If you'd asked me, a
few years ago, when New Year is celebrated, I'd have been a bit taken
aback.
After all, it's obvious, isn't it, that the new year begins on
January 1st and that's when, all over the world, we let off
fireworks, sing 'Auld Lang Syne', drink toasts and generally do all
sorts of daft party-ing things we wouldn't dream of doing at any
other time!
But since I started
designing greeting cards, I've learnt that there are many other 'New
Year' dates, each with their own traditional ways of celebrating,
mostly dictated by the other major World Religions.
You can read about them
HERE.
Some, such as the
Jewish Festival of Rosh Hashanah and the Hindu Diwali celebrations,
are held in what we in the Northern Hemisphere would call Autumn or
Fall.
But other traditions, such as Now-ruz, the Persian New Year,
celebrate the New Year in the Spring-time.
That seems to make a lot
of sense as the spring-time, with its signs of Nature's reawakening,
certainly conveys a feeling of renewal, a fresh start, of leaving the
past (winter) behind.
You can see HERE that
some of the traditional Norooz symbols have to do with the arrival of
spring and I've included them in Greeting Cards and Gifts for the
Persian New Year -
Click on the image to see the full Persian New Year collection of Greeting Cards and Gifts
In some ways, it would
make sense if Easter was also celebrated as the beginning of a new
year. And here's why -
Probably the most
important date in the Christian Calendar, Easter - marking the end of
the fasting month of Lent, through Maundy Thursday, leading up to
Good Friday and culminating in Easter Sunday - is celebrated in the
Spring. So, although, Easter is not regarded as a New Year's
celebration, it has many of the connotations of renewal in common
with the Persian New Year.
One of the Norooz
traditions is the thorough cleaning of the house, prior to the
beginning of the celebration. And, although, thanks to modern
household appliances, we probably do far less 'spring-cleaning'
nowadays than our parents and grandparents did, the Spring still
seems to be the time when we are most likely to be inspired to carry
out home decorating and repairs - at least, that's the time when the
paint manufacturers seem to target us with their advertisements!
And of course, there's a parallel between the buying of new clothes and the largely forgotten tradition of
Easter Bonnet Parades!
So it wouldn't be
particularly surprising if so-called 'Christian' countries celebrated
Easter as the New Year, instead of January 1st, especially as Easter
has its roots in pagan polytheistic celebrations of the spring
solstice.
And it would certainly do away with those awkward six days between
Christmas and New Year that Michael McIntyre characterises so
brilliantly!
But we don't - we
attach our New Year celebrations to the idea of the Gregorian
Calendar in which the New Year runs from January 1st - December
31st.
However, as a greeting
card designer, there are similarities between the Persian New Year
symbols and those associated with Easter; the spring flowers, the
decorated eggs (or chocolate ones!) being the most obvious ones.
But whereas 'gold fish in a bowl' are part of the traditional Now-ruz
celebrations, Easter has appropriated the Easter Bunny from its pagan
roots as a symbol of new life and fertility.
Alongside the Easter
Bunnies and sometimes some newborn lambs, we've adopted Baby Chicks
and Ducklings to represent Easter.
 |
| Swan Meadow, Abergavenny |
Soon after I moved to Wales, I saw an advertisement for a Duck Race and as it was to be held in a little park, Swan Meadow, quite close to where I live, I was curious enough to go along. The River Gavenny runs alongside the Swan Meadow (to the right in the photo) before it joins the much larger River Usk in Castle Meadows. And as there are some apparently man-made dams, I assumed these would play a part in the race-course. I was right! I arrived to find hundreds of bright yellow plastic ducks, lined up along the first dam, ready for the off! What a let-down!
Relatively few people
send Easter Cards in the UK, though apparently the market for
religious Easter Cards is growing -
But the Easter
celebratory food, such as Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday and Chocolate
Eggs on Easter Sunday are well established and seem set to continue,
in spite of the traditional Simnel Cake for Easter having virtually
disappeared, along with Easter Bonnets.
are some Easter customs you may not have come across -
I certainly hadn't heard of the more obscure ones!
So how do you celebrate
Easter? Is it primarily a religious festival where you live? Or is it
all about Easter Eggs and Bunnies made from chocolate?
I'd love to hear from
you!
You can find lots more
Easter Cards and Easter Gifts
in my
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