Around 200 million people world wide celebrate Nowruz, the spring festival. Let us join them and celebrate the coming of spring into our homes. This blog post explains Nowruz in general terms and gives a check list of how you can celebrate Nowruz and starts improving your life.
What is Nowruz?
Nowruz is a festival to welcome the season of spring. Originally started in Persian traditions Nowruz is now celebrated by more than 200 million people globally. Earlier, Nowruz festivities commemorated the Sun moving from the Pisces constellation into the Aries constellation on the Vernal Equinox. However, in terms of astronomy today, Vernal Equinox or the movement of the Sun to the point of zero in celestial longitude and latitude is in the Pisces constellation and not in Aries constellation. This year the Vernal Equinox takes place at 17.32 UTC/GMT on Saturday 20 March 2010.
Generally known as the Persian New Year, Nowruz is celebrated in Persian and allied cultures for more than 5,000 years. Considering the fact that Nowruz is celebrated in more than 30 countries, United Nations has accorded its recognition to Nowruz as a holiday of cultural significance. Nowruz celebrations are seen primarily in Iran and countries in Central Asia such as Kurdistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Eastern Turkmenistan (Sinkiang) and Uzbekistan. In south Asia it is a noted festival in India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Kashmir. Turks, Kurds and Armenians join together to make Nowruz a memorable and national day in Turkey even though the Turkish Government does not officially recognize it. Syria, Armenia, Crimea, Georgia and other parts of Caucasus do have various cultural activities lined up for this day. People in Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia in the Balkans also take part in festivities connected with Nowruz. Moreover, diasporas from Armenia and Iran living elsewhere continue their traditions of Nowruz. Followers of Zoroastrar and Bahaullah world wide mark Nowruz as a day of great religious significance. Nowruz is also a day of remembrance for Shiaite sects such as Alawites and Albanian Takkes.
Nowruz is spelt something like 21 ways because of this ethnic and cultural diversity. In Turkey it is Nevruz, Uighurs call it Noruz while Kurds call it Nuroj. Starting from the Vernal Equinox, festivities continue for 12 days and on the thirteenth day people go outdoors to complete the cycle of this annual event.
How can you take part in Nowruz?
The following are few recommendations for you to take part in celebrating the spring festival:
1. Generally you can spruce op your home by cleaning, clearing and arranging and may be giving a face lift. This sprucing is called as “spring cleaning “in the west; this is the time to bring zing into your lifestyle
2. You can buy new clothes for you and your family
3. Flowers and bouquets containing hyacinth and tulip are brought home at the beginning to enhance positive cosmics and for improving your life and that of your family
4. You can light bonfire in your front yard; traditionally this bonfire is lit on the Wednesday preceding the Vernal Equinox day
5. As Vernal Equinox arrives you can lay a table known as “Haft Sin”. Thereafter you can decorate the table with beautiful clothes spread over it and keep few items over the table. Originally there were seven items coinciding with the seven planets; later two more were added. You can select either seven items or nine items as you please; I have given the entire nine items along with the traditional Persian Nowruz names against each one in brackets:
5.1 Wheat or Barley sprouts in a dish, clay or metal pot (Sabzeh) – for rejuvenation;
5.2 Dried fruits of oleaster, or fig or similar tree (Senjed) – for love
5.3 Sweet pudding made form wheat or oats (Samanu) – for affluence
5.4 Few coins (Sekkeh) – for wealth
5.5 Apples (Sib) – for beauty and health
5.6 Garlic (Sir) – for medicine
5.7 Hyacinth plant (Sonbol) for growth and equanimity
5.8 Sumac or multi colour berries (Somaq) – for rainbow and sunrise
5.9 A bottle of Vinegar (Serkeh) – for age, maturity and patience
6. You can keep a fish bowl with golden or colourful fish within to give zest and variety. This bowl can be placed on the table or nearby it
7. Keep few watermelons as nothing is complete in this heated ambience until you have water melons and lot of these with you. We enact the Zoroastrian custom and practice of eating the reddish inner chunks of this great fruit
8. The festivities last for 12 days and end with an outing on the thirteenth day. The following are few items on the agenda:
8.1 On the first part of six days look outward by visiting elders and relations in your neighbourhoods; exchange gifts and presents with them; invite them to visit you and get the cosmics from the table you have laid for Nowruz. It is also worthy to note that the sixth day is the birthday of Zarathushthra known in the west as Zoroaster
8.2 On the second part of six days look inwards by concentrating on improving your life and lifestyle; Young un-married girls should tie grass in knots and tie it on the right wrist to get good husbands; young un-married men could keep honey or candy overnight to be collected on the following day to get beautiful wives. Businessmen could tie coins in a red cloth and hang it to foster business; hyacinth also helps to do the same
8.3 The ending of Nowruz is scheduled on the thirteenth days when your entire family can go out door to enjoy both inward and outward looking. Known as “Sizdah Bedar” meaning "thirteen outdoors” this outing arises from the ancient Persian tradition of twelve zodiacal constellations controlling 12 months in a calendar and anything outside could be calamitous or could bring bad luck; in order to avoid such eventualities you move away from your home. Therefore the entire family goes outdoors to fairly a distant place and spends the thirteenth day there
9. Throughout the 12 days you light an oil lamp at the time of sun down each day; the element of fire is ranked first in the seven elements ancient Persians believed in: fire, air, water, earth, plants, animals and humans.
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