The Oracle’s Library dives deep into the histories to uncover the origins of the New Year. The first New Year’s celebrations are dated as far back as 2,500 BCE in the land of ancient Mesopotamia—the civilizations situated along the fertile crescent. It was in ancient Babylon that the New Year marked the day that the Sun returned to the equinox position and the Moon reached the new moon phase. This phenomenon actually occurs twice a year with the spring and autumn equinox. For this reason, the New Year’s festivities took place twice in the amount of time we now call a year.
New Years to the Romans
In ancient Rome, March initiated the New Year with the first day of the month Martius. The Julian Calendar reform saw to the addition of months onto the ancient Roman Calendar. Later in the days of the Roman Empire under the command of Julius Caesar, the New Year’s festivities took place on January 1st to honor the god Janus. Thus the New Year in 46 BCE was a tribute to Janus of fresh beginnings, doorways and time. Although, we can still see echoes of the equinox New Year’s tradition with the use of Lady Day as the New Year in some English speaking countries of the past. It was on this day named a quarter day of the year that the contracts between farmers and tenants began. This day initiated the New Year up until 1752.
The Shifting Calendar
At the same time, in 1582 the Gregorian Calendar reform under Pope Gregory VII threw the New Year off by 10 days. Back when the United States was still a British colony, George Washington’s birthday fell on February 11th of the Julian Calendar instead of February 22nd as it is celebrated today. These days, the ball drops in New York City’s Times Square each year on January 1st and has done so since the year 1907 when the concept was first invented.
The Chinese New Year
For the Chinese and many other cultures who keep track of time with the luni-solar calendar, New Year’s Day normally falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. This particular date is celebrated with fireworks and festivities from Singapore to Indonesia and is often called the Lunar New Year. In the Chinese Calendar, the New Year replaces one zodiac sign for the next and is given an element of Wu Xing and a yin or yang quality. The year 2014 marks the entrance of the Wood Horse often called the year of the Green Horse, since trees have leaves and are green. The quality is yang. These cycles through twelve animal signs, the five elements of Wu Xing and the yin and yang qualities outline the time it takes for the great conjunction between outer planets Jupiter and Saturn to return to nearly the same spot on the zodiac belt. For more into ancient traditions check out Winter Solstice Celebrations.
Thank you for reading at the Oracle’s Library! Happy New Year, and good luck to the Horse!
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