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poliphiloHow come January 1st got fixed upon as New Year's Day? It's not as though it coincides with any significant astronomical marker- like a solstice- or commemorates an important historical event. I asked Wikipedia for clarification. Wikipedia didn't know. It mumbled something about it having been the day the Romans elected their magistrates. And why did the Romans elect their magistrates on January 1? Ahem. Well, they just did.
New Years Day has been celebrated on various different dates in various different places- and still is. Our current local calendar- named for Pope Gregory the thingummywhatsit- wasn't adopted until the 17th century. Slippery customer, Time; all our attempts to peg it down are a bit make do and mend. Leap years for instance- they're not an elegant solution. But then neither were the intercalary months of the old Julian calendar.
January is under the tutelage of Janus- the Roman God of doorways and beginnings and endings and all that sort of thing. He has two faces- one looking back and one looking forward, which means he has all round vision- as a God should. Perhaps the association of the month with this particular god is why it got shuffled to the start of the year. But, then again, perhaps not. According to something I read, again in Wikipedia, the month's original patron was Juno- the Great Mother. The more you trowel about in the dust the more you find that almost everything about the human past is contentious. I mean, if we can't be sure who killed Kennedy how can we possibly know what was going on in the minds of a bunch of Romans three thousand years ago? Actually, perhaps they weren't in agreement. Perhaps some of them thought January was all about Juno and some thought it was all about Janus- and some just weren't sure.
New Years Day has been celebrated on various different dates in various different places- and still is. Our current local calendar- named for Pope Gregory the thingummywhatsit- wasn't adopted until the 17th century. Slippery customer, Time; all our attempts to peg it down are a bit make do and mend. Leap years for instance- they're not an elegant solution. But then neither were the intercalary months of the old Julian calendar.
January is under the tutelage of Janus- the Roman God of doorways and beginnings and endings and all that sort of thing. He has two faces- one looking back and one looking forward, which means he has all round vision- as a God should. Perhaps the association of the month with this particular god is why it got shuffled to the start of the year. But, then again, perhaps not. According to something I read, again in Wikipedia, the month's original patron was Juno- the Great Mother. The more you trowel about in the dust the more you find that almost everything about the human past is contentious. I mean, if we can't be sure who killed Kennedy how can we possibly know what was going on in the minds of a bunch of Romans three thousand years ago? Actually, perhaps they weren't in agreement. Perhaps some of them thought January was all about Juno and some thought it was all about Janus- and some just weren't sure.
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Date: 2019-01-01 01:41 pm (UTC)The financial year beginning in April is a reminder that 'twas not always so.
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Date: 2019-01-01 03:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-02 12:03 am (UTC)The whole thing with calendars and time measurement always reminds me of a favorite passage from Peter S. Beagle's book The Last Unicorn, about how people live in what they believe are solid houses made up of bricks that are days and minutes and seconds. In these houses they look for the door, and never realize they could just walk out through the walls.
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Date: 2019-01-02 09:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-03 03:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2019-01-04 06:10 am (UTC)As for January 1st as the start of the year, well... I don't care much. This year I was once again forced to go to a large party, though I'd have been much happier with a quiet evening with my cat. But my boyfriend didn't want to stay at home with me, so I went and had too much Champagne, smoked cigars and sang along to the Royal Anthem at midnight. It's a bit like birthdays; I don't REALLY think the anniversary of me coming into this world is all that important. These dates are just days.
With that said, I hope 2019 finds you as well as can be. Life's never perfect, but I hope it's "good enough".
no subject
Date: 2019-01-04 09:26 am (UTC)I wish you the same....