De gamle havde en bedre forståelse af menneskelig psykologi, mener jeg i hvert fald. Indtil indførelsen af den gregorianske kalender (i Danmark 19. februar / 1. marts 1700) lå nytåret nemlig sådan, at nytårsdag var den 25 marts, Fruedag.
På dette tidspunkt er foråret i gang med at folde sig ud, vi har mere lyst til at komme ud, og lyset og solen giver os energi til at starte på noget nyt. Det var jo også her, man gjorde forårsrengøring før i tiden.
Nu har vi jo fået afskaffet Store Bededag, hvad så med at flytte nytåret til 24./25. marts som det næste projekt?
In days of old - in England until 1752 - New years day was Lady Day, March 25. I think this is a much better date for a new beginning, spring is really on its way, the days are longer as we're past equinox ...
Sorry to all Australians and other from the southern hemisphere, this is a Northern-hemisphere thing, but then your days never grow as short.
Lady day is much better. At this time of year, spring is unfolding, we feel more like getting out and about, and the light and sunshine energise us to start something new. After all, this is also when spring cleaning used to be done.In Denmark we just had one holiday abolished by law, I suggest that the next item on this list is the moving of New year's eve to March 24th.
What an interesting thought. Several of our holidays are on days I think are inappropriate, but I had never considered the New Year Condundrum before. And how I wish we celebrated the change of our seasons at the vortex rather than on the first day of the month in which that vortex falls.
SvarSletOne of the problem with the equinoxes/solstices are that they are on differnt days in different places. And on top of this I'm not so keen on celebrating the start of seasons according to a calendar, as I do not think it fits no matter when you put it. For me spring starts the day that smells and feels like spring. This year it was on equinox day, but it can happen before or after. Summer and autumn have no real start (or summer starts with the first ripe strawberry), winter starts with real frost or snowfall - sometimes this is not-this-year ;) And really, we need some extra seasons. I think six seasons would be the optimal number.
SvarSletIt's certainly worth trying. After all, the calendar is a construct of the culture, and as needs and culture change, it can change, too.
SvarSletThis is true, we can but hope. And sorry to have let you linger in spam prison.
SletImagine if we in Australia chose a spring day for New Year's Day? The world could celebrate twice, in March above the equator and in September below it. Things could get terribly mixed up for travellers, leaving home in one year and arriving somewhere in the year before.
SvarSletYes, that would be confusing :) But I suspect that dating was more fluid in days of yore, counting reigns of kings (like Japan still also do, it's now Reiwa 5), holidays, revelations, new moons and lots of other things as the start of the year - which also still happens worldwide (China, Egypt and Israel are examples of this).
SletWhat I suggest is not a new calendar, only a new day for celebrating the New year. Would you be opposed to an autumnal new years date if Lady day was reinstated? - for celebration only, not for the calendar change, as can be seen in my mock calendar above.
sorry for taking down and reposting - too many typos ;)