It’s the third day of the New Year, at least for those who follow the Julian calendar like the orthodox church does. The Julian calendar, named for Julius Caesar, was used throughout Europe until 1582 when it was found to be two weeks out of step with the lunar calendar and the changing seasons. Western Christianity went with the new calendar, but the old one was retained in orthodox lands until the 1917 revolution.

In the Soviet Union, Christmas was found to be too Christian for an atheistic country and probably Santa Claus became too capitalist. The new New Year which began at midnight on January 1st was free of religious connotations and hence became one of the main events of the year, Father Frost and the Snow Girl arriving and bearing gifts.

However, for the orthodox church, Christmas Day remains on the 6th of January and hence New Year’s Day is on the 14th. The orthodox New Year’s is not so much a time for celebration as for reflection. All of this should be good news for those who feel that the beginning of 2021 has been…well, weird. The first two weeks don’t really count. And if the second half of January gets even weirder, we can look forward to another reset on February 12th when the Year of the Ox begins according to the Chinese calendar.