A pomegranate is traditionally smashed against a door in Greece on New Year's Day for good luck. The many seeds scattered by the broken fruit symbolize abundance, fertility, and prosperity for the household.
In the custom, the fruit may be blessed at church and then brought home, where it is thrown against the entrance. A successful break that spreads many seeds is viewed as an auspicious sign. The ritual is especially associated with the beginning of the year, although pomegranates also have wider religious and cultural symbolism in Greece.
The practice draws on the fruit's long history in Mediterranean culture. Pomegranates appear in ancient Greek mythology and art, including stories connected with Persephone, but the modern New Year's ritual is a folk custom rather than a direct reenactment of one ancient ceremony. It is sometimes confused with eating pomegranate seeds or hanging a fruit in the home; the distinctive New Year's action is smashing the pomegranate at the doorway.