Articles and Stories

March 19, 2015

By Uta Jürissen

“Nowruz is an ancestral festivity marking the first day of spring and the renewal of nature. It promotes values of peace and solidarity between generations and within families as well as reconciliation and neighborliness, thus contributing to cultural diversity and friendship among peoples and different communities.” (http://www.un.org/en/events/nowruzday/)

This holiday marks the Persian New Year and coincides with the first day of spring. It is celebrated in a variety of countries by different ethnic and religious groups, hence a symbol of tolerance and acceptance among them. Among the counties are Iran, Georgia, Syria, Turkey, India and even groups in Mongolia, Macedonia and Serbia.

Nowruz dates back to the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian religion which is estimated to be about 3000 years old.

The celebration is all about birth and renewal, with jumping over fire as a purification ritual. The ‘haft sin’ table as the center of the celebration. ‘Haft sin’ stands for the seven s’s and includes:

1. Somagh (sumac): symbolizes the color of sunrise
2. Serkeh (vinegar): symbolizes age and patience
3. Senjed (dried fruit from lotus tree): symbolizes love
4. Samanoo (sweet pudding): symbolizes affluence
5. Sabzeh (sprouts): symbolizes rebirth
6. Sib (apple): symbolizes health and beauty
7. Sir (garlic): symbolizes medicine (mypersiankitchen.com)

Other items on the table often include:

• Sonbol – Hyacinth (plant)
• Sekkeh – Coins – representative of wealth
• traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava, toot, naan-nokhodchi
• Aajeel – dried nuts, berries and raisins
• lit candles (enlightenment and happiness)
• a mirror (symbolizing cleanness and honesty)
• decorated eggs, sometimes one for each member of the family (fertility)
• a bowl of water with goldfish (life within life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving). As an essential object of the Nowruz table, this goldfish is also “very ancient and meaningful” and with Zoroastrian connection.
• rosewater, believed to have magical cleansing powers
• the national colours, for a patriotic touch
• a holy book (e.g., the Avesta, Qur’an,or Kitáb-i-Aqdas) and/or a poetry book (almost always either the Shahnameh or the Divan of Hafiz) (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowruz)

Some items to remind us of the Christian Easter celebration. The end result is a quite spectacular looking center table!

Celebrated by groups in the USA as well, you can find more information at:
http://wapo.st/1GmUP3P or http://nowruzfestival.org/.