Not all countries celebrate New
Year at the same time, nor in the same way. This is because people in
different parts of the world use different calendars. Long ago,
people divided time into days, months, and years. Some calendars are
based on the movement of the moon, others are based on the position
of the sun, while others are based on both the sun and the moon. All
over the world, there are special beliefs about New Year.
Long Ago Festivals
Ancient
Egypt
In ancient Egypt, New Year was
celebrated at the time the River Nile flooded, which was near the end
of September. The flooding of the Nile was very important because
without it, the people would not have been able to grow crops in the
dry desert.
At New Year, statues of the god,
Amon and his wife and son were taken up the Nile by boat. Singing,
dancing, and feasting was done for a month, and then the statues were
taken back to the temple.
Babylonia
Babylonia lay in what is now the
country of Iraq. Their New Year was in the Spring. During the
festival, the king was stripped of his clothes and sent away, and for
a few days everyone could do just what they liked. Then the king
returned in a grand procession, dressed in fine robes. Then, everyone
had to return to work and behave properly. Thus, each New Year, the
people made a new start to their lives.
The Romans
For a long time the Romans
celebrated New Year on the first of March. Then, in 46 BC, the
Emperor Julius Caesar began a new calendar. It was the calendar that
we still use today, and thus the New Year date was changed to the
first day of January.
January is named after the Roman
god Janus, who was always shown as having two heads. He looked back
to the last year and forward to the new one.
The Roman New Year festival was
called the Calends, and people decorated their homes and gave each
other gifts. Slaves and their masters ate and drank together, and
people could do what they wanted to for a few days.
The Celts
The Celts were the people who
lived in Gaul, now called France, and parts of Britain before the
Romans arrived there. Their New Year festival was called Samhain. It
took place at the end of October, and Samhain means 'summer's
end'.
At Samhain, the Celts gathered
mistletoe to keep ghosts away, because they believed this was the
time when the ghosts of the dead returned to haunt the
living.
Jewish New
Year
The Jewish New Year is called
Rosh Hashanah. It is a holy time when people think of the things they
have done wrong in the past, and they promise to do better in the
future.
Special services are held in
synagogues, and an instrument called a Shofar, which is made from a
ram's horn is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year
loaves are baked and fruit is eaten to remind people of harvest
time.
Muslim New
Year
The Muslim calendar is based on
the movements of the moon, so the date of New Year is eleven days
earlier each year.
Iran is a Muslim country which
used to be called Persia. The people celebrate New Year on March 21,
and a few weeks before this date, people put grains of wheat or
barley in a little dish to grow. By the time of New Year, the grains
have produced shoots, and this reminds the people of spring and a new
year of life.
Hindu New
Year
Most Hindus live in India, but
they don't all celebrate New Year in the same way or at the same
time.
The people of West Bengal, in
northern India, like to wear flowers at New Year, and they use
flowers in the colors of pink, red, purple, or white. Women like to
wear yellow, which is the color of Spring.
In Kerala, in southern India,
mothers put food, flowers, and little gifts on a special tray. On New
Year's morning, the children have to keep their eyes closed until
they have been led to the tray.
In central India, orange flags
are flown from buildings on New Year's Day.
In Gujarat, in western India, New
Year is celebrated at the end of October, and it is celebrated at the
same time as the Indian festival of Diwali. At the time of Diwali,
small oil lights are lit all along the roofs of buildings.
At New Year, Hindus think
particularly of the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi.
The Far East
Vietnam
In Vietnam, the New Year is
called Tet Nguyen Dan or Tet for short. It begins between January 21
and February 19, and the exact day changes from year to year. They
believe that there is a god in every home, and at the New Year this
god travels to heaven. There he will say how good or bad each member
of the family has been in the past year.
They used to believe that the god
traveled on the back of a fish called a carp, and today, they
sometimes buy a live carp, and then let it go free in a river or
pond. They also believe that the first person to enter their house at
New Year will bring either good or bad luck.
Japan
In Japan, New Year is celebrated
on January 1, but the Japanese also keep some beliefs from their
religion, which is called Shinto. To keep out evil spirits, they hang
a rope of straw across the front of their houses, and this stands for
happiness and good luck.
The moment the New Year begins,
the Japanese people begin to laugh, and this is supposed to bring
them good luck in the new year.
Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year is
celebrated some time between January 17 and February 19, at the time
of the new moon, and it is called Yuan Tan. It is celebrated by
Chinese people all over the world, and street processions are an
exciting part of their New Year. The Festival of Lanterns is the
street processions, and thousands of lanterns are used to light the
way for the New Year.
The Chinese people believe that
there are evil spirits around at New Year, so they let off
firecrackers to frighten the spirits away. Sometimes they seal their
windows and doors with paper to keep the evil spirits out.
New Year in the
West
New Year's Day processions with
decorated floats and bands are a part of New Year, and football is
also played all over the United States on New Year's Day.
In Europe, New Year was often a
time for superstition and fortune-telling, and in some parts of
Switzerland and Austria, people dress up to celebrate Saint
Sylvester's Eve.
In AD 314, there was a Pope
called Saint Sylvester, and people believed that he captured a
terrible sea monster. It was thought that in the year 1000, this sea
monster would escape and destroy the world, but since it didn't
happen, the people were delighted. Since then, in parts of Austria
and Switzerland, this story is remembered at New Year, and people
dress up in fantastic costumes, and are called
Sylvesterklauses.
In Greece, New Year's Day is also
the Festival of Saint Basil. Saint Basil was famous for his kindness,
and Greek children leave their shoes by the fire on New Year's Day
with the hope that he will come and fill the shoes with
gifts.
In Scotland, New Year is called
Hogmanay, and in some villages barrels of tar are set alight and
rolled through the streets. Thus, the old year is burned up and the
new one allowed to enter.
Scottish people believe that the
first person to enter your house in the New Year will bring good or
bad luck, and it is very good luck if the visitor is a dark-haired
man bringing a gift. This custom is called first-footing.
The song, Auld Lang Syne is sung
at midnight on New Year's Eve, and this custom is now celebrated all
over the world.
Traditions
On New Year's Eve, many people
hold parties which last until late into the night. It is traditional
to greet the new year at midnight and celebrate the first minutes of
the year in the company of friends and family. People may dance,
sing, and drink a toast to the year ahead. After the celebrations, it
is time to make new year resolutions, and these are a list of
decisions about how to live in the coming year. Horns are blown at
midnight, and people hug and kiss to begin the new year with much
love and happiness.
In British Columbia, Canada,
there is the traditional polar bear swim. People of all ages put on
their bathing suits, and plunge into the icy cold water which
surrounds Vancouver during the winter.
In our family, we stay home and
watch the New Year celebrations on television. We have chosen to do
this because of all the alcoholic drinking which is done, and even
with road-blocks by the police, we feel safer in our own
home.
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