January 1: New Year Beliefs

January 1 is the first day of the New Year. Not only is the celebration of New Year more than four-millennium old, there are many traditions that gradually began to be observed. How did January 1 become the New Year Day? What was the role of Christianity? How can you make your New Year lucky? Here are some answers.

January 1 History: New Year

Celebrating the New Year began in 2000 BC in the ancient state of Babylonia. This was on the first New Moon (i.e. the first visible crescent) after the first day of the spring season (Vernal Equinox). The celebration lasted for eleven days.
The Romans continued celebrating the New Year in March until Emperor Julius Caesar established the Julian calendar in 46 BC. While spring was a logical choice (as it’s the season of blossoming and planting new crops), January 1 has no agricultural or astronomical significance.

Essentially Christian New Year

In the first century AD, the Church condemned January 1 festivities as paganism. However, with Christianity becoming more widespread, even the Church started observing some of its religious events in concurrence with the January 1 New Year celebrations. These include:

• The Feast of Christ’s Circumcision: On the eighth day of his birth, Jesus was ritually circumcised
• The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus: Christ was formally given the name ‘Jesus,’ meaning ’savior.’
• Holy Day of Obligation: The Mass is abstained from affairs that hinder the rendering of worship to God.
• The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God: The feast celebrates Virgin Mary’s motherhood of Jesus.

During the medieval age, the Christian Church influenced many countries to move the beginning of the year to one of the important Christian festivals. In 1582, the Gregorian calendar, which has come into common usage across the globe, was named after Pope Gregory XIII. The era in which we are living started with the birth of Jesus Christ and is, thus, also known as the Christian Era.

New Year: Some Traditions

• The tradition of making New Year resolutions goes back to the Babylonian civilization. One of the most popular resolutions 4000 years ago was returning the farm equipment that one had borrowed.
• Around 600 BC, the tradition of signifying the New Year by using a baby began in Greece. The rebirth of Dionysus, the god of wine, as the spirit of fertility was celebrated annually. A baby was paraded in a basket to symbolize this. Later, the Church also allowed this practice and people could celebrate the New Year with the baby symbolizing new-born Jesus.

Get Lucky on New Year Day: January 1

Many cultures have the tradition of consuming a particular food item on the first day of the year.

• Dutch: Eating donuts on January 1 attracts fortunes. They believe that having a ring-shaped thing proves lucky, as it symbolizes the completing of a year’s cycle.
• The US: Having black-eyed peas with ham or hog is considered to bring good luck. Also, green cabbage leaves (representing paper currency) is also a symbol of prosperity. Some regions have the tradition of eating rice on New Year Day.

In the English-speaking countries, playing Robert Burns’ eighteenth century song, “Auld Lang Syne,” at the stroke of midnight is supposed to get you good luck. Similarly, there is an old belief that the first visitor on the first day of the New Year would bring either bad luck or good luck. If the visitor was a tall and dark-haired man, you would get lucky.