Were approaching that time of the year again, when its time to ring out the old, and ring in the new. The New Year is probably the oldest holiday of all time, and has been celebrated for almost 4000 years. The tradition of celebrating the New Year is believed to have originated in Babylon. The New Year celebrations lasted for eleven days, and it was a time of grand feasting. It was celebrated with the first visible crescent of the New Moon, after the Vernal Equinox - which is the first day of spring. (This usually falls around the 21st of March.) Logically, choosing the first day of spring as the New Year makes a lot of sense, as spring signifies the beginning of life, the beginning of a new season and the end of the winter - which is the last season. Plants are being planted, flowers have just started to blossom, and everything seems to be slowly coming back to life. The Romans too celebrated the New Year sometime around the last week of March. However, Roman emperors constantly changed the calendar around, with the result that the calendar became completely out of sync with the sun - so while March would be spring in one year, it could be winter in the next! Finally, 1st of January was officially declared to be the first day of the New Year by the Roman senate. The day is bang in the middle of the winter, and doesnt really have any astrological or agricultural significance. It was just a date picked arbitrarily. However, this didnt stop the Roman emperors from changing around the calendar again and again. They didnt tamper with the New Year date though. Finally, Julius Caesar set down the calendar as we know it. According to tradition, the first day of the year signifies what the rest of the year is going to be like. Thus, if you are working on the first day of the year, you are likely to be working and slaving for the rest of the year. Thus it is customary to celebrate this day in the company of friends and family. And then of course, people unfailingly make resolutions in the New Year, which they often fail to keep. Some of the most common resolutions are to quit smoking, drinking, to stick to a diet or exercise plan, to lose weight, to complete an unfinished task etc. The Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Years day brings luck. This is because it is ring shaped, and any food in the shape of a ring shows that you have come full circle. In some villages in Scotland, barrels of tar are set afire, and rolled down the streets to burn out the old year and bring in the new one. In addition, the Scottish people believe that if the first person to visit your house on the New Year is a tall, dark-haired man, the year will prove to be a fortunate one. In the United States, New Years Day processions fill up the streets. Decorated floats, dancers, musicians, singers… are all part of the procession. Football matches are held everywhere on this day. The song Auld Lang Syne is played in most countries around the world, at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve. Here are the lyrics: Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot and days of Auld Lang Syne. For Auld Lang Syne, my dear, for Auld Lang Syne, well take a cup of kindness yet for Auld Lang Syne. The words Auld Lang Syne simply mean the good old days. Learn how to say Happy New Year in these languages: French: Bonne Annee Italian: Buon Capodanno Spanish: Feliz Ano Neuvo or Prospero Ano Nuevo And finally, as we say in Hindi - Naya Saal Mubaarak!
We're approaching that time of the year again, when its time to ring out the old, and ring in the new. The New Year is probably the oldest holiday of all time, and has been celebrated for almost 4000 years. The tradition of celebrating the New Year is believed to have originated in Babylon. The New Year celebrations lasted for eleven days, and it was a time of grand feasting. It was celebrated with the first visible crescent of the New Moon, after the Vernal Equinox - which is the first day of spring. (This usually falls around the 21st of March.) Logically, choosing the first day of spring as the New Year makes a lot of sense, as spring signifies the beginning of life, the beginning of a new season and the end of the winter - which is the last season. Plants are being planted, flowers have just started to blossom, and everything seems to be slowly coming back to life.
The Romans too celebrated the New Year sometime around the last week
of March. However, Roman emperors constantly changed the calendar around, with the result that the calendar became completely out of sync with the sun - so while March would be spring in one year, it could be winter in the next!
Finally, 1st of January was officially declared to be the first day of the New Year by the Roman senate. The day is bang in the middle of the winter, and doesn't really have any astrological or agricultural significance. It was just a date picked arbitrarily. However, this didn't stop the Roman emperors from changing around the calendar again and again. They didn't tamper with the New Year date though. Finally, Julius Caesar set down the calendar as we know it.
According to tradition, the first day of the year signifies what the rest of the year is going to be like. Thus, if you are working on the first day of the year, you are likely to be working and slaving for the rest of the year. Thus it is customary to celebrate this day in the company of friends and family.
And then of course, people unfailingly make resolutions in the New Year, which they often fail to keep. Some of the most common resolutions are to quit smoking, drinking, to stick to a diet or exercise plan, to lose weight, to complete an unfinished task etc.
The Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Years day brings luck. This is because it is ring shaped, and any food in the shape of a ring shows that you have come full circle.
In some villages in Scotland, barrels of tar are set afire, and rolled down the streets to burn out the old year and bring in the new one. In addition, the Scottish people believe that if the first person to visit your house on the New Year is a tall, dark-haired man, the year will prove to be a fortunate one.
In the United States, New Years Day processions fill up the streets. Decorated floats, dancers, musicians, singers… are all part of the procession. Football matches are held everywhere on this day.
The song Auld Lang Syne is played in most countries around the world, at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve. Here are the lyrics:
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of Auld Lang Syne.
For Auld Lang Syne, my dear,
for Auld Lang Syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet
for Auld Lang Syne.
The words Auld Lang Syne simply mean the 'good old days'.
Learn how to say Happy New Year in these languages:
French: Bonne Annee
Italian: Buon Capodanno
Spanish: Feliz Ano Neuvo or Prospero Ano Nuevo
And finally, as we say in Hindi - Naya Saal Mubaarak!
