Leap Year Traditions Across the Globe

It's Leap Year once again and February gets to have another day. February 29, Leap Day, only occurs every four years and is filled with traditions and superstitions.

Julius Caesar was the one responsible for coming up with an extra day during the leap year. The Earth takes more the sun in some years. In order for them to come up with a fixed calendar, Julius Caesar added an extra day on the month of February to fill in the gap. The year with the additional day is known as the Leap Year, which only occurs every four years as reported by the Telegraph.

Since it seldom happens, the Leap Day (February 29) is a day allotted for superstitions and traditional beliefs. Most traditions are being linked to cultural significance of the country it is being celebrated on. Listed below are a few Leap Year traditions and superstitions celebrated on the around the world.

Wedding Proposals

It's the time of the year wherein ladies can finally bend their knees and pop the question. The tradition started back in the fifth century in the days of the Irish Saint, Brigid of Kildare, after she convinced Saint Patrick to set a date for woman to propose to their suitors.

Leap year marriages are more likely to fail, think-tank warns https://t.co/4wklQZfSN6 pic.twitter.com/AFpXhPOeJN

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) February 28, 2016

After the announcement was rolled out, she then knelt before Saint Patrick and proposed to him. He declined her proposal, but he gave her a kiss and silk gown to make up for the embarrassment. It was then brought from Ireland to Scotland back in 1288 according to Huffington Post.

Harvest

Aside from the Leap Year proposal in Scotland, the country also believes in the superstition brought about by the 29^th of February. According to Inquisitr, people in Scotland considers the extra day as something unlucky for those who are farming.

According to the Encyclopedia of Superstitions, Folklore and the Occult Sciences of the World, "Nothing shall be built, planned or planted in a leap year; it does not prosper. The whole vegetable world is affected by the influences of leap year. The peas and beans grow the wrong way in their pods, and seeds are set in quite the contrary way to what they are in other years."