New Year’s Resolutions have become a
tradition with many people, worldwide. Like all traditions, it began somewhere
though, so I decided to go looking for the origin of this custom and discovered
some fun stuff!! Including the fact that this particular custom is a LOT older
than I realized, it began at least four millennia ago!
In our modern day most
New Year’s festivities begin on December 31st, New Year’s Eve, the
last day of the Gregorian calendar, and the celebrations continue into the
early hours of January 1st, New Year’s Day. The most common
traditions include attending parties, eating special New Year’s foods, making
resolutions for the new year and watching fireworks displays.
Early New Year’s Celebrations:
The earliest recorded festivities in honour
of a new year’s arrival date back 4,000 years, to ancient Babylon. For the
Babylonians, the first new moon following the vernal equinox—the day in late
March with an equal amount of sunlight and darkness—heralded the start of the
new year. They marked the occasion with a huge religious festival called Akitu
(derived from the Sumerian word for barley, which was cut in the spring) that
involved a different ritual on each of its 11 days. In addition to the new
year, Atiku celebrated the mythical victory of the Babylonian sky god Marduk over
the evil sea goddess Tiamat and served an important political purpose: It was
during this time that a new king was crowned or that the current ruler’s divine
mandate was symbolically renewed.
Calendars:
Did you know this fact I just ran across? In
order to realign the Roman calendar with the sun, Julius Caesar had to add 90
extra days to the year 46 B.C. when he introduced his new Julian calendar.
Throughout the ages, civilizations around
the world developed increasingly sophisticated calendars, typically pinning the
first day of the year to an agricultural or astronomical event. In Egypt, for
instance, the year began with the annual flooding of the Nile, which coincided
with the rising of the star Sirius. Meanwhile, the first day of the Chinese new
year occurs with the second new moon after the winter solstice.
Back to January 1st, and how it’s
become NEW YEAR’S DAY:
The early Roman calendar consisted of 10
months and 304 days, with each new year beginning at the vernal equinox. According
to tradition, it was created by Romulus, the founder of Rome, in the eighth
century B.C. A later king, Numa Pompilius, is credited with adding the months
of Januarius and Februarius. Over the centuries, the calendar fell out of sync
with the sun, and in 46 B.C. the emperor Julius Caesar decided to solve the
problem by consulting with the most prominent astronomers and mathematicians of
his time. He introduced the Julian calendar, which closely resembles the more
modern Gregorian calendar that most countries around the world use today.
As part of his reform, Caesar instituted
January 1st as the first day of the year, partly to honor the
month’s namesake: Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, whose two faces allowed
him to look back into the past and forward into the future. Romans celebrated
by offering sacrifices to Janus, exchanging gifts with one another, decorating
their homes with laurel branches and attending raucous parties. In medieval
Europe, Christian leaders temporarily replaced January 1st as the
first of the year with days carrying more religious significance, such as December
25th (the anniversary of Jesus’ birth) and March 25th (the
Feast of the Annunciation); Pope Gregory XIII re-established January 1st
as New Year’s Day in 1582.
NEW YEAR’S Traditions:
In many countries, New Year’s celebrations
begin on the evening of December 31st—New Year’s Eve—and continue
into the early hours of January 1st. Revelers often enjoy meals and
snacks thought to bestow good luck for the coming year. In Spain and several
other Spanish-speaking countries, people bolt down a dozen grapes-symbolizing
their hopes for the months ahead-right before midnight. In many parts of the
world, traditional New Year’s dishes feature legumes, which are thought to
resemble coins and herald future financial success; examples include lentils in
Italy and black-eyed peas in the southern United States. Because pigs represent
progress and prosperity in some cultures, pork appears on the New Year’s Eve
table in Cuba, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and other countries. Ring-shaped
cakes and pastries, a sign that the year has come full circle, round out the
feast in the Netherlands, Mexico, Greece and elsewhere. In Sweden and Norway,
meanwhile, rice pudding with an almond hidden inside is served on New Year’s
Eve; it is said that whoever finds the nut can expect 12 months of good fortune.
Other customs that are common worldwide
include watching fireworks and singing songs to welcome the new year, including
the ever-popular “Auld Lang Syne” in many English-speaking countries. The
practice of making resolutions for the new year is thought to have first caught
on among the ancient Babylonians, who made promises in order to earn the favor
of the gods and start the year off on the right foot. (They would reportedly
vow to pay off debts and return borrowed farm equipment.)
In the United States, the most iconic New
Year’s tradition is the dropping of a giant ball in New York City’s Times
Square at the stroke of midnight. Millions of people around the world watch the
event, which has taken place almost every year since 1907. Over time, the ball
itself has ballooned from a 700-pound iron-and-wood orb to a brightly patterned
sphere 12 feet in diameter and weighing in at nearly 12,000 pounds. Various
towns and cities across America have developed their own versions of the Times
Square ritual, organizing public drops of items ranging from pickles
(Dillsburg, Pennsylvania) to possums (Tallapoosa, Georgia) at midnight on New
Year’s Eve.
So there you have it – how it all began…
Happy New Year to everyone, and may the coming year bless you with health,
happiness, peace and love!
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11 comments:
I always love finding out the interesting customs and reasons behind why we celebrate our holidays. Thanks for the great post and Happy New Year to you, also. May your coming year be blessed with good fortune and health, my friend:)
Thanks so much, Paris! There's always an interesting story behind every story, isn't there? Happy New Year to you, as well - and here's to a great one!! Hugs, D
Great post! Happy New Year to come. Here's to wishing you a marvelous 2016 filled with almonds, black-eyed peas, grapes, luck pigs, and all good things, my friend. ;) Ok, maybe just one luck pig.
Very interesting, Denyse, thank you. Happy New Year!
Thank you Rose, and Cara. I love looking into stuff like this, it's always so interesting what turns up!! I wish you both a new year blessed with success and happiness. Thank you for all the love, support, and friendship through this past difficult year. Here's to a much improved 2016, ladies. Hugs, D
Very interesting. I didn't realize that New Year's was that old. Thank you for sharing and doing the research. It really adds to my understanding of the world. :)
Loved reading the history of New Years. It helped me to understand the calendar's development through the ages. Thanks for sharing. Happy New Years.
Fascinating post, Denyse. :)
When I lived in Italy in the 1960's the old customs still persisted which included throwing out the window, at midnight, everything from the "old" that you didn't want anymore, including furniture. In Rome, buildings averaged from four to eight stories, taller in newer areas. It was illegal for cars and people to be on the streets between around 11pm and 2am. Most people only threw out spumante bottles (Champagne) and little things, but you could still see chairs and tables, etc. being swept up by a horde of street sweepers with their brooms who came out at 2 am to manually clean up the mess. I have no idea what traditions continue there, but I am sure this isn't one of them.
Loved the information, Denyse. Ann's is great too. A happy and prosperous New Year to all!!!!!
Thanks everyone! Ann, that is a great story!! I'll have to ask my guy in Rome if the tradition continues, because in Italy - you just never know!!
Happy New Year to you all, ladies - you are an awesome, talented, wonderful group of people!! Love and Hugs to you, always ~ Denyse
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