New Year’s celebrations, combined with the Feast of Saint Sylvester, are a relatively young culturalphenomenon in the form we know them today and didnot begin to be widespread until the twentieth century.Just as for other festivities, a specific symbolism has developed for New Year. Originally spread viapostcards and greeting cards, today it is largely transmitted via online communication, although it isstill present on postage stamps. It is not only symbols that mark the New Year: other distinctive signs and phenomena are also present. In the rst place, snow – even in those parts of the world where people see inthe New Year on a sunny beach. Another New Yearphenomenon, already almost a symbol in itself, is the practice of decorating an evergreen conifer (spruce,pine or r), which in Slovenia began to be known as the“New Year’s Fir” after the Second World War. Just likethe Christmas tree, the New Year’s Fir can be decorated in a wide variety of ways, although today examples thatre ect individual creativity are becoming increasinglyrare. And New Year has also become an opportunityfor the giving of gifts, although sadly today these are more likely to be material presents than gifts of thespiritual kind!
If at rst these trees were placed inside dwellings, it isnow increasingly common to decorate trees in front ofhouses or in gardens.
Modern electronics o ers a limitless variety of lighting options, including ashing reindeer, sleighs and guressuch as the Coca-Cola Santa Claus or Dedek Mraz(Grandfather Frost). Increasingly, the real motivationbehind these outdoor displays appears to be the desireto impress neighbours, passers-by, visitors and so on.Some people are enthusiastic about them, while othersdisapprove, and express their disapproval with cuttingcomments. Whether the reaction to all this glitter anddazzle is positive or negative, it appears to be thecase that New Year’s celebrations have lost some of their nobility. This does not lie in decorations but inre ecting on the good things we have done in the pastyear and on where we are going to focus our creative and other e orts in the coming year.
Janez Bogataj
