January for most people means new beginnings and fresh starts.  It is named after the Roman God Janus, the god of doors, corridors and beginnings, who is always portrayed with two faces, one looking back at the year past and the other looking forward at the year to come.

Originally, the Roman calendar had only 10 months, and did not include January or February. The second king of Rome, King Numa Pompilius was responsible for adding them to the Roman calendar in order to bring them in line with the lunar cycle.

Did you know that the old New Year was celebrated on January 13th? In some parts of Pembrokeshire, Wales, a few still follow this tradition today. Known as Hen Galan, children would visit neighbours and sing a song or recite a poem to wish them all a happy and healthy year ahead, they would carry apples skewered with cloves, and sprigs of evergreen, and were rewarded with gifts of coins or food, known as Calennig.

It was a celebration to rival Christmas and is all about family, friends, singing and feasting.

In Scotland and Northern England, there is a tradition of first footing. On the stroke of midnight, people open the back door (to let the old year out) and ask the first dark haired man to be seen to come through the front door bringing gifts of salt, coal, bread  and  drink. These are symbolic of prosperity, warmth, food and cheer for the coming year. In some parts of the UK fair haired men or women as seen as unlucky! Scotland is of course famous for its Hogmanay celebrations.

Maybe less well known is the spectacular Stonehaven Fireball Ceremony in Aberdeenshire, where giant swinging fireballs, symbolising the power of the sun, are swung around on long metal poles in an amazing parade and cleansing ritual to bid farewell to the old year and a welcome to the New Year ahead.

Wassail – Good Health. Apples are considered a sacred and magical fruit, they are a symbol of life and immortality.   The Wassailing celebrations and blessing of orchards and apple trees are widely practised particularly in cider growing regions. The word ‘wassail’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase ‘waes hael’, which means ‘good health’. Originally, the wassail drink was made of mulled ale or cider blended with spices and honey and drunk at Yule time.

The wassailers, led by the wassail King and Queen visit each orchard singing, banging pots and pans, shouting and generally making lots of noise to firstly wake up the sleeping tree spirits and to frighten away any evil spirits that may be lurking amongst the trees. They gather around the biggest tree so that the Queen may place a piece of bread soaked in wassail as an offering to the tree spirits and to bless the trees to produce a bountiful harvest at Samhain. In some regions January 5th is the date for the blessings, though traditionally the rituals take place on January 17th.

Another ancient wassailing tradition are Mummers plays, masked mimed plays dating from the 15th century, in which  a character is killed then brought back to life as a representation of the death of the Old Year and the rebirth of the New Year. At Bankside in London, The Holly Man ‘brings in the green’ and comes to wassail the people and the River Thames.

The letting go of the old and welcoming the new are important rituals many of us still practise today and in doing so, we keep the old customs alive.

Happy New Year everyone!