New Years Celebrations Around The WorldThroughout the world, there are hundreds of different religions. How they celebrate New Years ranges from huge celebrations to small gatherings of family and friends, but a comparison can be made between these festivals. Just because people belong to different faiths, doesn’t mean that we aren’t all the same in some way or another. Looking at the Celtic, Buddhist, and Muslim way of celebrating New Years, many similarities can be found in what may seem like three complete different religions.
First, we will compare the Muslim celebration of breaking bread, called Id al-Fitr, which happens after Ramadan. Ramadan, for clarification, is the Muslim ritual of fasting and takes place any time on the Christian calendar, but on the ninth month of the Muslim calendar. They revolve around the new moon and Muslim’s are supposed to fast for the whole month – everyone over 12 years old. Now, in comparison to the Buddhist New Year, there are multiple similarities. Buddhists also follow the moons cycle – as does their calendar, however they celebrate at the first full moon, rather than new moon. They are also both similar in the joy that is apparent in these celebrations. During Id al-Fitr, gifts are given and time is spent with family, while Buddhists have the same type of family values and cheerfulness. Of course, prayer is a very important part of both celebrations, and really reflects what each festival is all about.
Now, Celtic and Muslim celebrations also have similarities in that prayer is evident during both celebrations. However, in the Celtic tradition, people celebrate the endings of things – like jobs, deaths, or relationships. This may seem a bit different, but there is still evidence of religious tradition here – as is the same during Id al-Fitr. Once again, that joy, happiness, and family time are very important aspects of both celebrations. One unique similarity here is between the elders in both religions. Elders are respected and seen as wise. This is a common theme in multiple religions and is especially evident during these New Years celebrations.
And finally, a comparison can be made between the Buddhist and Celtic celebrations of New Years. Here, everything is pretty much the same as the above paragraph – with similarities in the way they each celebrate their New Year and what it means to them. There is happiness and family all around, though maybe for different reasons, but whatever the case, there is still an argument that these religions may be different, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any similarities.
People can connect in a multitude of ways, but religion isn’t usually a common one. However, through this comparison, it is easy to see that not everyone or every religion is different. Similarities can be found everywhere and for the celebration of New Years in the Celtic, Buddhist, and Muslim tradition, not everything is different. Everything is connected and religion is universal.
