What if Spring marked the new year

Xen

Banned
Different cultures, and different customs celebrate the new year at various times, what if in the west, we celebrated New Years in the spring? Perhaps every March 21 the western world celebrates the new year with the changing of the seasons! It kind of makes sense when one thinks about it, Spring represents the renewal of life, so how would this effect the development of the western world?
 

Ghost 88

Xen said:
Different cultures, and different customs celebrate the new year at various times, what if in the west, we celebrated New Years in the spring? Perhaps every March 21 the western world celebrates the new year with the changing of the seasons! It kind of makes sense when one thinks about it, Spring represents the renewal of life, so how would this effect the development of the western world?
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I see this having little if any effect.
 

Keenir

Banned
Xen said:
Different cultures, and different customs celebrate the new year at various times, what if in the west, we celebrated New Years in the spring? Perhaps every March 21 the western world celebrates the new year with the changing of the seasons! It kind of makes sense when one thinks about it, Spring represents the renewal of life, so how would this effect the development of the western world?
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New Years is Easter.

that's it.
 

Peter Cowan

In England, New Year used to be March 25th and, surprisingly, this still has effects today. The fiscal year ran from 25/3 to 24/5 of the following year. When the Gregorian calendar was adopted this meant some calendar changes. As a result the fiscal year was rebased to 6/4 to 5/4 of the following year. That way the revenue did not lose any income from the "missing" days keeping to a 365 fiscal year while everyone else had a 353 day year. To this day, the UK tax year runs from April 6th to April 5th. Isn't tradition wonderful ?
 

Wendell

Peter Cowan said:
In England, New Year used to be March 25th and, surprisingly, this still has effects today. The fiscal year ran from 25/3 to 24/5 of the following year. When the Gregorian calendar was adopted this meant some calendar changes. As a result the fiscal year was rebased to 6/4 to 5/4 of the following year. That way the revenue did not lose any income from the "missing" days keeping to a 365 fiscal year while everyone else had a 353 day year. To this day, the UK tax year runs from April 6th to April 5th. Isn't tradition wonderful ?
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Indeed. Although, governments have always found ways to generate revenue for themselves;)
 

NapoleonXIV

Banned
Keenir said:
New Years is Easter.

that's it.
Click to expand...

Och, no, Easter is a movable feast, laddie. Can't have the year beginnning different days all over the place

I'd like it. I love Spring, all the girls start wearing lots less clothing.

I remember the best New Years ever was in 1992. Seventy degrees, little cocktail dresses, very nice.

New Year's would be a lot more Pagan. It's already Saturnalia, with the drunkeness and Dionysian revelry, but its a midwinter thing so there's the Life-in-Death motif. Easter replaces the Fertility rituals, but we also have the Holy Week business and Lent leading up to it. That's the requisite Resurrection schtick, yes, but Xtianity turns it into a real buzzkill instead of just the normal backstory for rutting in the fields:D:p

I dunno, I dont' think it would make much difference. OTOH, given Spring temperatures and symbolism you might have some ritual nudity, maybe even sex as part of a Xtian ceremony, wouldn't that be different?.:p
 

Smaug

NapoleonXIV said:
Och, no, Easter is a movable feast, laddie. Can't have the year beginnning different days all over the place

I'd like it. I love Spring, all the girls start wearing lots less clothing.

I remember the best New Years ever was in 1992. Seventy degrees, little cocktail dresses, very nice.

New Year's would be a lot more Pagan. It's already Saturnalia, with the drunkeness and Dionysian revelry, but its a midwinter thing so there's the Life-in-Death motif. Easter replaces the Fertility rituals, but we also have the Holy Week business and Lent leading up to it. That's the requisite Resurrection schtick, yes, but Xtianity turns it into a real buzzkill instead of just the normal backstory for rutting in the fields:D:p

I dunno, I dont' think it would make much difference. OTOH, given Spring temperatures and symbolism you might have some ritual nudity, maybe even sex as part of a Xtian ceremony, wouldn't that be different?.:p
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New Year's would be a lot more Pagan. It's already Saturnalia, with the drunkeness and Dionysian revelry...

That would work:) Unfortunately, added to St. Patricks Day, It's 1 of America's 2 greatest Amatuer Nights, with the possible exception Mardi Gras, and anything having to do with Spring Break.
 

DuQuense

Spring is the first season of the year, the Season go- Spring- Summer Autumm- Winter- Very few people if asked start with Winter,

Septembre is the Seventh Month - Octobre is the Eighth.

It is all the fault of those Emperors that took days out of Febuary, and started moving the months around to have ones named after them, that got us our present mixed up calender. One of my Conrad Stargard, projects if I am Isoted is to fix the Calender.
 

pieman3141

January and February are non-months, I think, in the Roman calendar. That's why December is the "10th" month.

On the other hand, we could be Iranian. I know for sure they celebrate their new year's in the Spring. April Fool's Day, IIRC, was a New Year's celebration too. When did the Anglo-Saxons celebrate New Year's? I know the Celts did it on November 1st (weird... nothing seasonally important beyond being near a harvest).
 

Max Sinister

Banned
January and February were introduced later. Before, the Romans only had ten months - and yes, they only added up to 304 days, during winter days weren't counted, don't ask me why.
 
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