Universally, gold has always been a symbol of prosperity, wealth, and prestige, so much so that it makes an appearance in legends and myths behind traditions featured in special holidays globally. For example, gold was used to chase away the demon Sui in Chinese New Year legends and distract King Yama from taking a young prince’s life when he was prophesied to perish from a snake bite in Hindu mythology. The more you research, the more you find that gold has its place in heritages and myths in every culture around the world.

Diwali 

Known as the festival of lights, Diwali is one of India’s biggest holidays and a major cultural event for the country. Gold plays a key role in Diwali as part of its founding myth associated with its origins. According to mythology, on Dhanteras, King Hima’s son was prophesied to lose his life on the fourth day after his marriage to a snake bite. King Hima searched far and wide for a bride with a lucky horoscope and on the fourth day of marriage, he waited to see what would happen to his son. King Hima’s new daughter-in-law took action immediately, lighting up countless lamps, placing gold and silver coins around the house and began singing to keep her husband awake. When the time for death arrived, King Yama, as a serpent, tried to claim the prince’s life but was distracted by the brilliance of the lights and gold, missing the time to kill the prince. Thus, the prince's life was spared. This legend inspired the tradition to buy gold on Dhanteras to ensure good luck. In another version of the origin of Diwali, Dhanteras was the day when Goddess Lakshmi emerged from the ocean. People believe that buying gold and precious metals on Dhanteras will bring Goddess Lakshmi into their lives, who is synonymous with fortune, offering another explanation behind the tradition of buying gold at the beginning of Diwali to bring good luck. To this day, India is one of the biggest importers of gold in the world. Over the past few years, Diwali gifts have moved onto gifting gold bullion or coins. Despite the change in the type of gold gifted, offering any form of gold as a gift is seen as prosperous and a tradition to honour Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. 

Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is a festival that celebrates the start of the New Year on the lunar calendar, and it is one of the most important holidays in Asian countries. Gold plays a significant role in Lunar New Year and as with Diwali, gold appears in Chinese mythology to explain the origins of New Year traditions. Supposedly, on the night of the New Year, the demon Sui would arrive to terrorize children. If Sui touches a child’s head, they would fall ill and parents would try to protect their children by lighting candles and staying up all night. One year, a child who was given 8 gold coins. When the child fell asleep, his parents wrapped the coins in red paper and placed it underneath his pillow. When the demon Sui arrived that night and tried to touch the child’s head, it was scared away from the golden light of the coins. In the following years, parents would give their children red envelopes filled with money to scare away Sui, and that tradition continues today with gifting Hong Bao. It is customary for parents and grandparents to give their children gifts of gold in the form of gold coins or gold jewellery on New Years. Buying gold on Lunar New Year symbolizes good luck and gifting gold to your loved ones is said to pass on good luck and fortune for the year to come. Gold jewellery, gold bars, or gold coins are a popular choice to give. 

Christmas

Gold is a cherished gift during the holiday season and gold embodies love and connections as a timeless gift. Elements of gold are present in the history of Christmas as well as its decor. Gold appears in popular legends about the origins of hanging stockings by the fireplace mantel. In one version of the stocking legend, a poor family was struggling to put food on the table and the father was planning on selling his daughters. St. Nicholas, who was staying with them, wanted to help but knew the old man would not accept charity, so he helped out in secret. When he left the house after dark, he threw three bags of gold through the window and one landed in a stocking. In another version, St. Nicholas directly put the gold into the stockings by the fireplace, starting the tradition of hanging up stockings to accept gifts. In the bible, gold was gifted to baby Jesus by the three Magi. Since gold in the past was reserved for kings, the gold gift for Jesus represented the belief that Jesus was the King of Kings. The gift of gold has strong roots in the origins of Christmas as it has long been a symbol of affluence and prosperity. Gifting gold during Christmas reflects a wish for abundance and success in the future. 

For special holidays, gold is the perfect gift for any special person in your life. As a recurring symbol of good fortune and prosperity in all cultures, gold has deep meaning rooted in traditions, making it both a meaningful and practical gift. Whether it’s a coin, bullion, jewellery, or bar, gold in any shape or form is a timeless and unconditional gift, one of if not the best gifts you can give if you want to give the gift of prosperity and make a lasting impression.