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But it was not held in the winter but began with the first crescent moon following the vernal equinox(beginning of spring). Â Â Spring is a logical time to hold a New Year's celebration because the season represents a rebirth of the earth from its winter dormancy.
Unlike today, when we set aside one day of festivities, the Babylonians held an eleven-day celebration to welcome in the New Year. Â Each day had its own significance with its particular festivities.
The Romans continued to celebrate the New Year in the Spring, but the Roman emperors continually tampered with their calendar, so that soon the calendar became out of synch with the sun and the seasons.
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In an effort to correct the calendar, the Roman Senate in 156 B.C. declared that January 1 would be the first day of the new year. Unfortunately, emperors continued to meddle with the calendar until finally in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar.
However, in order to get the calendar back in synchronization with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 455 days.
THE CHURCH'S VIEW OF NEW YEAR'S CELEBRATIONS:
The Catholic church, which replaced the Roman Empire when it declined, as the definitive ruler of the people, originally denounced the New Years"celebrations, since they were rooted in the ancient customs of worshiping the various fertility gods.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the church continued to oppose the celebration of New Year's. Â In fact, it has only been in the last 400 years or so that the holiday has been celebrated in western nations.Â
However, as Christianity spread, the church began having its own religious observances concurrent with the Pagan holidays. Â New Year's was no exception. Â Even today, in some denominations, New Year is still celebrated as the Feast of Christ's Circumcision.
NEW YEARS' TRADITIONS:
The tradition of making resolutions also began with the ancient Babylonians. Â While we today might resolve to lose weight or to quit smoking, their most common resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.
Of course in America the biggest New Year's tradition and one of the oldest is the Tournament of Roses Parade, which dates back to 1886. That year, to celebrate the ripening of the Orange crop, Â members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers.
Although the Rose Bowl football game became a part of the festivities in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races in 1903. Â It was not until 1916 that the football game was restored in place of the chariot races.
The tradition of using a baby to signify the new year was begun in Greece about 600 B.C.  The Greeks paraded a baby through the streets to represent the rebirth of Dionysus, their fertility god.  The ancient Egyptians also used a baby to represent the New year.
The church, of course, condemned this practice; but, as its popularity grew, parochial leaders finally relented, stating that the baby represented the Christ child.
The symbol of the baby with the banner representing the new year was brought to America by the Germans, who had used it since the fourteenth century.
Some people traditionally believed that what one did or saw on the first day of the New Year affected his luck in the coming year.  For example, the first person an individual saw on the New Year could either bring good luck or bad luck.  For example if the beholder first encountered  A tall, dark-haired man, that  was considered especially fortuitous.
Most people in America are familiar with the belief that what one eats on the first day of the year is also tied to his luck. Â Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity.
Cabbage is another "good luck" vegetable that is consumed on New Year's Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year's Day.
Toasting:
Toasting dates back to the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans, who would pour wine from a pitcher to be shared by the group at a religious festival. Â The host would always drink first to assure the group that the wine was not poisoned, since poisoning was evidently fairly common at that time in history.
Auld Lang Syne:
The Scottish song, Auld Lang Syne, which simply means "the good old days", is played at the stroke of midnight and sung by the celebrants in almost every English speaking nation. Â Written at least partially by Robert Burns, it was first published in 1796 after Burn's death. Â Earlier versions were sung prior to the 1700's, which inspired Burns to write the modern version.
The inspiration for this post: Â https://www.wilstar.com/holidays/newyear.htm
