About two weeks ago effigy’s started showing up all along the Pan-American Highway. The effigy’s are also referred to as Munecos, Dummies, Old Year Dolls, and Judas Dolls. They are life sized “stuffed people” and they make up one of Panama’s many New Year traditions. Folklore has it that the effigy should be stuffed with fire crackers, beaten, and set on fire. The sins and evil spirits of the old year are destroyed to make way for good fortune in the new year. It is believed that ghosts are afraid of light and noise. The fire crackers, therefore, help drive the evil forces away. We went for a short drive and returned with a bunch of pictures to share. They usually try to make the effigy look like well known politicians, movie stars, or other popular people from the past year. We saw candidates for the upcoming Presidential election here in Panama and of course there were a few attempts at President Trump.
As you can see the imagination is off the charts. We find the whole thing a bit sacrilegious, so it was difficult to create a blog post using this tradition. As we thought about it, we decided that it would be unfair not to share fun and interesting cultural traditions regardless of our beliefs.
Other popular traditions for Ano Nuevo in Panama include eating 12 grapes at midnight making a wish with each. After eating the grapes you spit out the seeds and count them. The number of seeds is your lucky number for the new year. Use this number when playing the lottery (lottery is popular in Panama). Make sure you have a little money in your hands while eating your grapes. Having money in your hand at midnight ensures that you will have money throughout the new year. You should wear yellow underwear to have good luck throughout the new year. Wearing red will attract love in the new year. To get rid of bad energy from the old year you should burn incense. Hanging a bunch of oranges, rice, and wheat behind the front door will give you prosperity, work and health. Putting rice in a pot will attract wealth in the new year. Last but not least, it is believed that a swim in the ocean on New Year’s day will clean out the bad from the previous year and bring good things in the New Year. In all fairness, we found most of this information on livinginpanama.com. That is where we turned when the effigy’s started showing up along the road.
The people in Panama like to have a good time. We actually spent our evening with friends at the restaurant right here on the property. It was much safer than driving. Our evening was capped by great fireworks and we didn’t see anyone burn an effigy..
Life is indeed good here. Over the past few weeks the snowbirds have started to filter in. January to March is high season here and we expect to catch up with some old friends from last year and make new friends this new year. We bought our own condo at the end of December. We put in a lot of time researching and looking for the place that was just right for us. We are doing a small bit of remodeling prior to our move. Stay dialed in to this blog, to see our new place and we will share the details for transacting real estate business in Panama. It really was like our own episode of “Beach Front Bargain Hunt”.
We consider it a privilege to share our life in Panama with you all. Please, like and share so we reach everyone. If you have not subscribed to receive our posts by email now is a great time to subscribe. We will never spam you and our security is outstanding. It is also a great complement to have your input and comments.
Feliz Ano Nuevo,
Greg and Jen
Please Like and Share here:
Always good to read your blog and see what you’ve been up to! And the best part is.. we get to do a lot of it with you!
Excellent blog say we! Those effigies are so detailed and well made it seems a shame to burn them! I would make one of something awful to begin with – like a cancerous tumor. Remind me about the grapes next year so I can get some with seeds!!
I agree with you. The Effigys here share an important aspect of Panamanian culture and as expats it is important to learn about them. So glad to hear that you found a place that you will soon call home. Looking forward to hearing how you enjoy your new home.