The celebration of the New Year has ancient roots in pagan traditions. Pagan beliefs and practices centered on nature, the cycles of the seasons, and celestial events. The transition from one year to the next was seen as a significant moment in these traditions. In many ancient cultures, including those of the Celts, Germans, and Romans, the New Year was celebrated during the winter solstice. This was the shortest day of the year and marked the beginning of the gradual lengthening of daylight. It symbolized the rebirth of the sun and the hope of a new beginning.

Are New Year Celebrations Pagan in Origin?

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Are New Year Celebrations Pagan in Origin?

In the earliest days of the Church (the first and second centuries after Christ) there were no such celebrations as Christmas and New Year’s Day.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “According to the hypothesis . . . accepted by most scholars today, the birth of Christ was assigned the date of the winter solstice (December 25 in the Julian [Roman] Calendar, January 6 in the Egyptian), because on this day, as the sun began to return to northern skies, the pagan devotees of Mithra celebrated dies natalis Solis Invicti (birthday of the invincible sun)” (1967, Vol. 3, p. 656).

Those customs carried over in the observance of Christmas (with its many traditions and practices steeped in paganism), and the “birth” of the “new year” of the sun. This is why the Roman calendar in use today designates Jan. 1 as the beginning of the new year as opposed to God’s designation of the spring month of Abib or Nisan on the Hebrew calendar as the beginning of the year (Exodus 12:1-2).

Much of the symbolism associated with New Year’s celebrations today has very definite pagan origins. Kissing at the moment of transition to the next year is rooted in pagan sexual practice and superstition. And evergreen wreaths associated with Christmas were originally part of the pagan Calend celebration of Jan. 1.

Because we live in this secular society and most of the world operates according to the commonly used Roman calendar, it’s common to think of a new calendar year as beginning Jan. 1. Yet involvement in the celebration of that is not appropriate.

That said, one should be careful not to become too judgmental if, for example, someone is viewing a football game or parade at that time of year—as opposed to actually celebrating a New Year festival.

If you’d like to learn more, many resources are available that show the pagan origins of New Year’s Day celebrations. You can find related material in reference encyclopedias and online research resources as well.

Why Did Early Christians And Pagans Fight Over New Year's Day?

Romans looked forward to the free food and games that occurred at annual New Year's celebrations, but early Christian clerics were not as keen on the revelries. Long before the so-called "war on Christmas," there was the war on New Year's Day.

A 3rd century CE mosaic of the hippodrome at Carthage. The mosaic is now in the museum in Bardo.

Pascal Radigue (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Romans called January 1st the Kalends of January. It was termed the Kalendae in Latin or Καλάνδαι in Greek, and was placed on public calendars called fasti. The Kalends is what gives us the modern word "calendar." The Kalendae Ianuariae was a time of particular hope and anticipation for the coming year. It was filled with celebrations and religious rites that focused on the health of individual Romans and of the state.

Romans literally got off on the right foot by leading with their right leg as they entered temples, houses and other doorways on this and many other days. As archaeologist Steven J.R. Ellis has noted, one's right foot was considered far more auspicious than their sinister foot (left foot), and one always wanted to begin auspiciously in a new year.

New Year's celebrations normally began with a large parade within the city of Rome on January 1 that is not all that different from the Tournament of Roses parade that precedes the Rose Bowl. Senators, magistrates, clients and many others met at the houses of the two designated consuls for the year and–at least in the Republic and early empire–traditionally sacrificed two bulls at the temple for Jupiter Optimus Maximus.

The temple was on Rome's Capitoline hill. A vow was then made to invoke safety for the Roman people and the Republic in the coming year. Elsewhere in the city, worshippers at the temple to Aesculapius (the God of medicine) on the Tiber Island, celebrated the temple's dedication on January 1 of 291 BCE. Romans looked to Janus, the god of new beginnings, but clearly also thought of Jupiter and Aesculapius too.

By the later imperial period, the celebration centered more on the emperor and was extended to five days. The third day was now the one reserved for the vota to the health of the emperor and the empire. It was then followed by a series of chariot races that eventually lasted up to three days.

Along with coins and fruit, ceramic lamps were often given as small party favors at New Year's . [+] celebrations. This one has the goddess of Victory. On her shield is an inscription wishing a happy and fruitful new year. The 1st-2nd century lamp is now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (CC-0).

The various festivals and rituals that formed Greco-Roman religion (and by extension, the festival calendar) did not stay unchanged within the Mediterranean for all of antiquity. Following the victory of Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 CE, Christianity was made licit and then encouraged by the emperor until his death in 337. With the Roman emperor as its visible patron, the relatively small religion grew mightily over the next few decades. In turn, Christian clerics also became more powerful figures within Roman cities as more people converted. And yet New Year's remained a time for traditional religion.

Under the emperor Julian, a central concern became reviving traditional Roman religion and rejecting Christian customs. Julian celebrated the Kalends of January in the eastern city of Antioch in the year 363 and used the much-anticipated fanfare surrounding the inauguration of consuls, the chariot races and the speeches delivered to the emperor to great effect in his revival program. In other words? Julian needed New Year's to help him bring back traditional religion, which we might today call paganism.

As ancient historian Fritz Graf noted about Julian in his book on Roman festivals held in the eastern portion of the empire: "The celebration of the Kalendae had even become more important, and the emperor perhaps even somewhat desperate." Julian would die only six months later while on campaign in the East against Persia. His plan to fully revive paganism might not have been successful, but the Kalends of January remained an important part of the calendar in the ancient Mediterranean.

Critics of the Kalendae became fiercer following the return to Christian emperors after the death of Julian. The proclamation of Christianity as the official religion of the state in 380 paved the way for the closing of pagan temples and banning of pagan sacrifices. A priest named John Chrysostom may have been at the New Year's Day celebrations at Antioch in 363 and he wouldn't soon forget them. Between 387 and 398, the then-priest gave a sermon condemning the New Year's celebrations that gripped the empire every year. It was a scathing homily given just prior to his becoming a bishop and neatly outlined the clerical view of the holiday.

As Graf notes, the preacher became shrill, claiming: "We are fighting a war, not against the Amalekites, not against other foreign attackers, but against the demons who parade through the marketplace. The devilish all-night celebrations that are held today, the jests and songs of blame and censure, the nocturnal dancing and this entire ridiculous comedy." That is right, you guys. This was the late antique prequel to Footloose and the fictional John Lithgow was being played by the very real John Chrysostom. Chrysostom warned that the opulence of the New Year's celebrations would then be carried forward for the rest of the year.

Well into the late fourth and early fifth centuries CE, clerics railed against the evils of the Kalends of January festivities. Such condemnations stemmed from worries about paganism, but they were perhaps also a reaction to the low attendance in churches during the celebrations. A bishop near the Black Sea censured his congregants for not attending church on January 1 and in North Africa, Augustine of Hippo also spoke out against the Kalends and begged the people not to attend the games.

Despite the clerical condemnation, Roman emperors still often used the Kalends of January as a way to renew the loyalty of the Roman people. Yet clerics wished to emphasize another festival: the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ (January 1) and then Epiphany (January 6).

As historian of early Christianity Andrew S. Jacobs writes about in his book, Christ Circumcised: A Study in Early Christian History and Difference, Christians wanted total separation of the Christian celebrations from the Kalendae Januariae, which they viewed as blasphemous: "As Christianity became a public religion, the sweep of time–daily, weekly, annual, cosmic–became a site of distinction." Into the fifth century, worship of the events surrounding the life of Christ increased and gained in popularity. During the medieval period, relics like that of the holy foreskin played a material part in solidifying the festival in the Christian mindset.

In 541/542 CE, the emperor Justinian put a further nail in the coffin of the Kalendae Januariae by abolishing the consulship altogether. Church councils also continued to condemn the celebrations with a finite ban in the 7th century CE. The traditional state calendar of the Romans continued to be rewritten like a palimpsest. Despite this, we have records of smaller feasts and revelry for New Year's Day continuing into the Middle Ages.

Medieval remembrances may have been quieter and without the ostentatious parades, sacrifices or chariot races of Rome in the high empire, but they do reveal something about the role of marking the new year in our daily lives. Regardless of culture or religion, we continue to use ritual not only to mark reflection on the past, but to inspire hope for the future. In that regard, New Year's Day and calendars generally can serve to structure our lives and–in part–to shape our resolve for the events we will encounter. Even John Chrysostom can't get rid of that itch.

As a Roman might have said to you on this day: "Annum novum faustum felicem vobis!” (An auspicious and happy new year to y'all!)

Illumination of the Circumcision of Christ from the Byzantine Menologion of Basil II. The . [+] circumcision occurred eight days after Christmas and was commemorated in the Christian calendar.

Public Domain via Wikimedia

New year pagan

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Please post any new year traditions that you follow.

I clean my house New Year's Day, and take a bath with Epsom salts, lavender, and Seven Day Holy Oil.
Not sure of the ingredients, I picked it up at a metaphysical shop in W. Virginia.

I'm more aligned with the ancient pagan holidays..the solstices and midpoints of the seasons and celebrate those.

For New Year's tradition I do start the year off with a new calendar, new journal books and a celtic cross tarot reading for the year.

Well my GF is a woman of faith so I generally can't get my full blown Pagan mojo going (no pentagram winter wreaths, etc.) But I generally keep a resolution to spend more time outdoors, increase the size of my compost pile, do more hiking/connect with animals/etc.

I embrace the winter months in which the new year falls (at least here in the northeast). One tradition I would like to adopt is to discover new sources of Pagan knowledge and spirituality, some great Youtube channels out there.

Not pagan necessarily, but I love the tradition.

"A bayberry candle that's burned to the socket, brings joy to the heart and gold to the pocket."

This year I did one for my son and his wife, too.

New year pagan

Anyone who plans to celebrate New Year’s Day really should first know where the practice came from.

New Year’s is the oldest of all holidays. The ancient Babylonians began keeping the festival nearly 4,000 years ago. Spiritual purification was the underlying reason for their New Year’s festival. People wanted to amend their old ways and find new beginnings. Held at the time of spring planting, New Year’s festivities were also an appeal to the gods to provide agricultural abundance. This is the ancient root of the New Year’s resolutions tradition.

As this pagan festival was passed down to succeeding generations, it changed in character and in customs. The Greeks held a not-so-religious New Year’s-type festival in late March. The early Romans imitated the Greeks, holding a similar festival at the same time.

In 46 b.c. , Julius Caesar moved the new year to January 1. The Romans observed New Year’s by engaging in drunken orgies—a ritual they believed constituted a personal reenactment of the chaotic world that existed before the cosmos was ordered by the gods.

About 500 years later, Pope Gregory xiii abandoned the Julian calendar and established the calendar that has been followed by our Western world ever since. Most people don’t consider that the Roman Catholic Church established the beginning of our year in the middle of winter.

The origins of the New Year’s celebration are marked by confusion, paganism and perversion. Even today, New Year’s is generally celebrated with late-night partying, drunkenness and debauchery. God condemns drunkenness and other “works of the flesh” (Galatians 5:19-21).

A professing Christian might reason, I don’t get involved in the party spirit of New Year’s. I just like having a new beginning and fresh start. Even so, the Bible is clear that God is against observing this holiday.

There is disagreement in the world over when the new year actually begins. The Chinese and Vietnamese celebrate a new year sometime between January 20 and February 20. The Sinhalese new year falls between April 13 and 14. The Malayalam calendar places the new year in mid-August. The Ethiopian new year is in mid-September.

As Creator of times and seasons—and not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33)—God makes clear when the new year begins according to His sacred calendar as preserved by the Jews.

Notice: “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you” (Exodus 12:1-2). This month was named Abib (Exodus 13:4). You may be surprised to learn that it begins at the time of the spring equinox.

“God begins the year in the early spring, when new life is budding in nature everywhere, but ancient heathen Rome caused the world to begin the year in the middle of dead winter,” wrote Herbert W. Armstrong in his booklet Pagan Holidays—or God’s Holy Days—Which?

God expects Christians to come out of this world and the ways of this world (Revelation 18:4). That includes its annual celebrations that are steeped in paganism (including Easter, Christmas, New Year’s and others). He warned the ancient Israelites to avoid the practices of the pagans and to instead obey His commandments (Leviticus 18:2-4). This is still true for us today: God is “the same yesterday and today and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8; Revised Standard Version). If you profess to be a Christian and follow Christ, then God expects you to prove right from wrong, and to choose the right.

“Take heed that you be not ensnared to follow them [the pagans and their customs], … and that you do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?—that I also may do likewise.’ You shall not do so to the Lord your God; for every abominable thing which the Lord hates they have done for their gods …” (Deuteronomy 12:30-31; rsv ).

With a detailed study of God’s Word, it becomes apparent that God condemns the celebration of any pagan festival—that includes New Year’s. Not simply because it is celebrated at the wrong time of year, or is often accompanied by drunkenness and sin, or is rooted in paganism—but also because it clouds the meaning of His holy days.

God has specific days He commands true Christians to observe. Those days are outlined in Leviticus 23. Observing the holidays of this world, mankind ignores the days God set apart for special observance.

Satan, the god of this world, has deceived mankind (2 Corinthians 4:4; Revelation 12:9). Dating back 4,000 years to the time of Babylon—and even before—the devil has used festivals such as New Year’s to obscure the true holy days of God. They are a Satan-inspired counterfeit to the God-ordained festivals.

The days God commands His people to observe lay out His master plan for mankind. They are filled with abundant hope. They represent a new beginning that eclipses any new year of this world. It will be a fresh start to a time of joy, peace and happiness for eternity.

For more information on this subject, read “God Wants You to Have a Happy New Year” and Herbert W. Armstrong’s booklet Pagan Holidays—or God’s Holy Days—Which?

It symbolized the rebirth of the sun and the hope of a new beginning. Various rituals and customs were performed during the New Year pagan celebrations. These included lighting bonfires, exchanging gifts, feasting, and participating in processions.

People would also make resolutions or intentions for the coming year, seeking to improve their lives and secure good fortune. The transition from the old year to the new was often associated with the spiritual realm. It was believed that at this time, the boundary between the mortal and the divine was more permeable, allowing for communication and interaction with supernatural beings. Many pagans used divination techniques to gain insight into the future or seek guidance for the upcoming year. With the spread of Christianity, pagan traditions began to be incorporated into the Christian celebrations of the New Year. For example, the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which was held around the same time, merged with the Christian holiday of Christmas. Similarly, the Roman custom of making New Year's resolutions became intertwined with the religious practice of making vows to God. Today, remnants of pagan New Year traditions can still be found in various cultures and celebrations around the world. For example, the tradition of lighting fireworks during New Year's Eve can be traced back to the ancient belief that the loud noises and bright lights would scare away malevolent spirits and bring good luck for the coming year. In conclusion, the celebration of the New Year has deep pagan roots that date back to ancient times. These traditions revolved around the cycles of nature, the symbolism of the winter solstice, and the hope for a fresh start. While many of these pagan customs have evolved and merged with other cultural practices, their influence can still be seen in the modern celebration of the New Year..

Reviews for "The Magic of the Pagan New Year: Exploring Rituals and Beliefs"

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From Solstice to New Year: Tracing the Pagan Influence on Modern Celebrations