Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Novruz, along with New Year and the religious Ramadan holiday, is one of the most popular and most important holidays in Azerbaijan. Although celebrated in Islamic countries, Novruz is not a religious holiday;
it’s actually the celebration of the vernal equinox and the symbolic renewal of nature. According to scholars, it originates from Ancient Mesopotamia. In Babylon, New Year was celebrated the 21st day of Nissanu (correspondent to March and April) with festivities held for 12 days, each commemorated with individual rites, amusements and performances. Novruz is said to have been celebrated in both pre-Islamic times and later. During the Soviet period, it was given unofficial status and celebrators were even persecuted.
Novruz is associated with spring, the start of agricultural activities, a renewal of nature and the return of warm days. This period, being of great importance, caused many traditions and rites associated with magic, the cult of nature and earth and a belief in the perishing and reviving of nature, etc.
Typically, celebrations begin four weeks before the actual day of festivities. These four weeks, or exactly four Tuesdays, were each devoted to one of the four elements and called correspondingly, although names vary from location to location. They are Water, Fire, Wind and Earth Tuesdays.
March begins with the Water Tuesday. It is the first of the four holy Tuesdays. On this Tuesday, everyone goes to a spring and washes their hands and faces in the early morning. They splash water on one another and jump over the water. Water was considered to be the source of good health, according to old beliefs. They say on this day anyone who jumps over the water will resist disease the entire year. With the help of water, we are able to cultivate trees and flowers.
The second holy Tuesday is Fire Tuesday. The children make fires and jump over them while making wishes and singing songs. People knock on doors and place their hats in front of the doors, then hide themselves. The family in the house then puts some sweets in the hat and replaces the hat. Also, young people go to the streets, randomly select a house and listen at the backdoor. Whatever they hear on that day, it will happen to him or her the next year. For example, if you hear about marriage, you will get married next year. According to tradition, the more fire the man makes the more light he will have in his life. That is why our country is called “The land of flame.” Fire is the symbol of clearness. It means that the fire cleanses bad things from people’s lives and bad ideas from the hearts of people, bringing people health and strength.
The third Tuesday is Wind Tuesday. According to the old belief, the blowing wind walks everywhere, wakens fire, water and the earth from its winter sleep. The hot wind gives news of the coming of spring.
The last Tuesday is the Earth Tuesday. It is appointed as the major Tuesday of all of the Tuesdays. With the coming of the last Tuesday, the Sun begins to shine brightly; the weather gets warmer and snow begins to melt in the mountains and fields; the earth awakens from its winter sleep and migrating birds return to our country; violets and snowdrops begin to peep through the ground in the gardens and forests. According to tradition, the earth has strengthened from the previous Tuesdays. The last Tuesday means abundance, prosperity, the light of delight. We celebrate the last Tuesday as a great holiday. We decorate khoncha and burn candles for each person. We put sweets, small kinds of raisins, dates, nuts, walnuts on trays. We arrange fresh flowers on the table. Samani (growing wheat seeds) must be on the table as a symbol of spring and prosperity. Samani brings freshness, beauty with its coming. Samani was used to cure infertile women: a dish with sprung wheat for Samani was put on the head of a woman; another woman poured a little water into the dish cutting the squirt with scissors and chanted: “Oh, the Power which fecundated samani, fecundate this woman.” The fire under a Samani kettle was started by the happiest woman of the community, but the entire ceremony was led by the most respected woman. The place of the ceremony was prohibited to males, those who adhere to different faiths and “evil-eyed” women. In some regions, Samani was prepared by adding a pinch of salt to preserve it from the evil-eye. The entire preparatory ceremony was called “Samani feast” and was accompanied with ritual dancing and singing. As to the Samani rite’s origin, it is considered to be associated with both symbolizing the renewal of nature and the cult of plants.
To arrive at the actual day of Novruz, the vernal equinox was welcomed with flares and gun shooting. Traditionally, all family members had to stay at home this day, paying no visits and accepting no guests. They say, “The one that is out on the holiday eve will spend seven years in wandering.”
All days that precede the holiday are given to intense home-cleaning and the cooking of holiday food, which has its own traditions. For instance, the holiday food should include ingredients not usually used. Here the magic “7″ has to be mentioned as an element often found in Novruz rites, among which include “Seven things” that are remarkable. Actually, it consisted of putting seven items, salt, bread, an egg, rue, a piece of coal and a mirror, on a copper tray onto the holiday table and leaving them there for 12 days. Conceivably, this tray of items was meant to be a gift to the sun.
According to beliefs, plenty of food and holiday dishes would provide an abundance of these products in the coming New Year. Some ritual foods have magical symbolism, like eggs, which were believed to bear the nucleus of new life.
In the Novruz evening, everywhere one looks it is fresh and beautiful.

Ramil A. Babayev
GC&SU student from Azerbaijan Republic

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 2 2004. Filed under Letters to the Editor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry