Of Calendars and New Years

Minoan and otherwise

I’ve just posted my Minoan Path article about the Autumn Equinox, which is the new year (or one of them, anyway) in the Ariadne’s Tribe sacred calendar. You can read it here: The Wheel Turns, Minoan Style

Writing it got me thinking about the concept of a new year. We live on a planet that revolves around its local star once every 365 days, more or less. And we like to keep track of that cycle, have done for centuries, millennia.

But the moment when one cycle ends and another one begins varies from one culture, religion, or tradition to another.

Heck, sometimes it varies within cultures, religions, and traditions.

I’m reminded of my first priestess explaining to me that you could reasonably pick any point during the annual solar cycle as your new year. And if you need to start over more than once during that time, you can do that, too.

The Minoans appear to have done just that. Like the ancient Egyptians, they had a multi-layered religion, adding on new stuff without removing any of the old. Plus, there were at least three major Minoan subcultures. The three that we’ve identified so far are the farmers, sailors/fishers, and goat-herders. And each one of them would have had their own new year. In the Tribe, we celebrate the agricultural (farmers’) new year at the Autumn Equinox (our main New Year celebration) and the sailors’ new year at the Blessing of the Ships in May. We have yet to clarify the specifics of the herders’ new year, but that may eventually appear in our calendar, too.

And then we have the Winter Solstice, which could be seen as a new year as well, with the birth of the Divine Child to the Mother Goddess Rhea in her sacred cave — and the rebirth of the Sun Goddess Therasia in her sacred cave. This may be the oldest new year of them all, since humans appear to have marked the Winter Solstice long before the advent of agriculture.

Then there’s the concept of Samhain as the new year, something I leaned into heavily during my Pagan journey before I headed down the Minoan path. And of course, the new year on January 1 when the Gregorian calendar resets and begins again.

On top of all this, I read Kelle BanDea’s autumn equinox post, and I was reminded of yet another new year:

Finding Balance, Letting Go

…the beginning of the school year.

I spent so many years with the school calendar as the framework for my life — elementary school, middle school, high school, college, graduate school — that it’s no wonder all the back-to-school sales and the sudden appearance of the yellow buses on the streets again feels like a new year to me.

And it’s interesting that it happens to coincide with the new year that we now celebrate in Ariadne’s Tribe. So even though the place where I live begins its agricultural season in the spring rather than the autumn, I can still feel the something new is beginning vibe around me. And I’m quite enjoying it.

When do you celebrate the new year? Do you celebrate more than one new year in any given solar cycle? Have you ever decided to declare a new year and just start over, regardless of the calendar date?

I hope that whatever comes your way in the upcoming year is helpful, fulfilling, and joyous!

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About Laura Perry

I'm an author, artist, and creator who works magic with words, paint, ink, music, textiles, and herbs. I'm also the founder and Temple Mom of Ariadne's Tribe, a worldwide inclusive Minoan spiritual tradition. My spiritual practice includes spirit work and herbalism through the lens of lifelong animism. I write Pagan / polytheist non-fiction and fiction across several different subjects and genres. I'm currently working on an illustrated book of modern Minoan myths and a Minoan entry in the Moon Books Pantheons series. I’m also an avid gardener and living history demonstrator.