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Another fresh new year is here …
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest …
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!

Tis the dawning of a new year, and I am very excited about it! Can you feel it, dear reader? A new year filled with infinite possibilities and many beautiful blessings! I am certain that 2009 is going to be Glorious! We’ve done such wonderful work in the year past, and it is time to reflect back upon that which has been, give thanks for lessons learned, risks taken, goals achieved, and blessings bestowed upon us, while looking ahead to that which we shall create.

New Year’s is the oldest holiday ever celebrated, dating back 4,000 years ago to the ancient Babylonians. In the years around 2000 BCE, the Babylonian New Year began on the day of the first visible crescent Moon following the Vernal Equinox /first day of Spring. Symbolic of renewal/rebirth, this strikes me as a more logical time of year to celebrate, and thus I admire the countries/cultures which still do! After all, when Julius Caesar set us on the Julian Calendar, marking 1 January as the new year, he did so by letting the previous year run to 445 days rather than the traditional 365, plus leap year, and even then…

Cheers to most of India, where the New Year (Nava Varsha) is celebrated in March or April, just as in the most ancient civilizations! Sikhs celebrate Hola Mohalla in March, as is the Persian Nowruz. In China and Southeast Asia, Lunar New Year still has a floating date marked by the first day of the first lunar month.

I have celebrated new year’s in three different countries, the United States, Mexico, and the Netherlands, but all had a lot in common. For instance, in all three there was the tradition of noisemaking and fire. Noisemaking and fireworks on New Year’s eve is believed to have originated in ancient times, when noise and fire were thought to dispel evil spirits and bring good luck. There is also a tradition of burning away of the old/useless, still carried on today in most South American countries. It was my experience, both as a child growing up in Amsterdam, and as a young adult celebrating the festivity, that the Dutch take their fireworks to an extreme. Of course there was also the common element of partying and drinking, which also goes back to the Babylonians, and is still carried out across much of the globe.

In agrarian societies, foods were the most potent of all new year’s symbols, and that is still true today. After all, the new year celebration is an observance of Mother Earth’s ability to renew Herself, and giving thanks that She shall sustain us for another year. The Babylonian celebration, which lasted for eleven days, included a massive feast and the returning of borrowed farm equipment, which was important as it would soon be needed to work the fields. The Norse month-long Yule celebration concluded with a huge Viking feast! (I’m guessing they knew how to par-tay! *giggle*) Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck one would have throughout the coming year by what one did or ate on the first day of the year, and there are still many ‘lucky’ foods.

Lucky foods for New Year’s feasting

Avoid eating anything that moves backwards, such as chicken, turkey or lobster. You don’t want to start the year moving backwards. Many of the foods are round, symbolizing both wholeness/completion/coming full circle in the prior year, and luck/prosperity in the coming year.

*Black-eyed peas – A favourite for New Year, simmer them with hog jowls to make a dish called Hoppin John and eat with rice. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. They are round, symbolize coins, and future prosperity. An old saying goes, “Eat peas on New Year’s day to have plenty of everything the rest of the year.”

*Cabbage – Braised and buttered or used as a wrap, cabbage and collards are meant to resemble money and bring fortune in Denmark and the southern United States.

*Pork – Roasted is best and a symbol of prosperity. Pork is a staple of New Year’s dining in Austria, Germany, Portugal and Spain, plus any country any of them colonized (i.e. all of South America).

*Donuts – This one I know well! The Dutch eat donuts, called Ole Bollen, which literally translates to “balls of oil”, but are actually quite tasty! These little deep fried donuts traditionally contain candied fruit, and are rolled in powdered sugar after frying! YUM! New Year’s smell of hot oil and sugar is a dear memory for me!

*Fish – In China and northern and western Europe fish is traditional and a symbol of fertility. In Japan, eat herring roe.

*Jaiozi – These Chinese dumplings are sometimes made after supper to eat late in the evening. They symbolize wealth.

*Grapes – In Spain, Portugal, Italy, Mexico and South America 12 grapes (round) are eaten to ensure future prosperity. I did this the year I brought in the new year in Mexico! Fun! But, you have to eat one each as the church bells ring, attempting to eat the whole bunch by the time the clock stops chiming! Pop! Pop! Pop! 12 is a lot of grapes!! lol

*Philippines – New Year’s celebrations in places like Manila tend to be circular; Filipinos focus on all things round, consuming “round” fruits such as grapes and wearing clothing with round shapes like polka dots. The spherical theme is meant to remind celebrants of the “round” shape of coins and prosperity.

*Shortbread, oat cake, fruitcake – In Scotland these are given as gifts when first-footing, the custom of being first through the door in the new year. I have not eaten shortbread as a new year’s custom, but rather like the idea!

I shall partake in some reflection on the past, honouring the efforts I’ve made and goals I’ve reached, and give thanks for the blessings bestowed upon me throughout this year. The circle is complete and a new year begins. Tis a time of new beginnings and a glorious celebration of life, for which I shall give thanks. May hope, love, and warmth be in your heart, dear reader, and may the New Year bring you and yours many blessings.