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| "Chahar Shanbeh Soori" - An Ancient Persian Tradition "Chahar Shanbeh Soori" is celebrated on the Tuesday evening before the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar year. The Iranian year begins with the start of spring, which can be on March 20th or 21st, depending on the year. However, the first day of the year is always March 21st. If the last day of the year is a Tuesday, then "Chahar Shanbeh Soori" is celebrated a week earlier as was the case in 1994, when it was celebrated on March 15. Iranian weeks start with Saturday and end with Friday, which is the Muslim Sabbath. Legend has it that in the old Iranian religions (mainly idol worshipers) dating back 6-7,000 years, it was believed that the material world did not exist as we know it today. In stead, everything existed in the form of spirits. Later, the Creator of the Universe decided to transform these spirits into the worldly objects, including humans so it created the world in six stages. The first spirit was to be transformed into human and was one called "kee-yu-mars". It was also believed that these spirits would come back to earth at the start of every New Year presumably to re-unite with their living counterparts. In order to help these spirits find their way home, people would light up a fire as a guide. The fire was not worshiped, but was a symbol of purity. Ancient Iranians celebrated major holidays at least five days before the event. The celebrations preceding the New Year consisted of three festivities. They were: "Foroodegan" (coming down to earth or descending from the heaven), "Soori" (the origins of the word is unknown), and "Afarinesh" meaning creation. Iranian calendar did not have seven days a week as the modern calendar does. Instead, each of the 30 days in a month were uniquely named. Since Wednesday was considered bad omen ("nahs") by Arab tribes (before the emergence of Islam), Iranians renamed these celebrations to "Chahar Shanbeh Soori": Chahar Shanbeh" means Wednesday hoping the celebration would help get rid of the bad omen before the New Year begun. Some of the customs observed during these celebrations are listed below. Some may only be common in certain regions of the Iran. The only universally practiced tradition is perhaps jumping over a fire while saying the phrase "zardi ye man az to, sorkhi ye to az man" meaning that I will give you (i.e. the fire) my yellow-ness (i.e. sickness, weakness, etc.), and you give me your red-ness (i.e. health, vitality, etc.). Other traditions include: � Someone leaves the house and comes back knocking on the door. The people inside ask: "who are you?" and the answer is "bearer of good news". It is followed by "where do you come from", answer: "from a wedding". Then they ask: "what have you brought with you", answer: "health and happiness". Then the outsider is welcomed in with cheers. � Eating of a special mix of nuts, dried seeds, etc. called "Ajil", which can include some 15 or more varieties of munchies, including: pistachio, hazelnut, almond, and raisins. Many of them cannot easily be found in the West. � Some fill a clay vase with the ashes of the fire they jumped over, add salt and a few coins, and pass it around until the last person throws it out of the house to break it. This was believed to keep the bad spirits from entering the household upon the new year. � Some, mostly men, disguise themselves, sometimes in a woman's veil, and go to neighbors' doors banging on a metal bowl with a spoon expecting their bowl to be filled with "Ajil". This is called "Ghashogh Zani", meaning, as you might expect, banging with a spoon! This act is seen as giving to the needy and giving of charity. � Some make a wish and secretly eavesdrop on random conversations of passers by. If they hear them talking about anything good or positive, it means that their wish will come true, otherwise it won't. This is called "Fal Gooshi", meaning hearing of one's lot. Happy "Chahar Shanbeh Soori" to all. Shahram (Shawn) Khosravani Newsgroups: soc.culture.iranian |