The Traditions of the Persian Spring Festival: Nowruz
On March 21, the first day on the Iranian calendar and the first day of spring, all Iranians enthusiastically celebrate the Nowruz festival, irrespective of their age, language, gender, race, religion, or social status. Nowruz literally means “new day”, and the Norooz Festival, at its core, celebrates the rebirth of nature. This symbolizes the victory of good over the evil forces of darkness, which are represented by winter. The festival includes a big range of traditions and ceremonies from the last Wednesday of last year to the thirteenth day of the new Persian year; from the “Red Wednesday” and “Year Delivery” to “Pass Thirteenth!” among all.
The night before the last Wednesday of the year is celebrated as “Chârshanbe Sûrî” or “Red Wednesday”, which is a festival of fire. This festival is the celebration of the light (the good) winning over the darkness (the bad). The tradition includes people going into the streets and alleys to make bonfires, and jump over them while singing the traditional song “My yellowness is yours and your redness is mine”. The figurative message of the song is “My paleness (pain, sickness) for you (the fire), your strength (health) for me”. It is actually believed that the fire burns out all the fear (yellowness) in their spirit, in preparation for new year. The “Red Wednesday” way of giving thanks for the previous year 's health and happiness, while exchanging any remaining paleness and evil for the warmth and vibrancy of the fire, is serving different kinds of pastry and nuts known as “Problem-Solving Nuts”. There are also several other traditions on this night that I don’t have enough time to explain them.
The second tradition that I want to point out is “Year Delivery”, which is called as “Saal-Tahvil”, is the hours during which the old year ends and the new year begins. “Year Delivery” is celebrated around the “Haft-Sin Table”, which is a major traditional table setting of Nowruz, with presence of all members of the family, in
The night before the last Wednesday of the year is celebrated as “Chârshanbe Sûrî” or “Red Wednesday”, which is a festival of fire. This festival is the celebration of the light (the good) winning over the darkness (the bad). The tradition includes people going into the streets and alleys to make bonfires, and jump over them while singing the traditional song “My yellowness is yours and your redness is mine”. The figurative message of the song is “My paleness (pain, sickness) for you (the fire), your strength (health) for me”. It is actually believed that the fire burns out all the fear (yellowness) in their spirit, in preparation for new year. The “Red Wednesday” way of giving thanks for the previous year 's health and happiness, while exchanging any remaining paleness and evil for the warmth and vibrancy of the fire, is serving different kinds of pastry and nuts known as “Problem-Solving Nuts”. There are also several other traditions on this night that I don’t have enough time to explain them.
The second tradition that I want to point out is “Year Delivery”, which is called as “Saal-Tahvil”, is the hours during which the old year ends and the new year begins. “Year Delivery” is celebrated around the “Haft-Sin Table”, which is a major traditional table setting of Nowruz, with presence of all members of the family, in
Cited: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowruz http://www.payvand.com/news/04/mar/1137.html http://www.farsinet.com/noruz/history.html http://www.iranologie.com/history/nowruz-hist.html http://www.netglimse.com/holidays/nowruz/history_of_nowruz.shtml Aitch, Iian. “Events: Norouz: Persian New Year”, The Guardian (London), Final Edition March 20, 2010 Saturday, SECTION: THE GUIDE; Pg. 42. Engberg, Gillian. Book Review of “Happy Nowruz: Cooking with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year” by Najmieh Batmanglij, Booklist; 6/1/2008, Vol. 104 Issue 19/20, p70, 1p. “The fun and the hangover”. Economist, 00130613, 4/17/2010, Vol. 395, Issue 8678. Spencer, Nikki. “Ten best events”. The Independent (London), March 21, 2009 Saturday First Edition, SECTION: THE INFORMATION; Pg. 17