Sorry, I wanted to write about it beforehand, but let's face it, that's like writing about Christmas during the Christmas season.... Just too hard to do from all the busy!
Anyhow, I intend to rectify the fact now by sharing some pictures and a little of what's been going on here.
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| Norooz in a Sassanian gown; this is from last year, at my cousin's house. |
First off, let's start with the basic Norooz celebration.
Norooz is the celebration of the Spring Equinox, it happens at the same time globally. That meant that while it happened at a reasonable part of the day in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, etc. in California (which is where we are) we had it happen at essentially 4 in the morning.
Prior to Norooz, we engage in spring cleaning and the preparation of something called a Haftsin. Haftsin literally means "seven 's's". My best comparison for this is a Christmas Nativity. Ok, so we don't have little representations of people, but it does get a nice, special place to sit where all can see and it has a very important symbolism.
Haftsin! Labelled for your convenience to read below.
The Haftsin, as I've been raised to have it, MUST contain (I say must because my family always does it this way, but there's plenty of substitutions that can happen)
- Sabzeh (Wheat grass or Lentil grass, traditionally grown in a bowl without soil)
- Senjed (When I translate my Wikipedia, it says it's silver berry, oleaster, Russian olive, or wild olive.... I really am not 100% sure if this is accurate, as the pictures are of the tree, not the fruit)
- Samanoo (A yummy pudding made out of wheat sprouts)
- Serkeh (Vinegar)
- Sumac (A dried and ground up berry that tastes citrus-y and is usually used on red-meat kabob)
- Sib (Apple)
- Sir (Garlic)
Oh, you'll also notice that #3 has a spoon in it and appears to be practically empty. You're correct in noticing that. See, my fiance took it upon himself to eat all the samanoo out of the haftsin before I got the chance to take a picture. **sigh**
Anyhow, in addition to the seven "S's" common things to see that we also have:
- A mirror
- Candles
- Goldfish
- Eggs
- Book
You can see our little fishie isn't a goldfish. We have a good reason for that.
Goldfish are finicky, at least the really pretty ones are (I think the tiny dime priced ones are sturdier, but my family tends to prefer the fancier ones since we have to see them all the time). Anyhow, my cousin, who got her fishes a few days before we did, had them die on her on accident. I guess the weather warmed the water too fast and they suffocated or something.
It was really terrible, the poor little things. Not at all a good start to the New Year (considering our religion too, death on the Haftsin is probably a bad omen). To make things worse, she had to explain to her young step-daughter why they were flushing the fish down the loo. Not good.
So on her advice (which she garnered through her husband who got it from the guy at the pet store) we bought a betta splendens fish. They like room temperature water, don't need fancy filters, and are incredibly pretty.
So that's why the fish in the picture looks like a peacock that wants to maul you.
He has serious "Grumpy Cat" mouth. And he stalks his food pellets by making himself really sleek, coming up underneath them, and then beautifully frilling out before brutally attacking them. I like him, he's feisty.
Now, I mentioned that the Haftsin also typically has a book with it. Ours has two. The typical Divan-e Hafiz (which Persians often use as a type of "fortune telling" device at times by opening up to a random page, reading the excerpt, and trying to see what it applies to) that is very much common place in Persian households, and we have a Khordeh Avesta.
The Khordeh Avesta is a prayer book. In it is all the common prayers for our religion. Because of the religion I was born to, I still see Norooz as a religious holiday, despite the fact that for Persians, it's pretty much commercialized like Christmas.
We even have our own Santa Claus sort of fellow; we call him Hajji Firooz, and he runs around in a red suit (although, being Persian, his suit is red silk). I will say most Westerners find him politically incorrect and balk at the sight of him.... I could get into an argument about it, but why?
Maybe he's more like an Easter Bunny actually, since you don't sit on his lap and ask for presents....
A very pretty Hajji Firooz e-Card you can send for Norooz via
The time of Norooz is spent with the family in the home. Afterwards, you spend your time visiting friends, extended family, eating, and making merry.
Norooz is about a fresh start. I don't really think we have "resolutions" the way Gregorian New Year's celebrations entail. Rather, we take the time to reflect on the passed year and learn from it to make the new one better.
Iranian new year, Norroz, by Sheikh Reza via
In America, because many of us are torn from our families and homeland, we tend to have large celebrations and gatherings for Norooz in an attempt to gather the community we do have, together. I was terribly sad that this year, my local Darb-e Mehr (Fire Temple) was unable to celebrate the New Year with its customary gathering.
Apparently the neighbors complained (which I find ridiculous since the Darb-e Mehr is on a hillside, so far from anything you can't even seen the neighbors) and that, combined with other problems resulted in the only close Norooz event being one that cost big money and was not all Zoroastrian.
That last bit we wouldn't have a problem with, but we have a dog, and the dog is part of the family.... So she does not get left alone, especially not on Norooz. Most Persians out here don't give a second thought to dogs. In fact, most like dogs - which, much like Norooz itself, is a hold-over from when we were all, at one point, Zoroastrian - but unfortunately there are always occasionally those who will have none of it and cause a scene, and I hate to go through that.
So we had a very traditional Norooz. And come the next weekend, we will go down to visit my family and my fiance's, just in time for Sizdeh Bedar.
But Sizdeh Bedar is another post ;)
Anyhow, I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year! Saaleh no mobaarak, Norooz pirooz!
Norooz themed Khorshid Khanoom via
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