red ribbon around the waist underneath the clothes while doing so certainly doesn't hurt either, they say.
And if it's marriage you seek, try changing into red underwear at the very stroke of midnight.
IF IT'S MONEY YOU WISH...
Francisco Robles, a folk healer who practices at a Mexico City market, says that many magic spells are designed to attract money and ensure prosperity.
One consists of placing a small red pouch filled with rice, beans and lentils in one's navel "to ward off bad vibes," and yet another is to carry a gold purse with 13 coins of the same color.
NEED A CHANGE OF LUCK?
In addition, numerous magic rituals may be practiced on New Year's Eve to ensure good luck over the following 12 months, including carrying cash. And though pesos are fine for the job, the more ambitious pack U.S. dollars.
Another popular ritual is to clean one's house on New Year's Eve. A clean sweep, making sure to get to all the corners where dust accumulates, is best.
Many people say it's good luck to throw out broken, out-oforder or little-used objects, and the same goes for outdated and ill-fitting clothes.
BAD MEMORIES BEGONE
Another widespread practice is to draw up a list of unpleasant events that happened over the year and then burn it, thereby erasing the past. Some people burn the list in a clay pot and throw the ashes on the ground, or bury them to ensure such unhappy events will never return.
Or if that doesn't work, try hurling a glassful of water out the door or window to banish sorrow and tears.
TAKE A WALK, EAT SOME GRAPES
In the last seconds of the year, people who want to travel must walk out of the house carrying suitcases and then go back in. The farther one walks before returning, the more distant one's travel destination will be.
Once back inside, it's time to eat 12 grapes, one at each stroke of the clock chimes, accompanying each with a wish.
Robles also recommends taking a bath precisely at midnight and to "cleanse" oneself further with a switch made of seven herbs.
The final recommendation is simply to pray, asking for peace, health, love and abundance in the coming year.