Noruz mobarak!

Last friday morning (USA time), all Iranians celebrated Noruz, their new year! So...

HAPPY NORUZ!
or (now in Farsi)
NORUZ MOBARAK!

(No=New, Ruz=Day ==> Noruz = new day)

We are now in the year 1388. Yay!

(the actual calender details are really interesting like the fact that the first 6 months have 31 days and the last 6 have 30 days, last month can change by one day if it is a leap year. The day distribution is due to the fact that the sun moves slightly more slowly along the ecliptic in the northern spring and summer than in the northern autumn and winter)

Now I am going to give you all a history lesson. Gather around my little lambs and let me tell you all a story...

Noruz goes all the way back to the Achaemenid era (founded by Cyrus the Great) and was one of the important festivals of the Zorasterians (which was founded in that era).
In harmony with rebirth of nature, Noruz always begins on the first day of spring; more precisely, it is celebrated on the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day. So the precise time of Noruz varies form year to year, depending on where you are on the planet, though it is somewhere in the time window of 21st of March, plus or minus a day.
I don't know any other new year which is so precise, do you?

Some of the activities during Noruz are spring cleaning, buying new cloths, painting eggs, family reunion, giving presents, visiting neighbors and friends and celebrating by having a picnic on the 13th day of Spring.
Just like the xmas tree and the nativity scenes for christmas, Iranians have a Noruz spread, called the haftsin (haft=7, sin=the sound of the letter 's'==> haftsin=the 7 's's) where families gather around as the new year rings in.
Haftsin consists of a spread with 7 items, all starting with the letter 's'. Haftsin represents renewal, happiness, wealth, good health, and other things which are desired for the new year. The items on the haftsin are:

• sabzeh - wheat, barley or lentil sprouts growing in a dish - symbolizing rebirth
• samanu - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ - symbolizing affluence
• senjed - the dried fruit of the oleaster tree - symbolizing love
• seer - garlic - symbolizing medicine
• seeb - apples - symbolizing beauty and health
• somaq - sumac berries - symbolizing (the color of) sunrise
• serkeh - vinegar - symbolizing age and patience

There are other optional items such as coins (sekkeh) representing wealth, candles representing enlightenment and happiness and mirror representing cleanness and honesty. Oh and then there is the gold fish which represents life within life and is the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I had my best Noruz in a long time, a real noruz. It had been a long time since I gathered with my mum and uncles and aunts and cousins to celebrate Noruz. We didnt end up having the hafsin which kind of sucked but hey, it was the best celebration in recent history. Next year my aim is the whole family and a haftsin. :-D