New Beginnings Take Many Forms: Silvester and Other Yearly Transitions Around the World

I move through the city’s tight, winding streets on the quiet dawn of December 31st, where the world seems suspended, holding its breath between the old and the new. The streets are empty, only the last glasses from the night before clink quietly in the backyards, and I savor this moment of calm. It is a transition, a breath between the old and the new, a pause that the hectic celebrations of the coming evening have not yet reached. But why do we celebrate this day, exactly? Why December 31st? Has it always been this way?

In fact, it hasn’t. The way we celebrate the turn of the year today was – guess what – adopted through Christianization. The name “Silvester” comes from Pope Silvester I., who died in 335. In many European countries, the last day of the year was named after him. Fireworks, parties, midnight kisses – all that we now associate with Silvester is thus a product of a Christian-influenced calendar, not a universal natural law.

Yet people have been celebrating the transition from old to new long before that – just not necessarily on December 31st. The Romans, for example, originally began the new year in March. It was only Julius Caesar who moved the start of the year to January 1st, to correct the calendar and symbolically honor the god Janus, the guardian of doors and transitions. The Babylonians based their calendar on the start of spring, the Egyptians on the flooding of the Nile, and many cultures followed natural cycles or agricultural events rather than a fixed date.

Today, things look different. Many people celebrate the new year on December 31st, but not all cultures and religions do – even now, there are countless traditions that begin the year at entirely different times.

For some pagans, for instance, the new year begins with the dark half of the year, at Samhain (Halloween/All Saints’ Day) in the autumn. Why? Because at this time, the city feels quieter, the world turns inward, and retreat and introspection dominate. Like seeds lying dormant in dark soil, this phase prepares the coming growth – a silent, magical new beginning, hidden and powerful at once.

Other cultures still celebrate the turn of the year very differently today. In the Far East, Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar. Streets fill with colors, drums, and dragon figures meant to drive away darkness. Families gather, ancestors are honored, and everything old is symbolically swept away – a new beginning that connects heaven, earth, and community. In Persia, Nowruz marks the beginning of spring, when light and warmth return. Houses are cleaned, seeds are sown, and people celebrate the awakening of nature – a ritual of growth and renewal.

In the autumn, when the world turns golden and the air grows cooler, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins. It is a time of reflection, accountability, and inner contemplation – a spiritual new beginning in which one takes stock of the past year and enters the new one with conscious intention.

Similarly, Nyepi, the Balinese Day of Silence, brings the island to stillness for 24 hours: streets are empty, fireworks are forbidden, the world pauses to cleanse energy and make room for a deliberate new year. Finally, in some regions of India, Diwali is celebrated not only as a festival of lights but also as a symbolic new year: houses are cleaned, lamps are lit, darkness and demons are driven away to make space for light, abundance, and inner renewal.

Our Silvester is therefore only one perspective among many – a mix of Christian tradition and older customs. Every culture has its own way of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new. Perhaps it’s time to create your own way of celebrating the year’s turn: a ritual, a moment of reflection, or deliberate letting go. Whether in darkness like Samhain, honoring ancestors like in China, or embracing spring like in Persia – saying farewell to the old and welcoming the new is universally human.

No matter when or how we celebrate: new beginnings require attention, intention, and sometimes a little bit of magic. 

In this spirit, I wish you a happy new year – no matter when you celebrate it!