In a Greek New Year's Eve custom, a pomegranate is smashed at the entrance of a home for good luck.
The pomegranate has long carried associations with fertility, abundance, life, and prosperity in Greek culture and mythology. In the modern custom, a household may throw the fruit against the door after midnight or when returning from a church service. The number of seeds scattered is traditionally read as a favorable sign of abundance for the coming year.
Practices differ between families and regions, so not every Greek household performs the ritual in exactly the same way. It is also distinct from vasilopita, the New Year's cake associated with Saint Basil. Vasilopita contains a hidden coin, and the person who finds it is said to receive good fortune. Both traditions are linked with Greek New Year celebrations, but the smashed fruit is specifically the pomegranate.