The image outside my window is not one of the new beginnings #January brings. Definitely not the vision of renewal or a fresh start. My garden is hibernating. It’s cold and I’d like to join those in nature that hunker down until Spring.
Centuries ago, March 25th was the beginning of our #calendar year. That makes sense. The beginning of spring. The rebirth of flowers, blossoms on trees…the renewing feeling of a warm sun. What happened?
Thank you Roman king Numa Pompilius. According to tradition, during his reign (c. 715–673 BCE) Numa revised the Roman republican calendar so that January replaced March as the first month in honor of Janus, the Roman god of all beginnings. There is evidence that January 1 was not made the official start of the Roman year until 153 BC. (source: Britannica) And then came Julius Caesar…
There are two reasons for asking this question. First are the things I mentioned above. From our part of the world, January doesn’t scream “NEW BEGINNINGS.” The other thought is to pose the question, how accurate is our holistic tracking of time and dates? This article demonstrates that tracking years shifted by three months, a quarter of a year just got shifted at the whim of some Roman king. Not to mention how many leap years we missed before those began to be tracked.
Why do we accept our calendar as accurate?
Things that make you go hummm.
KK.
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