Saturday, January 21, 2006

So When Is a Year New?

Circles notoriously have neither beginings nor ends.

Cycles are circles by another name.

Add the dimension of time and the seasons dance in a spiral, either slow or fast depending on how much attention you pay. Thus my question.

Jews answer the question: September. Harvest is in and the barns are full. We know if the coming year will see feast or famine.

Christians, and other northern hemisphere types preoccupied with equinoctical precession, answer: At the Winter Soltice when the world stops getting darker.

Chinese answer: The first new moon after the first full moon following the solstice when we begin to plant.

The answer swings from the prudent, to the relieved, to the hopeful.

Welcome to the Year of the Red Fire Dog, January 29, 2006.

-- ml

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