BY COLM BRADLEY
The 2nd of January (today) is for many people a chance to start afresh. And, as part of that, most of us come up with a few resolutions that will make our lives better in 2008.
From quitting the cigarettes to making a promise to be nicer, to exercising a bit more to cutting out fatty food, we all make a wide range of resolutions for the new year.
Indeed, a healthier lifestyle is top of many people's agenda, with gyms bulging with people attempting to beat the bulge! But how long do they last, these resolutions? A good intention is after all just that. Some peter out after just a few days, while others may last a few weeks, with only the minority becoming part of everyday life.
The tradition of the New Year's resolutions, according to some sources, goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Then, Janus, a mythical king of early Rome, was placed at the head of the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future.
The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the figure of Janus became more common New Year's gifts.
The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar.
In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus. Then they changed it to March 25, a holy day called the Annunciation. In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.
The Julian and Gregorian calendars are solar calendars. Some cultures have lunar calendars, however. A year in a lunar calendar is less than 365 days because the months are based on the phases of the moon. The Chinese use a lunar calendar. Their new year begins at the time of the first full moon (over the Far East) after the sun enters Aquarius- sometime between January 19 and February 21.
Although the date for New Year's Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year.
The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4,000 years ago. In the years around 2,000 BC, Babylonians celebrated the beginning of a new year on what is now March 23, although they themselves had no written calendar.
Late March, actually is a logical choice for the beginning of a new year. It is the time of year that Spring begins and new crops are planted. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.
The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison. Well 2008 is not that quite long, but being a leap year, we do have one more day to look forward to in the forthcoming year.
