The morning here is dull and grey, the weather unseasonably warm, the merest breath of wind disturbs the bare trees, the final sunrise of the calendar year of 2018 has dawned, the end of the Year as measured by the Gregorian Calendar has now arrived. It is a day when many will be seeking to go out and celebrate; pubs and clubs will be packed out tonight, restaurants booked solid months in advance, officially organised firework shows will be burning much needed public money for nothing more than a few moments of goodwill – at the expense of our animals whom will cower in terror at the noise – and of course there will be private New Year’s Eve parties aplenty, occurring all across this land of ours….
For most it is yet another seasonal excuse to indulge in drunken excesses, another chance to show off, and perhaps another day of rising debt in the name of nothing more than keeping up with the ‘Joneses’ – if that is your thing then I wish you well, but for me those days are long past – for others it may involve something more traditional, a little lower key perhaps, and for some it will include all of the above…
I have no problem with how folks choose to live their lives – we each have to walk the path before us as we see fit – nor do I have a problem with celebration per se, it is good to have an occasional blow out, to do something out of the norm, the memories of which will stay with us long after the event, but I do have issue with the forced joviality and excess of this night, the overhyped prices, and the expectation that to enjoy yourself you have to become completely inebriated on this one last night of the year – especially as this is a night that until 1752 was not actually celebrated as New Year’s Eve at all….
The celebration of January the 1st as New Year’s Day originates with the Romans, in 153BC it was adopted as the start of the New Year as being the first day the Senate convened and officials took up their new positions, and this date continued to be followed with the adoption of the Julian Calendar in 45BC. In the 4th Century CE after the Romans left the UK and with the Anglo Saxon migrations and a return – in the main – to paganism, then March the 25th – or Lady Day – was celebrated as the beginning of the New Year both here and across large parts of Europe, a time when the ‘Thyng’s’ would happen – assemblies of the people to discuss and decide all points of Law, resolve disputes and literally talk about ‘things’…
Officially this lasted until William the Conqueror decreed in 1066 that January the 1st was to become New Years Day, but the date of the 1st January was not widely acknowledged or celebrated as such in England until 1752 when Parliament passed the ‘Calendar (New Style) Act’ in 1750 – Scotland adopted January the 1st in 1600). The existence of March 25th as New Year can still be evidenced in the modern UK Tax Year, which begins on the 6th April (March 25th + 12 days – the missing days removed to re-synchronise the calendars at the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752).
Of course, depending on your culture there are many alternative dates for the New Year, within the pagan community it is widely understood that Samhain on the 31st October is the start of the New Year, in China the New Year is based on a Lunar Cycle and linked to Spring, so the exact date varies each year, sometime in January or February, other Asian cultures celebrate anytime from January until Autumn, Rosh Hashanah – Head of the Year – is celebrated by Jewish people in Autumn and the Islamic New Year – based on a 12 month Lunar calendar – moves forwards 11 days every year, so there can be 2 Islamic New Years within the Gregorian Calendric Year…
So, knowing that the actual date of celebrating New Years at the end of December is actually no older than 266 years in England – or 418 years in Scotland – does this negate our celebrations? Not at all, but it does give us cause to understand that all calendrical dates are merely arbitrary, a man made and imposed system of notation to allow us to book-keep and to plan ahead, and for Pagans and those who seek to follow a more natural Calendar it should perhaps make us look for other markers as to why we celebrate certain things at certain times of the year, perhaps instead of looking at the actual arbitrary date it is assigned within the modern calendar we should instead look towards a physical marker for the timings of our festivals – whatever they are and however we choose to celebrate them…
So, what Physical markers could we seek in order to time our chosen Festivals? This is pure conjecture on my own part, but I would hope food for thought for those who walk their own paths, perhaps something to look at both within your own cultural folklore and also to the timings of your own celebrations; truly depending on the choice of festival we seek to celebrate there are myriad, from animal and plant occurrences – Candlemas/Imbolc from Lambing time and the flowering of the Snowdrops, Ostara / Lady Day from the flowering of the Daffodils, Beltane from the flowering of the Hawthorn – through to astronomical events – such as Solstice, Equinox, certain constellations and stars returning to the night sky and the Meteor showers that occur at specific times of year – and then to more local natural events – such as first frost for Samhain and the harvesting of wheat at Lammas, etc…Food for future thought and perhaps the subject for a future post to explore these avenues, however we digress…
What then of the Traditions associated with New Year, here in the northern part of the UK we have ‘First Footing’, and there is also the tradition of making New Year’s Resolutions… I shall explore both below…
First Footing
In the North of England is a tradition that is shared with our Scot’s neighbours and almost certainly originated from the Norse Cultures in the 8th and 9th CE. From my own childhood I remember that my Father – he was both tall and dark, both prerequisites for the best of luck to be brought in – had to leave the house before midnight through the back door, and he would then knock on the front door at midnight and step in, bringing in with him coal, bread, a silver coin and also the ‘luck’ for the New Year, to be greeted with a dram of Whisky and a mince pie…
This is a tradition my husband’s family also shared – despite being the other side of the country from us – seeing out the Old Year through the back door and bringing in the New Year through the front – and it appears is quite widespread throughout the North and Midlands of England; perhaps it is a remnant of something more, a genetic memory of something considered important to our Ancestors, of what once happened and something that we can easily build upon to recreate something of the original blessings that would have been shared…
If we look to what would have mattered to our distant Ancestors, then we can see the bare bones of a First Footing Rite that could be recreated, what we now take for granted – warmth, light, food, shelter, community – is something they would have had to strive hard to provide for themselves, shelter would not be something that was freely available to all – either through work or through welfare like we now have available – but would have to be earned, through hard work to secure the materials and then building it, something beyond most individuals and families, hence why the immediate community you lived within was so important, people helped one another as a matter of course, it was a basic survival strategy, and one as a society that we now seem hell bent on ignoring.
So it would make sense that the blessings most important to our Ancestors would be the ones reflected in the traditions of First Footing, gifts of coal (warmth), of food (bread), of silver coin (money) and of good luck to be greeted with food and drink – a representation of welcome from the Companie – perhaps they would also add in salt, fire, clothing and a twig of evergreen – we would perhaps think that salt was there that your life would always have seasoning and flavour, but actually it was a much needed preservative, without which meat could not be stored for any length of time; fire as both warmth and light; clothing speaks for itself and a twig of evergreen for the return of new life in the spring, symbolic at the darkest time of year – perhaps if mistletoe was used it would hold a dual significance, as both evergreen and a symbol of love that your life would be filled with both love and fertility… Again food for thought…..
New Year’s Resolutions
Ancient Babylonians made oaths to their Gods to pay their debts and return any borrowed possessions at the start of a New Year, Romans began each year by making promises to Janus – after whom January is named – and Medieval Knights took their Peacock Vows at the end of Christmas to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry; Christians also made vows of self-improvement at New Years Eve Watchnight Services; all of these are believed to have contributed to the modern tradition of making resolutions at New Year, basically a vow or oath freely given to improve oneself throughout the coming year.
For most these are something not to be taken seriously, the majority of oaths and vows given are unachievable and unrealistic, many false promises are made to ‘get fit’ and to ‘go to the gym 3 times a week for the year’, or to ‘sort out my finances’; and yet, how likely is it that if you have not done those things before that you will do so moving forwards? Instead of setting such open ended and challenging goals better to set yourself smaller more manageable ones…
If we are serious about our Path, committed to following it and to becoming a better person than we were, then perhaps we should look to making resolutions that are linked both to our Path and also that are achievable. Recently as part of a friend’s Solstice Celebrations we took part in a “Sumbel” – a formal toast / oath / boast drinking Rite, where a horn of mead is passed around the table and all present have to stand and make first a toast, then on the second time the horn passed around the table an Oath and finally on the third pass a Boast – a raucous, thoughtful, hilarious and wonderful Rite, that afforded all great mirth, companie and understanding of one another…
The Oaths given came from the heart, had personal meaning and I am sure will be kept… Perhaps a way to incorporate your New Years Resolutions into your Craft?
Anyhows, however you choose to celebrate – or not – this Roman Gregorian Calendrical New Year of 2019 I wish you all you wish for yourself for the coming Calendar Year, may your Eve be filled with laughter, with companie and with love, and the coming year bring blessings aplenty upon your Path, may you ever receive what you need…
fff
Breacca
Hearth of Albion 
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