Let us wait for the logical new year

 Let us wait for the logical new year

Today, we are following a calendar in which the months are of unequal size.  Months like July and August have 31 days whereas February has only 28 or 29.  These months have no relationship to change in the phases of the moon.  The New Years Day falls on January 1.  Very few of us know that this system of measuring the time is only 400 years old.  The present calendar was not adopted in England and its colonies until 1752.  Prior to this all the major ancient civilizations were using the year very systematically based on the change in the phases of the moon and the transition of the sun; and the new year was celebrated around 25th March every year.

 

The classical approach for the measurement of time

 

As stated above, prior to the above change made around 400 years ago, all the classical civilizations were following their calendars that were based upon the change in the phases of the sun or moon.  The creation is cyclic in nature and so are the change of the day/night and the seasons.  According to the changes that the moon undergoes from one full moon to another; for the first fifteen days, it decreases in size and during the next fifteen days, it increases and this one complete cycle was termed as one month in almost all ancient civilizations.  Some of the civilizations were using the transition of the sun in different zodiac signs for the measurement of the duration of one month; since there are 12 such signs and the stay of the sun in one particular sign was treated as one month and the period of 12 such months was one complete year.  The first month coincided around the present day March, second month April and so on.

The Julian Calendar

When the Christianity spread in Europe, the beginning of the year was shifted to January 1.  In between, the new year was also realigned to coincide with Christian festivals and until by the seventh century, the Christmas Day marked the beginning of the new year in many countries.  The Roman emperor, Julian had a calendar with a year having 365 days and every fourth year was a leap year having one more day, i.e. 366 days.

However, upto the ninth century, parts of southern Europe still observing first day of the new year on March 25 to coincide with Annunciation Day (the church holiday nine months prior to Christmas celebrating the Angel Gabriel's revelation to the Virgin Mary that she was to be the mother of the Messiah). The last day of the year was March 24.  However, England did not adopt this change in the beginning of the new year until late in the twelfth century.

Because the year began in March, records referring to the "first month" pertain to March; to the second month pertain to April, and so on. In fact, in Latin, September means seventh month, October means eighth month, November means ninth month, and December means tenth month.  Use of numbers, rather than names, of months was especially prevalent in the ancient calendars.

 

The Gregorian Calendar

During the middle ages, it began to become apparent that the Julian leap year formula had overcompensated for the actual length of a solar year, having added an extra day every 128 years.  However, no adjustments were made to compensate.  By 1582, seasonal equinoxes were falling 10 days "too early," and some church holidays, such as Easter, did not always fall in the proper seasons.  In that year, Pope Gregory XIII authorized, and most Roman Catholic countries adopted, the Gregorian  Calendar.  As part of the change, ten days were dropped from the month of October, and the formula for determining leap years was revised so that only years divisible by 400 (e.g., 1600, 2000) at the end of a century would be leap years.  January 1 was established as the first day of the new year. Protestant countries, including England and its colonies, not recognizing the authority of the Pope, continued to use the Julian Calendar. 

 

Double Dating

Between 1582 and 1752, not only were two calendars in use in Europe and in European colonies, but two different starts of the year were in use in England.  Although the "Legal" year began on March 25, the use of the Gregorian calendar by other European countries led to January 1 becoming commonly celebrated as "New Year's Day" and was given as the first day of the year in almanacs.

To avoid misinterpretation, both the "Old Style" and "New Style" year was often used in English and colonial records for dates falling between the new New Year (January 1) and old New Year (March 25), a system known as "double dating." Such dates are usually identified by a slash mark [/] breaking the "Old Style" and "New Style" year.

The Change of 1752

England and its colonies changed calendars in 1752. By that time, the discrepancy between a solar year and the Julian Calendar had grown by an additional day, so that the calendar used in England and its colonies was 11 days out-of-sync with the Gregorian Calendar in use in most other parts of Europe. 

England's calendar change included three major components. The Julian Calendar was replaced by the Gregorian Calendar, changing the formula for calculating leap years.  The beginning of the legal new year was moved from March 25 to January 1.  Finally, 11 days were dropped from the month of September 1752. 

 

April Fools' Day

Almost all the Ancient cultures celebrated New Year's Day on or around late march or early April. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of Europe celebrated March 25, the Feast of Annunciation, as the beginning of the new year. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. That year, France adopted the reformed calendar and shifted New Year's day to Jan. 1. At that time, most of the people either refused to accept the new date, or did not learn about it, and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people began to make fun of these traditionalists, sending them on "fool's errands" or trying to trick them into believing something false. Eventually, the practice spread throughout Europe.

So we see that the practice of celebrating the new year in January is only about 400 years old.

 

The logical new year.

 

As stated earlier, in all the ancient classical civilizations, the New Year was celebrated during the time of the vernal equinox, which was around March 25. The calendar during that time was based on the change in the season, and March was the period when the planting season started. It was a pleasant season during March.  The planting season was termed very important and apart from this, there were flowers blooming all around.  The trees were fresh with green leaves.  It seemed as if the whole nature is celebrating.  It was therefore chosen as the first month of the year, the new year. With March as the first month of the year, it was logical that “septem” was the name of the seventh month (September in Latin), “octo” for the eighth month, “novem” for the ninth month and “decem” for the tenth month.

 

If we perceive the period of the night of the December 31^st when the people today are waiting the new year for celebration, this is a chilly night, dark and gloomy everywhere.  In most part of the world there is heavy snowfall, the trees and the plants are not blooming, the birds are not chirping, the animals are hiding under their skins in the caves to avoid such an extreme cold and chilly period of the year.  This is certainly not a time to celebrate something.  In many parts of the world, the sun is not visible for many days during this time.  The whole atmosphere is quiet, depressed and gloomy. This extreme period is something not to be welcomed and celebrated.  In every way, this time is not appropriate to be celebrated as the new year.

So one should wait a few more months and let the period of the late March- early April come, when the spring will be everywhere and not only the humans but the whole nature will be ready to celebrate the new year.  In all the major ancient civilizations, this was the time when new year was celebrated.