2024 is a leap year – here are the superstitions (Picture: Olha Danylenko)
Happy New Year! And this is no ordinary year… it’s a leap year.
This means February will have 29 days, instead of 28, because it takes 365.25 days for earth to orbit the sun.
So to make up for the missing part-day we add one day to our calendar every four years.
But since 45 B.C. when Julius Caesar decreed the leap year with the creation of the Julian calendar, some superstitions have arisen.
Here’s every superstitious tradition you need to know about as we embark on our 2024 leap year…
Ladies, get down on one knee
While we here at Metro are big believers that women can propose whenever they want to their significant others, traditionally February 29 is the date women propose.
The leap day is also the only time when women are traditionally permitted to break with customs and propose to their partners and, according to recent research, 52% of people are more inclined to do so on this day.
This year is a leap year but there are lots of superstitions (picture: Getty Images)
But where does it come from? In the 5th Century an Irish nun called St Bridget complained to St Patrick that women had to wait too long for their suitors to propose.
Supposedly, St Patrick offered women the opportunity to pop the question themselves, on the condition that it was only every four years – but it wasn’t until much later in the 19th Century this tradition was normalised.
Another possible origin is from the unmarried Queen Margaret of Scotland. She allegedly introduced a law in 1288 allowing women freedom to propose during a leap year, but penalised any man who refused them.
There was also another catch; the woman proposing had to wear a red petticoat under her skirt to warn her suitor of her intentions.
It’s also a possibility that the tradition of women conducting leap year proposals originates from the time when leap days weren’t actually recognised by English law at all. Therefore as the day had no legal status, it was permissible for women to break with the convention of a man proposing.
Don’t tie the knot
In many cultures February 29 is deemed to bring bad luck. In Greek culture it’s believed that any marriages in a leap year will end in divorce.
If you’re planning on heading down the aisle, maybe hold off until 2025.
Some cultures believe being born on a leap day is good luck, others believe it’s very bad luck (picture: Getty Images)
May Day
In Rhineland, Germany, there’s a tradition where young men where they will tie ribbons to birch tree (a Liebesmaie) on their crush’s doorstep on April 30, the eve of May Day.
But every leap year, girls can do the same! And it’s only on a leap year that it’s just the women who dance around the maypole – in any normal year men can dance too.
Avoid the due date
Rumour has it, the Scots believe that giving birth on February 29 is bad luck – even comparing it to the dreaded Friday 13.
In fact, if you’re born a ‘leapling’ you may just be subjected to a life of ongoing suffering… yeah sounds pretty dramatic to us.
A leap year is a bad sheep year in Scottish culture (Picture: Getty Images)
Lucky baby
It’s not all bad news for those born on a leap day though. In fact, some cultures view it as a lucky birthday.
Some astronomers even believe that if your birthday falls on the leap day, you will be uniquely gifted.
Bad sheep day
Scots seem to have a lot of strong opinions about leap years. Scottish farmers believe a ‘leap year was never a good sheep year’.
So, hold your sheep close this year.
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