A goal of this blog is to get people to break out of patterns of thinking so they can see the world or some portion of the world differently. To step back and recognize '"truths" they believe as actually just one way of knowing the world.
So New Years Day seems a good time to meddle with our concept of being in 2022. Because for Jews New Years happened several months ago and it is 5782. For Chinese, New Year is a month off and it will be 4730. For Thais the New Year will begin in Aril and they will usher in the year 2565.
It's good to have rituals around time. They help us step back and think about what we've done over a period of time. Teaching is a great profession because you get to start fresh with each semester - it's not just one continuous long slog. Birthdays help us reflect as do anniversaries. Or the changing seasons.
But it's also important to remember how arbitrary the numbers can be. There is some connection to the natural world. 365 days is close to how long it takes the earth to revolve around the sun. But other cultures pin their years to the moon. But much about time is a human decision about how things should be.
Calendars Through The Ages tells us:
Before today’s Gregorian calendar was adopted, the older Julian calendar was used. It was admirably close to the actual length of the year, as it turns out, but the Julian calendar was not so perfect that it didn’t slowly shift off track over the following centuries. But, hundreds of years later, monks were the only ones with any free time for scholarly pursuits – and they were discouraged from thinking about the matter of "secular time" for any reason beyond figuring out when to observe Easter. In the Middle Ages, the study of the measure of time was first viewed as prying too deeply into God’s own affairs – and later thought of as a lowly, mechanical study, unworthy of serious contemplation.
As a result, it wasn’t until 1582, by which time Caesar’s calendar had drifted a full 10 days off course, that Pope Gregory XIII (1502 - 1585) finally reformed the Julian calendar. Ironically, by the time the Catholic church buckled under the weight of the scientific reasoning that pointed out the error, it had lost much of its power to implement the fix. Protestant tract writers responded to Gregory’s calendar by calling him the "Roman Antichrist" and claiming that its real purpose was to keep true Christians from worshiping on the correct days. The "new" calendar, as we know it today, was not adopted uniformly across Europe until well into the 18th century.
The same site tells us about the beginning of counting the years.
"Was Jesus born in the year 0?
No.
There are two reasons for this:
There is no year 0.
Jesus was born before 4 B.C.E.
The concept of a year "zero" is a modern myth (but a very popular one). In our calendar, C.E. 1 follows immediately after 1 B.C.E. with no intervening year zero. So a person who was born in 10 B.C.E. and died in C.E. 10, would have died at the age of 19, not 20.
Furthermore, as described in section 2.14, our year reckoning was established by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century. Dionysius let the year C.E. 1 start one week after what he believed to be Jesus’ birthday. But Dionysius’ calculations were wrong. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus was born under the reign of king Herod the Great, who died in 4 B.C.E.. It is likely that Jesus was actually born around 7 B.C.E.. The date of his birth is unknown; it may or may not be 25 December."
I'd note for those Christians who feel they are discriminated against, most of the world uses the Western calendar that is roughly based on the birth of Christ. Even if they also have calendars based on other events.
Let's look at some other New Years from different cultures.
"One of the most celebrated Indian New Year is 'Diwali' ', which means 'the celebration of lights'. Deepavali symbolize the starting of the Hindu New Year which is generally the main holiday of India. This festival is celebrated in the month of Kartika, which generally falls in the October. Diwali is an holiday in India, Nepal, Guyana, Malaysia and Singapore. Even though, it is a Hindu festival and has deep Hindu mythology connected with its origin, people from different religions also celebrate Diwali. As the name implies, Diwali is celebrated with lights, lamps and fireworks. The main reason behind Diwali celebration is to get away of the evil, which is symbolized as darkness, and to follow the paths of virtue."
"Various eras are used for numbering the years; the most common are the Vikrami Era, beginning with the coronation of King Vikram-aditya in 57 BCE and the Shaka Era, counting from 78 CE. In rituals the priest often announces the dates according to KaliYuga, (see Kala: Time). For these three systems, the year 2000 corresponds to 2057, 1922, and 5102 respectively, though the last figure is subject to some debate."
"is known as Ugadi, which is derived from "Yuga Aadi" means New Age. According to the Hindu mythology Lord Brahma has created universe on Chaitra Shuddha Prathpade thus Telugu New Year is celebrated on Chaitra Shuddha Prathipade which is also first day of the lunar calendar. Telugu New Year is bright full moon day of the first month of spring."
Enkutatash – Ethiopian New Year!
"Every year on September 11, Ethiopians celebrate their New Year. The holiday is called “Enkutatash,” which literary means the “gift of jewels.” This naming came from the legendary visit of the Ethiopian Queen Sheba to that of King Solomon of Jerusalem back in 98 BC. During her visit, this famous queen of Ethiopia brought the king a collection of “jewels.” Upon her return home, the queen was restocked with a new supply of “enku” (jewels) for her treasury.
Ethiopians called the New Year “Enkutatash” because the period the queen arrived back to Ethiopia coincided with the New Year’s celebration in September. Celebrating the New Year in September, however, is originally connected to the Bible as it is the period that God created the Heavens and the Earth and so this period should be the beginning of a New Year."
Songkran - Thailand From a post I did in 2008 when we were living in Chiangmai.
Chiang Mai.com gives an overview of the holiday of Songkran (the link is no longer any good)
"The family sprinkling scented water from silver bowls on a Buddha image is a ritual practiced by all Thais in on the third day of Songkran, known as Wan Payawan. This is the first official day of the New Year and on this day people cleanse the Buddha images in their homes as well as in the temples with scented water. The family is dressed in traditional Thai costume and wearing leis of jasmine flower buds. The water is scented with the petals of this flower."
She knows I have a camera, so she's offering to douse me just a little bit. It ended up down my back. There are over three posts on our Songkran in Chiangmai.
And there's a Part 2 and Part 3 as well that go into different aspects of Songkran.
This year in Thailand the new year will be 2565
The Burmese New Year is related to the Thai New Year.
"Burma’s most important festival
Taking place from April 13 to 16 each year, the Buddhist festival of Thingyan is celebrated over four to five days, culminating on the Lunar New Year Day.
Water throwing is the distinguishing feature of this festival, and you’ll find people splashing water at each other almost everywhere in the country.
Thingyan traces its roots back to a Hindu myth. The King of Brahmas called Arsi, lost a wager to the King of Devas, Thagya Min, who decapitated Arsi. Miraculously, the head of an elephant was placed onto Arsi’s body, and he then became Ganesha.
The Hindu god was so powerful that if his head was thrown into the sea it would dry up immediately. If it were thrown onto land it would be scorched. If it were thrown up into the air the sky would burst into flames.
Thagya Min therefore ordained that Ganesha’s head be carried by one princess after another who took turns for a year each. The new year thus has come to signify the this annual change of hands."
Chinese New Year: (This is a great site, with almost everything you could want to know about Chinese New Year)
"Chinese New Year is celebrated by more than 20% of the world. It’s the most important holiday in China and to Chinese people all over. Here are 21 interesting facts that you probably didn’t know about Chinese New Year.
1. Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival
In China, you’ll hear it being called chunjie (春节), or the Spring Festival. It’s still very wintry, but the holiday marks the end of the coldest days. People welcome spring and what it brings along: planting and harvests, new beginnings and fresh starts."
This year it begins on February 1, 2022 and it will be the Year of the Tiger. It will be the year 4720.
Jewish New Year - The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are very holy days - time to reflect on one's failings and to ask for forgiveness from God and from those you have wronged. It's also a time to forgive those who have wronged you. It's currently the year 5782.
So let's not get so hung up on 2022. Today is just another day, following yesterday. Let's be sensible in dealing with COVID.
1. Let's work hard to preserve the US democracy - with time and with money. Write your members of Congress. Help those organizations fighting voter suppression. And figure out who is doing Stacy Abrams work in your state. And if nobody is, find some partners and do it yourself.
2. And let's also do everything we can to take national and world action to minimize the impacts of climate change. For that, I'd suggest connecting with Citizens Climate Lobby, the most focused and efficient organization I know of.
3. Be kind, but not a sucker. Know your power - don't underestimate it or overestimate it - and stand up to bullies when that's feasible and protect others who are targeted. Take a self defense class if you feel threatened. Our former president has given his followers to act on their worst impulses. But don't give up. The super power I wish on everyone is the power to make everyone around you feel loved.
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