The Encyclopedia of World Religions

New Year festivals S 323

Joel Goldsmith, and Charles and Myrtle Fillmore of Unity. Further reading: Charles S. Braden, Spirits in Rebellion: The Rise and Development of New Thought, Rpt. (Dallas, Tex.: Southern Methodist University Press, 1987); Donald Meyer, The Positive Thinkers (New York: Pantheon, 1980); Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking, Rpt. (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003). New Year festivals Religious commemorations of the beginning of a new year. In virtually all tra ditional cultures, the change from an old year to a new year is a time of religious significance. Some times it is celebrated, as in the modern Western calendar, on the first of January, shortly after the winter solstice. Or it may come, as in the Chinese calendar, around the beginning of spring, or as in the Jewish calendar, in the fall. In any case, the commencement of a new year signifies something like a miniature recreation of the world, when the old dissolves and a fresh start is made. It may also be seen as a time of conflict between old and new, or between different kinds of fortune for the next year. The colorful ceremonies that mark New Year’s Day around the world all reflect themes like these. New Year’s Eve may be seen as a time for par tying and “letting go,” because it is like the old year or world returning to chaos before being made again. It is also a time, as in traditional China, for paying debts, cleaning the house thoroughly, and sending off the kitchen god with a bit of honey on his painted lips to sweeten his mood as he goes to heaven to report to the supreme gods on the family’s conduct over the past year. In China also, New Year’s Day means honoring ancestors, reestablishing family bonds by paying calls, and a parade in which a great dragon weaves through the streets—the dragon being a symbol of yang, the male energy of sun and growth whose half of the year then begins. Elsewhere, New Year’s Day may be symbolized by lighting a new fire, eat ing new foods, or (as in Wales) sprinkling fresh water on houses. In many cultures, from England

the power to realize them. It was religion for an optimistic, confident society and for people who wanted to feel that way too. New Thought stresses that God and his world are wholly good and that it is only our negative thinking that keeps us from seeing and appreciating this. But if we truly believe that we can be perfectly healthy or that our legitimate goals in life can be real ized, then we are already well on our way to health and success. To focus thought in this way, advocates urge meditation or concentration, sometimes recom mending chantlike affirmations as well. New Thought produced several small religious denominations, including the Church of Divine Sci ence, the Church of Religious Science, and Unity. Note the frequent use of the word science in New Thought; its practitioners say that their approach is based on a scientific knowledge of how thought works, not merely on blind faith. C HRISTIAN S CIENCE , although obviously closely related to New Thought, does not consider itself part of the New Thought movement. It says that although New Thought teaches the power of thought to heal and change reality, the Christian Science teaching of Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910) declares instead that there never was anything wrong with reality or ourselves; it is only our erro neous thoughts that were at fault. Numerous other “inspirational” speakers and books, some of them best-sellers, clearly have sources in the movement. In the mid-20th century, Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) was widely known. Although he was a minister in mainline denominations, his books, such as The Power of Positive Thinking, Guide to Confident Living, The Tough-Minded Optimist, and You Can If You Think You Can, virtually sum up the New Thought mes sage in their titles alone. Over and over, with the help of simple slogans and homespun anecdotes, Peale presented his method for successful living: Set goals, believe you can accomplish them, do not give way to the mental drainage of gloomy, defeat ist thoughts. His tradition is continued in the “pos sibility thinking” of Robert Schuller of the Crystal Cathedral in California. Other important 20th-cen tury New Thought teachers have been Emmet Fox,