A New Year’s resolution — a promise made to oneself at the start of the new year. Traditionally, people reflect on the previous year and set self-improvement goals for the coming year. This is all fine and dandy but…without affirmations, you’re basically setting yourself up to fail. That’s right, you need to firmly tell your subconscious what you need to do without hesitation.
Writing a list of what goals need to be set is great but don’t stop there. Once that list is created don’t let it collect dust or be buried in a pile. Add some affirmations to that list. This simple addition actually works. I know this for a fact.
My late elder, Herm, taught us affirmations in his custom designed Hermetics class. I had trouble sleeping, OK, actually, I had full blown insomnia. He taught us to each night tell ourselves positively what we wanted to achieve. We couldn’t think anything negative about it at all. If it didn’t work, we had to rephrase it. He said that our “subby” would work on it. I did this and now I rarely ever have a sleep problem.
So now that we have that figured out, let’s figure out why we celebrate New Year’s in January. Afterall, Jews celebrate their New Year—Rosh Hashanah in the early fall. This holiday too is a time to reflect on their past year and for a fresh start. Unlike the national holiday though, they ask for forgiveness for any wrong they feel they might have done.
And let’s not forget us Pagans, who celebrate our new year at Samhain — Oct. 31/Nov.1. Pagans mark the end of the Celtic year and the beginning of the new one with the Festival of Samhain. Samhain is the summer’s end and the beginning of winter. And Celtic’s especially follow the belief that life begins in the dark. They only had two seasons — winter and summer.
Nationally however, we celebrate New Year’s on January 1. It is the date set on the Gregorian calendar after all. This is partly due to the Roman king Numa Pompilius. During his reign, he replaced March, which honored the Roman war-god Mars, with January as the first month. It seemed fitting since January was named after Janus, the Roman god of all beginnings. Other sources suggest that he created January completely and that Jan. 1st only became New Years in 153 BCE.
Still this does not explain why September or October were not chosen. After all, our very own school systems fiscal year and the UUA’s congregational year, as many other religions, starts in the fall. The Federal Government’s year begins on July 1, as do many other organizations.
Let’s dig a little deeper. Each country has their own lucky tradition to ring in the new year. The Spanish eat 12 grapes, one for each of the strokes at midnight. Southern Americans eat black-eyed peas to ring in the new year. Apparently, they symbolize coins and good fortune. Italians eat 12 lentils at midnight. However, this is not the case for this Italian American.
My grandma picked up a tradition that I cannot seem to pinpoint. However, being an otter, I don’t complain that we eat pickled herring at the stroke of midnight. I know this is a Jewish food but not their custom at New Year’s either. I searched for something that actually explains who does this at midnight, and no luck. In any event, I only skipped this once at my best friend’s wedding when we did the 12 grapes and a champagne toast. Ah yes, champagne, another custom that we pretty much all do, unless you can’t.
One recent tradition my congregation started was that the Sunday after the New Year we have a Jazz Brunch. What a great way to ring in the new year. The community gathers together in UU Congregation at Montclair New Jersey’s Fletcher Hall. We hear wonderful jazz music, a sermon and a prayer while breaking bread together. This all started about three years ago when New Year’s fell on a Sunday. There was discussion if anyone would show up, what to do, and then viola, a miracle happened. Now every time the Sunday after the New Year, we gather for this great new tradition.
OK, so this doesn’t pinpoint the reason either. But there’s one thing New Years has in common in any month that it’s celebrated— starting fresh. Be it a spiritual new year or a year and a day vow given to deity. A structured religious ritual shared with your community. Or the more modern, new beginning with the attendant resolutions with planned changes to our day to day lives. Whatever it is, they are related.
I wonder what changes this year will bring. Some changes are good and some are not so good. However, like the Facts of Life, “You take the good, you take the bad,. you take them both and there you have…”
Oh and let’s not forget the traditional New Year’s song, ”Auld Lang Syne.” “[…] We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet, for the sake of auld lang syne.” This is actually a Scottish tradition to sing the song about friends recalling their adventures from long ago. So although there is no direct answer to why Jan. 1, let’s raise a glass anyway and reflect on ourselves. Afterall, that seems to be the point in most of these traditions and rituals. Happy New Year!
See also: Samhain — the time between and Affirmations — for spellwork and mundane life — direct your con
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