I want to compose a year-end/New Year's entry, but I am hesitant just to put it out there. In the meantime, I've been thinking and reading about the significance of New Year's and the desire to write such things as year-end reviews.

In Mespotamia, the New Year (month of Nisan, our April) was celebrated at the 12-day Akitu festival in Babylon. The king reaffirmed his loyalty to Marduk and reported that he had been a faithful and just ruler. The Enuma elish, the story of creation and the establishment of Marduk's temple, was recited, reminding those who heard it of Marduk's role in subduing the waters of chaos, that is, Tiamat.

I came across a summary of various New Year's traditions via a reference in The Lutheran magazine. The site, Alternatives for Simple Living, is a non-denominational Christian perspective on living more simply, with ideas and resources for celebrating holidays with fuller awareness of their significance. The site is very much in the tradition of the More-With-Less Cookbook and Living More With Less.