TIME TRAVEL
ARE YOU READY? The Canteen is about to embark on another journey….this time a little back and a little forward in time.
If you're brave enough, climb aboard, no ticket required……we're about to take off.
Come on, hop in, watch your step ...... The controls are set.
Here we are - Tonight we’ll be celebrating the ending of one year and the beginning of a new one. So, let’s ring in the New Year at the Canteen
Things you’ve always wanted to know about New Year’s, but were afraid to ask.
New Year's Eve is the last day of the calendar year, or December 31 in the Gregorian calendar. Since most of the world uses this calendar, New Year's Eve is celebrated around the globe. Celebrations on this night typically include going to parties or gathering in public places.
One of the most famous gatherings occurs at Times Square in New York City. At 11:59:00 p.m., a six-foot shimmering ball (actually an apple) is lowered 70 feet in sixty seconds. When the apple reaches it destination at midnight, bells ring, confetti is tossed, and everyone shouts "Happy New Year!" This tradition began in 1907 after New York City outlawed firecrackers for New Year's Eve. The lowering of the ball is followed by the singing of Auld Lang Syne and drinking a toast to the new year.
Not all countries celebrate New Year at the same time, nor in the same way. This is because people in different parts of the world use different calendars. Long ago, people divided time into days, months, and years. Some calendars are based on the movement of the moon, others are based on the position of the sun, while others are based on both the sun and the moon. All over the world, there are special beliefs about New Year.
Long Ago Festivals
Ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt, New Year was celebrated at the time the River Nile flooded, which was near the end of September. The flooding of the Nile was very important because without it, the people would not have been able to grow crops in the dry desert. At New Year, statues of the god, Amon and his wife and son were taken up the Nile by boat. Singing, dancing, and feasting was done for a month, and then the statues were taken back to the temple.
Babylonia
Babylonia lay in what is now the country of Iraq. Their New Year was in the Spring. During the festival, the king was stripped of his clothes and sent away, and for a few days everyone could do just what they liked. Then the king returned in a grand procession, dressed in fine robes. Then, everyone had to return to work and behave properly. Thus, each New Year, the people made a new start to their lives.
The Romans
For a long time the Romans celebrated New Year on the first of March. Then, in 46 BC, the Emperor Julius Caesar began a new calendar. It was the calendar that we still use today, and thus the New Year date was changed to the first day of January. January is named after the Roman god Janus, who was always shown as having two heads. He looked back to the last year and forward to the new one.
The Roman New Year festival was called the Calends, and people decorated their homes and gave each other gifts. Slaves and their masters ate and drank together, and people could do what they wanted to for a few days.
The Celts
The Celts were the people who lived in Gaul, now called France, and parts of Britain before the Romans arrived there. Their New Year festival was called Samhain. It took place at the end of October, and Samhain means 'summer's end'.
At Samhain, the Celts gathered mistletoe to keep ghosts away, because they believed this was the time when the ghosts of the dead returned to haunt the living.
Jewish New Year
The Jewish New Year is called Rosh Hashanah. It is a holy time when people think of the things they have done wrong in the past, and they promise to do better in the future. Special services are held in synagogues, and an instrument called a Shofar, which is made from a ram's horn is played. Children are given new clothes, and New Year loaves are baked and fruit is eaten to remind people of harvest time.
New Year in the West
New Year's Day processions with decorated floats and bands are a part of New Year, and football is also played all over the United States on New Year's Day.
In Europe, New Year was often a time for superstition and fortune-telling, and in some parts of Switzerland and Austria, people dress up to celebrate Saint Sylvester's Eve.
In AD 314, there was a Pope called Saint Sylvester, and people believed that he captured a terrible sea monster. It was thought that in the year 1000, this sea monster would escape and destroy the world, but since it didn't happen, the people were delighted. Since then, in parts of Austria and Switzerland, this story is remembered at New Year, and people dress up in fantastic costumes, and are called Sylvesterklauses.
In Greece, New Year's Day is also the Festival of Saint Basil. Saint Basil was famous for his kindness, and Greek children leave their shoes by the fire on New Year's Day with the hope that he will come and fill the shoes with gifts.
In Scotland, New Year is called Hogmanay, and in some villages barrels of tar are set alight and rolled through the streets. Thus, the old year is burned up and the new one allowed to enter.
Scottish people believe that the first person to enter your house in the New Year will bring good or bad luck, and it is very good luck if the visitor is a dark-haired man bringing a gift. This custom is called first-footing.
TRADITIONS
On New Year's Eve, many people hold parties which last until late into the night. It is traditional to greet the new year at midnight and celebrate the first minutes of the year in the company of friends and family. People may dance, sing, and drink a toast to the year ahead. After the celebrations, it is time to make new year resolutions, and these are a list of decisions about how to live in the coming year. Horns are blown at midnight, and people hug and kiss to begin the new year with much love and happiness.
In British Columbia, Canada, there is the traditional polar bear swim. People of all ages put on their bathing suits, and plunge into the icy cold water which surrounds Vancouver during the winter.
(((Ma))) are you in there?
For your reading pleasure, check here
That's the end of the ride today. I hope you enjoyed this special.
Final note: All information found freely on the Internet.
Footnote: There is a two drink maximum at the Canteen. FReepers do not let FReepers drink and FReep. Leave your keys at the door. Do you know what time it is? Do you know where you are? Do you know where your ride is? Do you know how to get home? If you answered yes to all of the above, you may not be drunk, yet.
