Nauroze greetings!

Yesterday was the beginning of Nauroze (New Year) so greetings to our readers who celebrate this glorious spring festival, which dates back to the beginning of Persian history. The most prominent theme in the festival is the spring equinox, which occurs on the first day of spring. This reawakening symbolizes the triumph of good over the evil forces of darkness, which is manifested in the cold darkness of winter - the point when the oppressive presence of the bitter cold winter begins to recede and the lively and hopeful spring begins.

In essence, the Nauroze festival celebrates the rebirth of nature and celebrations include houses being decorated profusely with flowers and greenery; guests are invited and welcomed with a sweetmeat offering at the door, then they are required to look into a mirror in keeping with ancient tradition.

Spring cleaning or 'complete cleaning of the house' is commonly performed before Nauroze and the wearing of new clothes is a must to welcome the New Year. On the day itself, families dress in their new clothes and start the twelve-day celebrations by visiting the elders of their family, then the rest of their family and finally their friends. There are certain traditions associated with these celebrations, and how earnestly they are followed depends on individual preferences. On the first day family members gather around the table and await the exact moment of the arrival of the spring. At that time gifts are exchanged. Later in the day, the first house visits are paid to the most senior family members - the young people visit the elders first and the elders return their visit later. A sufficient supply of pastry, cookies, fresh and dried fruits and special nuts are kept as visitors are served with these items with tea or sherbet.

Some people believe that whatever a person does on this day will affect the rest of the year, so if a person is warm and kind to their relatives, friends and neighbours then the year will be a good one. On the other hand, if there are fights and disagreements, the year will be a bad one.

Both foreign and domestic historians admit they do not know precisely when nor how the festival emerged in ancient Persia and have expressed divergent opinions concerning the festival’s historical background. Recently however, after extensive scientific research, a prominent Iranian university professor claims that “the Nauroze Festival emerged 8,000 years ago.” Today, after the lapse of thousands of years, people of Iranian descent from all walks of life enthusiastically celebrate the festival, irrespective of their language, age, gender, race, ethnicity or social status.

— Ishrat Hyatt