New Year, the time of rebirth, is the oldest of all holidays, originating in ancient Babylon around 4000 years ago. Originally it was believed to have been celebrated on March 15th, but Julius Ceasar declared om 46 B.B.,  that New Year’s Day would be celebrated on January 1st.

New Year Resolution
This is a tradition that is believed to have begun in ancient Babylon. The Babylonian’s favourite New Year resolution was to return borrowed farm tools.

Every year thousands farewell the old year with a wide variety of promises. One has to wonder though, why bother.  These are the most breakable promises ever made. Come the end of January most people don’t even remember what their New Year resolution was.

Many of the traditions surrounding the festivity, have grown out of fear and custom celebrations.  Perhaps the most common tradition causes people to be ultra careful what they do on the first day of the New Year. This is said to set the scene for what you will happen for the rest of the year. It is for this reason they gather together with friends at midnight, celebrating the first few moments o f the incoming year together.

United States of America:
The first ball to be dropped in New York Times Square, was dropped in 1907 and was made of iron and wood. Thousands gather every New Year’s eve to watch the one-minute descent. The current ball weighs 1,070 pounds, with a six foot diameter. It is made up of Waterford Crystal, making it the largest crystal ball in the world. Wouldn’t everyone like to know what the crystal ball beholds this year for a troubled world?

Auld Lang Syne
Auld Lang Syne, sung in nearly every English speaking country in the world, is the song with the most forgettable lyrics in the world. Though even if you know the lyrics, do you know their meaning:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne.

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup of kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp,
And surely I’ll be mine,
And we’ll tak a cup o kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit,
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin auld lang syne.

And there’s a hand my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o thine,
And we’ll tak a right guid-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.

It was first published by Robert Burns in 1796, but it was not his song. He published after hearing an old Scottish man sing it.

The song was made popular by Guy Lombardo. Now if you want to really taste tradition, go to the Warldorf Astoria, New York and sing Auld Lang Syne. Lombardo’s version of the song was played there every New Year’s eve from 1930 to 1976. This also included the tumultuous years of the Second World War.

Greek Traditions:
In Greece a baby in a basket is used to symbolize the annual rebirth. A baby is still seen on Greek New Year banners.

Japanese Tradition:
The –forget-the-year party appears to have originated in Japan.  All misunderstandings and grudges are forgiven and the homes scrubbed from top to bottom, alongside sending New Year cards.

Netherlands Traditions:
The tradition of bonfires found its home in the Netherlands, where the flames purge the old and welcome the new.

Chinese Traditions:
The fireworks home of course is China, where they are designed to chase away the demons and bring good luck. Wander around China on Chinese New Year, (February) and you can’t tell the difference between gun fire and fireworks that continuously crack around the neighbourhoods. Another Chinese tradition is to buy new furniture at New Year. Looking for that new lounge suite, then just take a trip around the suburbs at New Year and help yourself. Old furniture is placed on the footpath, for someone else to pick up their ‘new’ piece for free.

Spanish Traditions:
The Spanish believe that if they eat 12 grapes at midnight, they will have happy months in the coming year.

English Traditions:
While in some parts of England it was believed that you had one prosperous month for every different Christmas cake you were given to eat. Perhaps the Queen should eat more Christmas cakes in an attempt to do away with her “Annus horribilus”.

We have only touched on just a few of the world-wide traditions of New Year. There are a lot of other Blue Moon Opportunities, like New Year traditions, that come our way only once every so often. Take time out to take a look at one that could completely change your life at Win A Resort.

This ticket was posted on Sunday, December 28th, 2008 at 4:17 pm and is filed under general. You can follow any responses to this ticket through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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