Satire Saturday: The Origins of New Year's Day as We Know It

 

Hello! If you are reading this, I hope you are well! Today is Saturday, January 1, 2022, and the first Satire Saturday of 2022. For those who don’t know, Satire Saturday is the day when I share information to dispel myths about witches and witchcraft and help people to understand the origins of our modern rituals and holidays. It may also turn into a day where a share a good joke if I come across any.

Have you ever wondered why we celebrate New Years Day on the first day of January every year? I have and I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to these things, so I looked it up to find out. I decided to share my findings here for anyone else who may be curious about the holiday’s origin. I may not have all the facts right, but I have done the best I could with the information that is available to me. If any historians stumble across this post and would like to correct anything I get wrong, please feel free to comment on this post. I welcome your input.

In ancient times the beginning of each year was marked by both celestial and earthbound events. In ancient Egypt, the marked the beginning of each year with the flooding of the Nile River. This meant that it did not occur on the same day every year. For other ancient cultures, the new year was associated with the solstices and equinoxes. Many modern-day pagans recognize Samhain (Halloween) as the start of the new year. So, when exactly did we start to use the first day of January to mark the new year? Well, it turns out the answer to that is a little more complicated than I expected.

The first time in history we see the first of January as the start of the new year is in 153 BCE (153 BC). It is important to note that this was according to the old Roman calendar and not the modern Gregorian calendar that we currently use. January was at that time a newly founded month that was dedicated to the god Janus who had two faces: one face that looked forward into the future, and one face that looked backward into the past. This is most likely the reason the ancient Romans decided to place the new year on January 1^st. Sadly, the old Roman calendar was not accurate and within a century the solstices and other important dates fell out of alignment with the calendar. In 46 BCE (46 BC), Julius Caesar had proposed a new form of calendar that was more accurate than the previous calendar. It worked fairly well but just like the old Roman calendar, over time it fell out of alignment with the seasons and solstices. By the 16^th century it was obvious that the world needed a better calendar. In 1582 CE (1582 AD), Pope Gregory XIII proposed an adjustment to the Julian calendar, and our modern Gregorian calendar was born. However, not every country accepted January 1^st as the start of the new calendar year at that time. For instance, in 1750 Great Britain still celebrated March 25^th as the start of the new year. It wasn’t until 1752 that the British Empire adopted January 1^st as New Year’s Day.

Today, we still celebrate many holidays and customs that were once associated with the start of the new lunar year. They are a part of our heritage and culture that help define who we are today. Why still celebrate them today if they no longer hold the same significance they once did? Well, let’s just say some things are too good to let go of!

Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!