The ancient origins of New Year's resolutions and how the tradition has changed

Planning New Year's resolutions Dr. Dayna Lee-Baggley shares some tips and tricks on planning New Year's resolutions.

Near the end of every year, the prospect of rising from the fog of holiday hustle, bustle and feasts to contemplate how to do better next year is welcomed by many, ignored by some and resented by others.

The practice of making New Year’s resolutions may be done with optimistic intent. But usually by the second month of the year, about 64 per cent of those self-improvement hopefuls abandon their goals, perhaps leaving some to wonder, “Why do we even have this tradition in the first place?”

The answer, it turns out, traces back 3,000 to 4,000 years, to the ancient Babylonian festival of Akitu, celebrated in April, said Dr. Candida Moss, the Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology in the department of theology and religion at the University of Birmingham in England, via email.

The timing of the festival and beginning of the Babylonians’ new year — which also sometimes occurred in March, marking the start of the farming season — was based on the Babylonian calendar, said Dr. Louisa McKenzie, an art historian, journalist and associate fellow at the Warburg Institute in London, via email. The ancient city of Babylon was located in what’s now Iraq, roughly 88.5 kilometres south of Baghdad.

“Like many ancient New Year’s festivals, (Akitu) lauded creation and fertility on both an agricultural and cosmic scale,” Moss said. “The mythic origin of the feast was the creation of the world by the god Marduk. According to the myth called Enuma Elish, the world came into existence when Marduk slew his female rival Tiamat and created the heavens and earth out of her dismembered carcass.”

At the Akita festival, Moss added, people gathered to marvel at the wonders of creation and the victory of murderous, bloody order over chaos. It was also at this festival that Babylonians engaged in the first form of New Year’s resolutions, partly to placate temperamental gods — such as by vowing to pay off debts or by returning borrowed farm equipment.

Civilizations across the world have celebrated the turning of the year for millennia, McKenzie said. Although the Romans didn’t necessarily use the term resolutions, they tried to enter the new year with a positive mindset, as recorded by early first century texts such as the Roman poet Ovid's "Fasti" — a six-part account of the Roman year and its religious festivals.

They also exchanged gifts of figs and honey or other foodstuffs that represented prosperity, and ensured they worked for part of the day as a good omen for the coming year, Moss said.

Rome’s highest officials resolved to remain loyal to the republic and swore oaths to the emperor, according to Dr. Richard Alston, professor of Roman history in the department of classics at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Here’s how the custom has evolved, and remained the same, over the years.

The long-held desire to be better

When it comes to ancient forms of New Year’s resolutions, “the logic here is very much along the principle of ‘start as you mean to go on,’” Moss said. “Throughout history we see the same principle at play.”

In Ireland, having a clean house at the start of the year symbolized a fresh start and the luck of the house for the coming year.

There’s also the figuratively regenerative burning of the Año Viejo in Colombia, Ecuador and other parts of Latin America. In this out-with-the-old tradition, which is Spanish for “old year,” families stuff a life-size male doll with memories of the outgoing year or other materials and dress it in their clothing before setting the doll ablaze at midnight.

More recent versions of New Year’s rituals have their roots in Colonial America, Moss said.

“Among 17th- and 18th-century Puritans there was a desire to avoid debauchery and reflect on the passing and coming years,” she added. “In 1740, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, introduced the Covenant Renewal Service as an alternative to raucous celebrations. These gatherings included night watch services, hymn singing, and reflection.”

Over several years, New England theologian Jonathan Edwards, another notable figure in the First Great Awakening, created a list of 70 resolutions for himself to live by, which included treating people with kindness and avoiding gossip, according to Moss.

“One of the earliest surviving written references to a New Year’s resolution as we know it is found in the diary of Anne Halkett, Scottish memoirist and writer of religious texts,” McKenzie said. “On 2 January 1671 she made a note of her intentions for the coming year under the heading ‘resolutions.’ This isolated reference is likely indicative of a more widespread practice.”

Another old tradition: Breaking resolutions

By the 19th century, mentions of the aspirational practice were appearing in newspaper and magazines articles and cartoons, often referencing people’s failure to maintain their resolutions, McKenzie said.

An 1802 article from Walker’s Hibernian Magazine is an instance of satirization, according to Merriam-Webster: “The following personages have begun the year with a strong (list) of resolutions, which they all solemnly pledged to keep. … Statesmen have resolved to have no other object in view than the good of their country … the physicians have determined to follow nature in her operations, and to prescribe no more than is necessary, and to be very moderate in their fees.”

Other writings called people out for supposedly having ulterior motives for their New Year’s resolutions.

“There are multitudes of people, accustomed to receive injunctions of new year resolutions, who will sin all the month of December, with a serious determination of beginning the new year with new resolutions and new behaviour, and with the full belief that they shall thus expiate and wipe away all their former faults,” reads an article in a January 1, 1813, issue of a Boston newspaper. This is also the first known documentation of the full phrase as we know it, according to Merriam-Webster.

“In 1893,” McKenzie said, “Yenowine’s Illustrated News out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, published a list of citizens’ ‘Resolutions,’ many of which seem to be lightly satirical: ‘Frank A Lappen: To steer clear of Milwaukee during the whole of 1894.’”

New Year’s resolutions were a firm tradition by the 20th century, McKenzie said. At this point, the tradition had also moved beyond religious contexts, reflecting the beginnings of the broader secularization of society, Moss said.

While alike in ultimate goals, the differences between religious and secular aspirations — and between ancient and modern iterations — are the intent and motivation, Moss said. A 17th century Christian may have resolved to “avoid gluttony,” for example, whereas a 21st century individual may aim to “eat healthy.”

“The desire to start afresh, however, is a universal human impulse,” she added.