Alternative Dates to Celebrate the New Year
Jan 12
3 min read
For a while now it's felt strange and wrong to me to celebrate the New Year on 1st January.
It doesn't tie in with any kind of natural cycle - not with the seasonal cycles, not with the moon or the sun or any of the planets. It feels like this date has just been randomly plucked out of the air by people. We're expected to feel renewed and refreshed at this time but nature is telling us the opposite.
Winter is all about slowing down, hibernating and conserving energy.
January in the Northern Hemisphere is a time when we naturally feel like we want to stay indoors, to stay cosy and warm, to eat filling and hearty meals and to rest a lot.
And yet on 1st January everyone tries to begin new healthy diets and to eat salads, to begin new energetic workout routines and to start initiating new things.
No wonder so many New Year's resolutions don't work out - we're trying to do the opposite of what our bodies naturally want to do!
So if 1st January is a bad time to celebrate the New Year, when should we celebrate it?
Honestly, I don't know exactly when I think the New Year should be. For me personally it changes every year depending on when I feel like the energy in me is pushing for a new beginning.
But here are some potential alternative New Year options for 2025:
22nd January - Human Design New Year
In Human Design the New Year begins on 22nd January. This is due to the sun transiting into Gate 41, which is the Gate of Contraction - contracting in the sense of getting ready to release new things into the world. We naturally feel like we want to create and release new things into the world at this time so it fits well as a potential New Year.
29th January - Snow Moon New Moon (also the Chinese Lunar New Year)
This is the New Moon marking the beginning of the Snow Moon cycle. The Snow Moon marks the transition from winter to spring and is traditionally associated with purity, renewal and rejuvenation. We may find ourselves naturally wanting to clean out and declutter our homes and detox our bodies in preparation for the upcoming spring. We may also start noticing the first signs of spring around us - snowdrops and buds on trees starting to appear.
1st February - Imbolc
Imbolc is an ancient Celtic festival which is part of the Wheel of the Year. The word Imbolc means "in the belly of the mother" - the seeds of spring are beginning to stir and grow and lambing season traditionally begins. It is a festival which celebrates the stirring of life and the first signs of spring, and as with the Snow Moon cycle, we may find ourselves naturally wanting to detox and declutter ourselves and our homes during this time.
20th March - Spring Equinox (also known as Ostara)
The Spring Equinox is a time of balance when the days and the nights are the same length. In the Wheel of the Year this is known as the festival of Ostara, which is a celebration of spring, and is traditionally associated with eggs, bunnies and flowers as symbols of fertility and rebirth (we associate these things with the Christian Easter but they actually came from this pagan festival originally). We are naturally feeling more active now - the weather is warming, we want to be outdoors more and it feels like life is starting to really begin again.
31st October - Halloween (also known as Samhain)
Samhain is another festival included in the Celtic Wheel of the Year, and is traditionally known as the "Witches' New Year". This is because it is said that the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest at this time, and it represents more of an ending to the year than the beginning of a new year. A time for letting go and releasing the past year, readying ourselves for the hibernation of the winter.
It is now the 12th January 2025 as I write this.
I don't feel like the New Year has happened yet for me, but I feel it is building and I will celebrate it soon. I will likely either celebrate on 22nd January or 29th January depending on when it feels right to me.
Society dictates that we recognise 2025 as beginning on 1st January, the beginning of the calendar year - but this doesn't mean that we can't have our own New Year's celebrations at a time which feels right to us.
We can start fresh anytime we like. We can begin new resolutions in Spring if we wish, or we can celebrate an ending to the year rather than a new beginning. Whatever we like!
When do you celebrate the New Year?
Emily
