Spring and the Beginning of a New Year
Did you know that in the past the New Year began in Spring?
Did you also know why Spring has two dates?
Let's start with Spring's two dates.
©2025 Nathalie/Nourished with Nat. All right reserved
The reason Spring has two dates, is because there's two ways it's being viewed, the meteorological and astronomical dates. Meteorologically the year is split into 4 seasons with each having 3 months. And thus, Spring starts on March 1st and ends on May 31st, for those in the Northern Hemisphere. In the southern Hemisphere it's the beginning of Fall, but we're focusing on the northern Hemisphere here. These dates are fixed every year to ensure statistics are consistent throughout time.
The astronomical season is determined by Earths tilt as it travels around the sun, and the season lasts until summer solstice. For 2025 the beginning of Spring was March 20th (this date varies, depending on the spring equinox) and will go on till June 20th on summer solstice.
Spring is also the rebirth of nature, as we all know. The time where the weather gets warmer and everything wakes up, be it nature, animals or humans.
It's the beauty of life beginning again, when everything blooms, animals groom and nest, and people emerge out of the winter blues and feel more alive again.
So, why don't we celebrate the new year in Spring? When everything comes back to life? That would make sense, no? Beginning of new Life paired with the beginning of a New Year.
Well, in the past they did!
Now, let's dive into a little bit of history.
The ancient Babylonian calendar around 2000BC observed Spring Festival and the New Year around the March equinox.
And in ancient Rome, along with medieval Europe, March 1st was celebrated as the New Year because it aligned with spring renewal and the agricultural calendar. The original Roman calendar traditionally attributed to Romulus (the founder of Rome) had only 10 months, and March (Martius) was the first month of the year. Agriculturally it made sense, as well as militarily: March marked the start of spring, a time for planting crops and resuming military campaigns after winter. By the way, March is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Beginning the year under Mars' influence was symbolically powerful for Romans.
Later, Rome's second king, Numa Pompilius, added January and February, which pushed March to the third month, but March 1st still remained a kind of symbolistic or functional New Year until Julius Caesar reformed the calendar in 46 BC (called the Julian calendar) officially setting January 1st as the start of the year, because that's when Roman consuls took office.
But many European countries didn't adopt January 1st as New Year's Day until centuries later. Only, after the Gregorian calendar reform in 1582, with regional variations reflecting deeper religious, political and cultural changes across Europe, did the rest of Europe adopt this New Years date.
To me, it makes perfect sense why they used to have the New Year in March. Not just because it's when everything in nature awakens again, but also because it's when we can start planting food, easily practice self-care by going out into the fresh air more, recharge in the sun, detox thanks to natures newly growing herbs, admire the beauty of the awakening of nature, and feel the love in the air. New Beginnings everywhere.
Whereas in January, everything is dark, cold, damp, sleepy and gray: A time that should be used to rest, reset and take things slow. And yet, most make vigorous New Year's resolutions that need lots of energy...
January 1st is my Birthday, I used to see it as fitting: a double new beginning for my personal new year of life, and a new calendar year. Yet, energetically, the New Year always felt exhausting, as during Wintertime, after Christmas, I always feel like a hibernating bear, who doesn't really want to come out of his den until nature wakes up and the weather gets warmer.
Can you relate?
What do you think?
Does it make sense to you too, that the beginning of the year should be in March?
Or do you like it how it is?
Sources: www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51963002
