Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

106 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
events for each of us and our friends, and may be celebrated quite lavishly—especially at the
culmination of each decade, with “the big 0.” And these are also excellent opportunities for
rituals of transition and transformation: celebrating another trip around the sun, looking
back over the past journey that has brought us this far, and envisioning our hopes for the
future. “What a long, strange trip it’s been!”
New Year’s Celebrations
Since 1582, when the Roman Julian calendar was switched over to the Gregorian, the Western
world has become used to celebrating January 1 as New Year’s Day, with December 31 as New
Year’s Eve. (January is named for the Etruscan Janus, god of all beginnings, portals, doorways,
and thresholds.) However, other cultures and religions designate the turning of the year on
different dates, calculated in different ways. The most common of these is Winter Solstice, which
occurs around December 20–22, and began the Roman Saturnalia—a week of intercalary revelry
“outside of time” before the onset of the new year. This is why the common representation of the
passing old year is Saturn, the Roman god of time, as the Grim Reaper, with scythe and hourglass.
Winter Solstice is most widely known as Yule, from the Norse word for “wheel.” Among the
Pueblo Indians of the Southwestern United States, this time is known as Soyal.
April Fool’s Day originated with a pre-Gregorian New Year celebration that was held
from Spring Equinox to April 1. When the new calendar, starting on January 1, replaced it,
people who continued to celebrate the traditional new year were, apparently, mocked and
teased and the subject of various humorous harassment.
Many peoples divided the solar year into two parts: winter and summer. The transitions
between these would then provide two “new years.” Among modern Pagans, the most commonly-observed
example of this custom is from the Celts, who marked the two “hinges” of
the year at Samhain (Hallowe’en) and Beltaine (May Day). As with all new year celebrations,
festivities begin on the evening before the first day of the new year, with nocturnal
rituals culminating at midnight, in which the “gate between the worlds” stands ajar, and
spirits may pass from one realm to another. Spirits of the ancestors and beloved dead are
welcomed and invited to the feast, but malicious spirits must be kept at bay.
But by far the majority of ancient calendars were not solar, but were (and are) based on
a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle, as I mentioned above, is about
29 and one-half days. In order to catch up with the solar calendar, peoples using a lunar
calendar have to insert the equivalent of an extra month every seven years in a nineteen-year
cycle. This is the same as solar calendars adding an extra day on leap year. And this is why
the Chinese, Jewish, Moslem, Hindu, and many other new year celebrations fall on a different
date each solar year. Here are a few of these:
Chinese New Year starts with the new moon on the first day of the new year and ends
on the full moon fifteen days later. The exact date can fall anytime between January 21 and
February 21. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, celebrated at night
with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade. New Year’s Eve and New
Year’s Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. Traditionally,
the celebration is highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of heaven and Earth,
the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah (“Head of the Year”). This celebration occurs
163 days following Pesach (Passover). It begins the month of Tishri, and falls between
the Gregorian dates of September 5 and October 5. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the
anniversary of Creation, when Jahveh opens the Book of Life and decides the fate of his
creatures for the coming year. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, celebrants prepare for this judgment
by bathing, receiving haircuts, donning special clothes, and giving treats to children.
The Islamic New Year (Maal Hijra) is celebrated on the first day of Muharram, the first
Islamic month. Compared to Western calendars, the Islamic year goes 11 days backwards every