January 2025  by Ranger Vickie Eggert 

Did you ever wonder why we celebrate New Years Day on January 1st? There were a few different dates used to celebrate the new year before we finally settled on the first of January. 

Early New Year Celebrations

Going back to ancient times, people considered various times of the year more important than others. For example, harvest time to ensure there was going to be food for the winter or times when the moon is full or the sun's position in relation to the Earth.  

In ancient Egypt, the new year was celebrated during the summer when the Nile River flooded. These floods occurred regularly and were vital to people's survival in this desert area. 

The Roman Calendar and the Birth of January 1st

In ancient Rome, the calendar was said to have been created by Romulus (founder of Rome) in the 8th century BC. It was 10 months long and had a total of 304 days. Their new year began at the vernal equinox (a day, usually in March, where there is equal amounts of daylight and darkness).  Since the actual year is 365.2425 days, this calendar became inaccurate over time.    

In 46 BC, the Roman leader Julius Caesar introduced a new calendar called the Julian calendar. It started on January 1st in honor of the Roman god Janus, the god of new beginnings, who had two faces which allowed him to look back into the past and forward into the future. It has 365 days and an additional day every 4 years. This made the days of the year average 365.25. This is more accurate, but there was another reform made during the Middle Ages. Their more accurate calendar, called the Gregorian calendar, is the one we use today. 

New Year’s Celebrations Around the World

So, how do people celebrate? Ancient Romans had festivities and celebrations for their god, Janus. The ancient Babylonians celebrated for 12 days, taking this opportunity to further express their loyalties to the king as well.  

Today, people everywhere make a new year's resolution (this tradition is said to have started 4,000 years ago with the Babylonians as they made promises to the gods and king during the festival of Akitu). 

Here in the US, we celebrate by eating, drinking and going to parties. Watching the ball drop in New York City and setting off fireworks are also New Year’s staples. 

Here is a sampling of some of the ways other people ring in the new year: 

• In Spain, people eat 12 grapes- one for each bell sounded at midnight. 
• In Scotland, they observe something called first footing. This means the first person who enters your house on New Year's Day should be a dark-haired male if you wish to have good luck in the coming year. Traditionally, these men also bear gifts for good fortune. 
• In Russia, people write down their wishes on a piece of paper, burn it with a candle and drink the ashes of the paper in a glass of champagne. 
•  In Brazil in addition to beach parties and fireworks, it is common for people to dress in white and make offerings of white flowers and other small items to Yemoja, a water deity who controls the seas, for blessings in the coming year.  
• Greeks will hang onions, a symbol of rebirth, on their doors to promote growth throughout the new year.  
• In Chile, people to sit with their deceased family members in the cemetery and include them in the New Year's Eve festivities. 
• In Denmark, people throw dishes at the door. It is said that the bigger your pile of broken dishes, the more luck you will have in the upcoming year. 
• In Ecuador people light bonfires and burn effigies representing the old year, cleansing the world of all the bad things from the last year.  

Predicting the Future

There are many people who wish to predict the future or improve their luck, fortune, and prosperity in the upcoming year as well. Some methods are:  

In Germany, people participate in an activity known as lead pouring. Using the flames from a candle, each person melts a small piece of lead and pours it into a container of cold water. The shape that the lead forms is said to reveal a person's fate for the year ahead. And in the Czech Republic, an apple is cut, the core revealing the fate of the people at the party. In Greece, a pomegranate is broken open and the seeds reveal the fate. 

And speaking of fruit, the people in the Philippines serve round fruits representing fortune and prosperity. 

These are just a few of the interesting ways different people celebrate the new year, pray for good fortune and use different ways to make their luck better and be more prosperous. 

A Local New Year’s Celebration

Locally, we rangers in the park know that January 1st is one of our busier days as many visitors start the New Year enjoying nature with a healthy hike or walk at Sycamore Grove.  

However you choose to celebrate the New Year, have fun!  

Cheers from the Sycamore Grove Ranger staff!