December 26, 1973

Let's Start New Year Later

January 1 is a grand day to wind up a good party of friends, but - for precisely that reason - it is a lousy day to start the first column of a new year.

The symbolism of a "new start", a rebirth of spiritual, psychological and physical ideals, is an important part of civilized life.  It should be a time of making new plans and resolutions to do better.

But why so close after another similar holiday?  The emotional wringing out of Christians at Christmas and Jews at Hanukkah saps our appreciation of a new beginning just a few days later.

Actually, it would surprise many to learn that Jan. 1 has been considered the start of the New Year only for a few hundred years.  Before that time, most civilizations began their year at the autumnal equinox, around Sept. 21, as the modern Jews still do.

The ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians and Persians followed this sensible procedure.  Other cultures began their new year in the spring, such as the Romans before Caesar, to whom March was the first month.

Since the introduction of the Christian era, at least five different dates have been considered as New Year's Day - Christmas, Lady Day (March 25), Easter Day and March 1.

The 25th of March was the usual date among most Christian peoples in medieval times.  It was not until 1582 that the adoption of the Gregorian calendar made Jan. 1 the start of the year.

It was not, however, until 1700 that this was accepted by Germany, Denmark and Sweden; and not until 1752 by England.  So there is no special sanctity or even any real religious "tradition" in the present starting date of the year.

At the reform of the calendar in the 16th Century, Jan. 1 was arbitrarily set, on the far-fetched reasoning that it was the eighth day after the Nativity, when Jesus was circumcised.

However, this was meaningless also since nobody knows on what date Jesus was born; some early church authorities said March, others August, and for the first 500 years of Christianity there was no general agreement on the birth date.

My vote for New Year's Day goes to the Spring equinox on March 21.  It is a traditional time of resurrection among all religions and among ancient people.  It is the first day of Spring in the northern hemisphere and the first day of Autumn in the southern half of the globe - a time of thanksgiving for new life and for nature's harvest.

Until then, a faint, but sincere, best wishes for a prosperous 1973 - er, I mean 1974.

Author: Lindsey Williams