Haft Seen

Norouz (also spelled Norooz, Noruz, Nauroz, Nav-roze, Navroz, Naw-Rúz or Nowrouz and in Persian نوروز) is the traditional Iran ( Persia: ایران) is a Middle Eastern country located in southwestern Asia that until 1935 was referred to in the West as Persia. The name Iran is a modern cognate of Aryan meaning Land of the Aryans. Iran borders Pakistan (909km of border) and Afghanistan (936km... Iranian festival of the This page deals with the annual event. For the band, see The New Year. The New Year is an event that happens when a culture celebrates the end of one year and the beginning of the next. Cultures that measure yearly calendars all have New Year celebrations. Modern new year... New Year in the This article is in need of attention. Please improve it in any way you see fit. The Iranian calendar (also known as Persian calendar) is a solar calendar currently used in Iran and Afghanistan. Background Persians have always been keen on the idea and importance of calendar system for as... Persian calendar which starts at the exact moment of the In astronomy, the vernal equinox (spring equinox, March equinox, or northward equinox) is the equinox at the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere: the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading northward. The term can also be used to refer to the point on the... vernal equinox, commencing the start of the spring. The name comes from Persian (فارسی), also known as Farsi (local name), Parsi (older local name, but still used by some speakers), Tajik (a Central Asian dialect) or Dari (an Afghan dialect), is a language spoken in Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. It has official-language status in the first... Persian no=new + rooz=day; meaning "new day".

Norouz with its uniquely Iranian characteristics has been celebrated for at least 3,000 years and is deeply rooted in the rituals and traditions of the The main Zoroastrian fire temple in Yazd, Iran. Zoroastrianism is the name given to a religion practiced by several hundred thousand people. While there are few Zoroastrians now, it once was the official religion of Sassanid Persia and played an important role in Achaemenid times as well. According to internal... Zoroastrian religion. Today the festival of Norouz is not only celebrated in Iran, but also in many lands that historically have been within the Persian sphere of cultural influence, namely, The Republic of Turkey is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part of its territory (3%) in southeastern Europe. Until 1922, the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, forms the core of the country... Turkey, The Republic of Iraq is a Middle Eastern country in southwestern Asia encompassing the ancient region of Mesopotamia. It shares borders with Kuwait and Saudi-Arabia to the south, Jordan to the west, Syria to the north-west, Turkey to the north, and Iran to the east. Its current leadership... Iraq, Afghanistan ( Pashtu/ Dari-Persian: Afğānistān افغانستان) is a country in Central Asia. It is bordered by Iran in the west, Pakistan in the south and east, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the... Afghanistan, The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of more than one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. India has grown significantly, both in population and in strategic importance in the last two decades. The Indian economy is... India, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan (پاکستان in Urdu), or Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia. Pakistan borders India, Iran, Afghanistan, China and the Arabian Sea. With over 150 million inhabitants it is the sixth most populous country in the world. It also... Pakistan, Turkmenistan, once known as the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic is a country in Central Asia. It has borders with Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and has a coastline on the Caspian Sea. National motto: none Official language Turkmen Capital Ashgabat President and Prime Minister Saparmurat Niyazov Area  - Total  - % water... Turkmenia, Tajikestan, The Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia (it is surrounded only by landlocked countries and, along with Liechtenstein, is one of only two such countries in the world). It shares borders with Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. National motto: none Official language Uzbek Capital... Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan (disambiguation). Azerbaijan ( Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan) is a country in the Caucasus, in the crossroads of Europe and Southwest Asia, with an east coast on the Caspian Sea. It borders Russia on the north, Georgia and Armenia on the west, and Iran on the south. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic... Azerbaijan, and other parts of Central Asia.

Iranians consider the Norouz as their greatest celebration of the year. Even with Islam ( Arabic al-islām الإسلام,  listen?) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. Etymology In Arabic, Islām means submission and is described as a Dīn, meaning way of life... Islam, and the Ismaili Muslims, the festival of Norouz continues to be by far the most important celebration of the year in Iran. It has also been made an official Holy Day in the Known in India as the Lotus Temple, the Bahai House of Worship attracts an average of three and a half million visitors a year. The Baháí Faith is a monotheistic religion whose members follow the teachings of Baháulláh, founder and prophet of... Bahá'í Faith.

When is Norouz?

Unlike many calendrical holidays, Norouz is determined by a natural event, the In astronomy, the vernal equinox (spring equinox, March equinox, or northward equinox) is the equinox at the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere: the moment when the sun appears to cross the celestial equator, heading northward. The term can also be used to refer to the point on the... vernal equinox.

Norouz corresponds to the precise time of the vernal equinox, when the The Sun (occasionally referred to as Sol) is the star at the centre of our solar system. Planet Earth orbits the Sun, as do innumerable other bodies including other planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and dust. In common usage, the primary stellar body around which an object orbits is called its... sun passes through the The celestial equator is a great circle on the imaginary celestial sphere, which could be constructed by inflating the Earths equator until it intersects with said sphere. The celestial equator is inclined by ~23.5°, with respect to the ecliptic plane; a result of axial tilt. Categories: Astronomy stubs... celestial equator as it traverses the The plane of the Ecliptic is well seen in this picture from the 1994 lunar prospecting Clementine spacecraft. Clementines camera reveals (from right to left) the Moon lit by Earthshine, the Suns glare rising over the Moons dark limb, and the planets Saturn, Mars and Mercury (the... ecliptic. The exact time differs every year, but it is almost always on March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). There are 286 days remaining. Events 1413 – Henry V becomes King of England. 1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established. 1739 – Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks... March 20 or March 21 is the 80th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (81st in leap years). There are 285 days remaining. Events 1556 - In Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake. 1788 - A fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans and leaves most of the... March 21 of the The Gregorian calendar is the calendar currently used in the Western world. A modification of the Julian calendar, it was first proposed by the Neapolitan doctor Aloysius Lilius, and was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII, for whom it was named, on February 24, 1582 (Note: The papal bull Inter gravissimas... Gregorian calendar, and it is always known to an accuracy of seconds many years in advance. In 2005, Norouz was on Sunday March 20 at 12:33:00 PM GMT

The exact second the sun passes through this celestial intersection marks the start of astronomical Spring is one of the four seasons of temperate zones. Astronomically, it begins with the spring equinox (around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere, and September 23 in the Southern Hemisphere), and ends with the summer solstice (around June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and December 21 in the Southern... spring, the new Persian year, and Norouz celebrations.

Preparation

Preparing for Norouz starts in Esfand, the last month of winter in the This article is in need of attention. Please improve it in any way you see fit. The Iranian calendar (also known as Persian calendar) is a solar calendar currently used in Iran and Afghanistan. Background Persians have always been keen on the idea and importance of calendar system for as... Persian solar calendar. Iranians start preparing for the Norouz by doing a major spring-cleaning of their houses, buying new clothes to wear for the new year and buying lots of flowers for the Norouz (in particular the The name Hyacinth can refer to: the Hyacinth from Greek mythology. the hyacinth flower. the Hyacinth Macaw Saint Hyacinth This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. If an article link referred you here, you might want to... hyacinth and the This article is about the Tulip bulb plant. For the Tulip-tree, see Liriodendron. For the Tulip computer company, see Tulip Computers NV. Species About 100 species, including: Tulipa agenensis Tulipa armena Tulipa aucheriana Tulipa biflora Tulipa borszczowii Tulipa butkovii Tulipa carinata Tulipa celsiana Tulipa clusiana Tulipa cretica Tulipa cypria... tulip are popular and conspicuous).

Chahar Shanbe Soori

The last Tuesday of the year is celebrated by the Iranian people with a special series of customs including lighting fires, going to family parties, "Faal Goosh", "Ghaashogh Zani" etc. Most of the citizens go to the streets and alleys, make fires, and jump over them while singing the traditional song Zardie man az tou Sorkhie tou az man.

Serving different kinds of pastry and nuts known as Ajile Moshkel Gosha is another Chahar Shanbe Soori tradition.

The Haft Seen (In Persian: هفت سین)

A major tradition of Norouz is setting the "Haft Seen" (the seven 'S', seven items starting with letter S or "seen" (س) in The Arabic alphabet is the script used for writing the Arabic language, which is the language of the Quran, the holy book of Islam. The alphabets influence spread with that of Islam and it has been, and still is, used to write many other languages from families unrelated to... Persian alphabet), which is seven specific items on a table symbolically corresponding to the seven creations and the seven holy immortals protecting them. Today they are changed and modified but some have kept their symbolism. Every family tries to set up as beautiful a Haft Seen table as they can, as it is not only of special spiritual meaning to them, but also is noticed by visitors to their house during Norouzi visitations and is a reflection of their good taste.

The Haft Seen are seven of these, though there isn't consensus as to which seven:

• sabzeh - Species T. aestivum T. aethiopicum T. araraticum T. boeoticum T. carthlicum T. compactum T. dicoccon T. durum T. ispahanicum T. karamyschevii T. militinae T. monococcum T. polonicum T. spelta T. timopheevii T. trunciale T. turanicum T. turgidum T. urartu T. vavilovii T. zhukovskyi References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09... wheat, Species Hordeum arizonicum Hordeum brachyantherum Hordeum bulbosum Hordeum californica Hordeum depressum Hordeum intercedens Hordeum jubatum Hordeum marinum Hordeum murinum Hordeum pusillum Hordeum secalinum Hordeum spontaneum Hordeum vulgare References ITIS 40865 2002-09-22 Barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a major food and animal feed crop, and a member of the grass... barley or Binomial name Lens culinaris Medikus Red lentils Lentils (Lens culinaris, Fabaceae) are lens-shaped pulses that grow on an annual, bushlike plant. They have a short cooking time and a distinctive earthy flavor. A variety of lentils exist with colors that range from yellow to red-orange to green, brown... lentil sprouts growing in a dish (symbolising rebirth)
• samanu - a sweet pudding made from wheat germ (symbolising affluence)
• senjed - the dried fruit of the Species About 40, including Ziziphus glabarrima Ziziphus lotus Ziziphus mauritanica Ziziphus spinachristi Ziziphus zizyphus Jujube, Chinese Date, or Tsao(棗) is a small deciduous tree or shrub in the Buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae). Its scientific name is Ziziphus zizyphus, synonym Z. jujuba. It originated in China, where it has been grown... jujube tree (love)
• seer - Garlic (Allium sativum) is a bulbous perennial food plant of the family Alliaceae. The word comes to us from Old English gārlēac, meaning spear leek. Because of its wide cultivation, its origins are uncertain; it has been traced to both southwest Siberia and Sicily, where it... garlic (medicine)
• seeb - Species Malus domestica Malus sieversii The apple is the pomaceous fruit of trees of the genus Malus in the family Rosaceae, and is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. Table apples are of the species M. domestica or hybrids of it. Botanical origins Wild Malus sieversii apple in... apples, (beauty and health)
• somaq - Species About 250 species; see text Rhus is a genus of woody shrubs and trees, all with the leaves spirally arranged and pinnately compound (some species are trifoliate). The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes 5-30 cm long, each flower very small, creamy white, greenish or red, with... sumac berries (the colour of the sunrise)
• serkeh - Vinegar (from Old French vinaigre sour wine) is a sour liquid made from the oxidation of ethanol in wine, cider, beer, or the like. Vinegar is typically three to five percent by volume acetic acid, and natural vinegars also contain smaller amounts of tartaric acid, citric acid, and others. Production... vinegar (age and patience)
• sonbol - the fragrant Species Hyacinthus litwinowii Hyacinthus orientalis Hyacinthus transcaspicus A Hyacinth is any plant of genus Hyacinthus, which are bulbous herbs formerly placed in the lily family Liliaceae but now regarded as the type genus of the separate family Hyacinthaceae. Hyacinths are native to the Mediterranean region as well as South Africa... hyacinth flower (the coming of spring)
• sekkeh - This article is about monetary coins. For alternative meaning see word coinage. 1c euro coin A coin is generally a piece of hard material, traditionally metal and usually in the shape of a disc, which is used as a form of money. Along with banknotes, coins make up the cash... coins (prosperity and wealth)

Other items on the table may include:

• pastries
• lit This article is on the source of light. For other meanings see Candle (disambiguation) A lit candle. A candle is a light source usually consisting of an internal wick which rises through the center of a column of solid fuel. Typically the fuel is a form of wax with paraffin... candles (enlightenment and happiness)
• a This article is about the reflective surfaces. A mirror is a reflective surface that is smooth enough to form an image. The best known example is the plane mirror. The commonest use is in the home for shaving, make-up etc but mirrors are also used in scientific apparatus such... mirror
• Ukrainian Easter eggs Egg decorating is the art or craft of decorating eggs. Any bird egg can be used, but generally the larger and stronger the eggshell is, the more favoured it will be by decorators. Goose, duck or hens eggs are usually blown, i.e. the content of the... painted eggs, perhaps one for each member of the family (fertility)
• a bowl with two Trinomial name Carassius auratus auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) The goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus) is one of the earliest fish to be domesticated and is still one of the most commonly-kept aquarium fish. A smallish member of the carp family (like the koi), the goldfish is a domisticated version of a... goldfish (life, and the sign of In classical zoological taxonomy, Pisces is the scientific name of the superclass Pisces, which has been proven paraphyletic. See also fishes. Categories: Astronomy stubs | Constellations listed by Ptolemy | Modern constellations | Astrological signs | Constellations | Pisces constellation ... Pisces which the sun is leaving)
• a bowl of water with an Orange can refer to the following: Things Orange (word) - the word orange in the English language Orange (fruit) – the fruit of the orange tree Orange (colour) – a color between red and yellow Orange (company) – a telecommunications company Orange (bicycles) – a mountain bike manufacturer In heraldry, orange... orange in it (the earth floating in space)
• Species About 100, see text References:   U. of Illinois 2002-05-29 A rose is a flowering shrub of the genus Rosa and the flower of this shrub. Description There are more than a hundred species of wild roses, all from the northern hemisphere and mostly from temperate... rose water for its magical cleansing powers
• the Flag ratio: 4:7 The current flag of Iran was adopted on July 29, 1980, and is a reflection of the changes brought to Iran by the Islamic Revolution. The basic design of the flag is three horizontal bands of green above white above red, symbolising, respectively, Islam, peace, and... national colours, for a patriotic touch
• a book of poetry by Khwajeh Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi (also spelled Hafiz) (خواجه شمس‌الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی in Persian) was an Iranian mystic and poet. He was born... Hafez or a holy book (the The Quran ( Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; its literal meaning is the recitation and is often called Al Quran Al Karim: The Noble Quran, also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book... Qur'an for Muslims, the Torah, (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or especially Law. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, or the Five Books of Moses. The five books are Genesis (Bereishit בראש... Torah or 11th century manuscript of the Hebrew Bible with Targum Hebrew Bible refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian canons. Its use is favored by most academic Biblical scholars as a bias-free term that is preferred to both Tanakh and Old Testament when discussing the text in... Hebrew Scriptures for For a discussion of Jews as an ethnicity or ethnic group see the article on Jew. The Star of David, a common symbol of Jews and Judaism Judaism is the religion and culture of the Jewish people and one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths. It is also one of... Jews)

Celebrating

During the Norouz holidays Iranians are expected to pay house visits to one another (mostly limited to families, friends and neighbours) in the form of short house visits and the other side will also pay you a visit during the holidays before the 13th day of the spring. Typically, on the first day of Norouz, family members gather around the table, with the Haft Seen on the table or set next to it, and await the exact moment of the arrival of the spring. At that time, elders are expected to give money to their younger relatives. Later in the day, on the very first day, the first house visits are paid to the most senior family members. Typically, the youngers visit the elders first, and the elders return their visit later. The visits naturally have to be relatively short, otherwise one will not be able to visit everybody on their list. Every family announces in advance to their relatives and friends which days of the holidays are their reception days. A typical visit is around 30 minutes, where you often run into other visiting relatives and friends who happen to be paying a visit to the same house at that time. Because of the house visits, you make sure you have a sufficient supply of pastry, cookies, fresh and dried fruits and special nuts on hand, as you typically serve your visitors with these items plus tea or syrup.

Sizdah Bedar

The thirteenth day of the New Year festival is called Sizdah Bedar (meaning "thirteen outdoors"). People go out in the nature in groups and spend all day outdoors in the nature in form of family picnics. It is a day of festivity in the nature, where children play and music and dancing is abundant. On this day, people throw their sabzeh away in the nature as a symbolic act of making the nature greener, and to dispose of the bad luck that the sprouts are said to have been collecting from the household.

External links

• The Festival of Noe-Rooz (http://www.art-arena.com/noerooz.htm)
• Norooz (http://www.neda.net/norooz/)
• What is Norouz? (http://www.payvand.com/ny/massoume.html)
• President George W. Bush's greetings on Norouz (http://www.payvand.com/news/05/mar/1164.html)
• Norouz Research Foundation (http://www.nowruz.ir/)