New Year - The real reason we pop our corks !
On New Year's Eve are you ready to get insane ? Ready to sink 43 beers or wine cask of Lambrusco, come on to your sister in law and pass out in a garden bed ? Me too.With this most joyous time of rest and recreation again upon us, itseems only fitting to ponder the history of New Year's Eve and to remember that, as with so many things in life, it all comes down to a penis. Not just any penis mind you, but Jesus Christ's penis.
Yes it is true that the ancient Babylonian's celebrated New Year's Eve as far back as 2000 B.C. but their revelry was centered on the first new moon after the vernal equinox- the first day of the nothern spring. And yes it is true that the ancient Romans celebrated New Year's Eve but their festivities focused on March, the first month of the Roman calander. In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar changed the Roman New Year's Day to 1 January in honour of Janus, the God af all beginnings and gatekeeper of heaven and earth.
Janus was always depicted with two faces, one looking to the past and one looking to the future. But New Year's Eve still lacked a deeper purpose and the reason for being, some overarching theme that would invest the occasion with genuine gravitos and a sense of history.
Enter the Holy member Jesus Christ, as you may be aware, was born on 25 December according to Jewish tradition, his circumcision would have taken place on the eight day of his life, in other words 1 January. Having a perfect stranger slash off his foreskin with a piece of broken crockery probably wouldn't have struck the infant Jesus as a cause for celebration but the wider church community has, nonetheless, found in this a real reason to whoop it up, celebrating the Feast of Circumcision of Christ on 1 January.
But curiously enough, it wasn't always so. The ancient Romans initially choose to celebrate the New Year by being boring, with a day of prayer and fasting, making resolutions and talking to each other. So where did we get the tequila slammers and naked pool parties ? Well, it appears that somewhere along the line the Romans reverted to type and broke out the party togas, moving away from piety and moving into their better known Bacchanalian excesses. The only vestige of righteousness is in the modern habit of making New Year's resolutions.
Since ancient times the question "What are you doing New Years Eve ?" has been met with the answer "Dunno". And here we come to the crux of the New Year's Eve problem, The compulsion to have a great time, you must, have fun. But such expectation is the kiss of death for fun. The Scots fire a cannon, Spaniards eat twelve grapes, Filipinos throw coins, Lebanese fire assault rifles, Japanese clean their homes in preparation for toshigami, the New Year's Eve God. With the possible exception of that last one, all of these are great suggestions so have a great night and a happy, healthy and motivated 2009....
Yes it is true that the ancient Babylonian's celebrated New Year's Eve as far back as 2000 B.C. but their revelry was centered on the first new moon after the vernal equinox- the first day of the nothern spring. And yes it is true that the ancient Romans celebrated New Year's Eve but their festivities focused on March, the first month of the Roman calander. In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar changed the Roman New Year's Day to 1 January in honour of Janus, the God af all beginnings and gatekeeper of heaven and earth.
Janus was always depicted with two faces, one looking to the past and one looking to the future. But New Year's Eve still lacked a deeper purpose and the reason for being, some overarching theme that would invest the occasion with genuine gravitos and a sense of history.
Enter the Holy member Jesus Christ, as you may be aware, was born on 25 December according to Jewish tradition, his circumcision would have taken place on the eight day of his life, in other words 1 January. Having a perfect stranger slash off his foreskin with a piece of broken crockery probably wouldn't have struck the infant Jesus as a cause for celebration but the wider church community has, nonetheless, found in this a real reason to whoop it up, celebrating the Feast of Circumcision of Christ on 1 January.
But curiously enough, it wasn't always so. The ancient Romans initially choose to celebrate the New Year by being boring, with a day of prayer and fasting, making resolutions and talking to each other. So where did we get the tequila slammers and naked pool parties ? Well, it appears that somewhere along the line the Romans reverted to type and broke out the party togas, moving away from piety and moving into their better known Bacchanalian excesses. The only vestige of righteousness is in the modern habit of making New Year's resolutions.
Since ancient times the question "What are you doing New Years Eve ?" has been met with the answer "Dunno". And here we come to the crux of the New Year's Eve problem, The compulsion to have a great time, you must, have fun. But such expectation is the kiss of death for fun. The Scots fire a cannon, Spaniards eat twelve grapes, Filipinos throw coins, Lebanese fire assault rifles, Japanese clean their homes in preparation for toshigami, the New Year's Eve God. With the possible exception of that last one, all of these are great suggestions so have a great night and a happy, healthy and motivated 2009....