JONaEON

April Fools Calendar

The New Year starts on January 1, right?
That’s true now, but the convention of celebrating New Year’s Day on January 1 is a relatively recent affair. For most of its history the West followed a different tradition, with the New Year commencing at the time of the Spring Equinox, around March 25. Throughout the Middle Ages, March was when the new cycle of time began, following the natural rhythm of the seasons.

It was a tradition whose roots went back to the oldest calendars in recorded history: the ancient Hindus, the Persians, the Babylonians—all these cultures viewed the year in the same way. Then something happened.

It happened first in Rome, where for centuries the Roman Catholic church had been wrestling with the problem of defining its own calendar of Feast Days and high holidays, which in the absence of clearly established principles tended to ‘drift’ to an eventually alarming degree (Easter was the most unstable of all). The solution was to adopt a new calendar, based on the precedent established by Julius Caesar—and in the Julian calendar the New Year kicked off in January, the month dedicated to the double-faced deity Janus, one face looking backwards into the old year and one face looking forward into the new.

In 1582, Pope Gregory issued a Papal decree requiring adoption and observance of the new, “Gregorian” calendar by all countries and individuals with allegiance to the Roman Catholic Church. Those who did not abide by the change were ridiculed as APRIL FOOLS, targets for the wit of those who found amusement in sending foolish gifts or in ceremonies of mockery on the first of April.

One by one, the Catholic nations of Europe followed Rome’s orders: Venice, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Portugal, France – all these had changed over to the Roman system by 1600. Protestant countries dragged their feet for over a century (Sweden, Scotland and the Netherlands were the last to join). But even they finally gave in, and by 1700 Pope Gregory’s calendar had become the standard throughout the west. And not only the West: Japan (1875) , China (1912 & 1925) and other Asian countries adopted the Gregorian system in conjunction with the traditional calendar of their cultures.

Thus it came to pass that the year as defined by the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar – and then the Papacy—became the standard for the whole modern world.

Quite a victory for Rome! Yet it is worth remembering that things were not always this way, and that many cultures commence the year at the Vernal Equinox (true for the Islamic calendar, for Nepal, Myanmar, Bahái, and throughout India). The Spring New Year is in fact still being celebrated by billions of people around the world.

In Jon Aeon’s APRIL FOOLS CALENDAR the Vernal Equinox has returned to its place of honor as the first day of the New Year. To begin the year with Springtime offers a symbolic synchronization, a reflection of being in harmony with the great cycle of life: birth, growth, maturity and death.

The intention of the calendar is to remind and encourage… Rein in on the seriousness. Find life’s pathways of humor, joy and frivolity. In spontaneity, pursue and unite with your inner FOOL.
For to wit, a FOOL takes flight, delights and frees. 

preview April Fools Calendar