In Greek New Year's celebrations, a pomegranate may be smashed at the home's entrance for good luck.
The practice is associated with prosperity, fertility, abundance, and renewal. A pomegranate has a tough outer skin but contains many seeds, making it a natural symbol of richness and a fruitful year. In some Greek households, the fruit is kept outside or near a church before being brought home for the ceremony.
The head of the household may break the fruit against the doorway after midnight or after returning from a New Year's service. The number and spread of the seeds are traditionally treated as an encouraging sign for the year ahead, although customs vary by region and family.
Pomegranates have an older symbolic history in the Mediterranean and Near East, appearing in ancient art, mythology, and religious traditions. The New Year's custom is specifically Greek, but the fruit's association with life and abundance is much broader.