Chaharshanbe Suri: Persian Festival Of Fire

One of the most important things to do in Iran is to check out the calendar for annual festivals.

Iran holds and celebrates various events and festivals all year round. Some of the rituals and festivals in Iran consist of religious ceremonies and rites, and many others have more historic and ceremonial backgrounds which can be tracked in to pre-Islamic era. There are also many feasts and celebrations to pay homage to many deities and they are mostly farming festivals. The festivals in Iran vary greatly by region due to Iran’s multi-ethnic make-up. One of the most important and old festivals is Chahrshanbe Suri. In the evening of the last Tuesday of each year, Iranians celebrate a fire festival with its roots in the ancient customs and history of the country. People set up bonfires in the streets and jump over them to cleanse themselves of all the misfortunes and impurities of the past year and get ready to welcome the coming New Year.

This is a warm welcome to Noruz and its attendant customs that precedes the festival of Sizdah Be-dar (lit. “to get rid of thirteen”) a Festival of “Joy and Solidarity” celebrated on the 13th day of the Iranian New Year, which brings the Noruz celebrations to an end.

Fire, not only in historic Persia, has long been held as sacred among Indians, Europeans and many other cultures. According to ancient Iranian beliefs, Azar (Fire) was the son of Ahura Mazda. Ancient Persians believed in the purity and purifying power of fire. The belief was so strong that, to prove one’s innocence, people had to cross through the fire, as Siavash did in Ferdowsi’s epic poem, the Shahnameh. Chaharshanbe Suri (Chaharshanbe Soori) is the festival of fire. Chaharshanbeh means Wednesday and Suri has the meanings of red, party or festival.

People would also put food, sweets, flowers and wine on the roof of their houses and pray for their dead to appease them. This is the origin of the fire festival in Persia before the arrival of Islam and was held in the last five days of the year. But where does Chaharshanbe Suri originate from?

 Chaharshanbe Suri

Setting up fires in Chaharshanbe Suri became popular after the arrival of Islam. Up until this period, Iranians didn’t have seven days to the week as we have now. In ancient Persia every day of the month had a name and it was the name of an angel. Today’s weekdays, only entered Iran after the invasion of the Muslims. From the Muslim period onwards many Iranian customs and festivals began to fade away and some have disappeared completely.

Iranians who were concerned about preserving their culture tried to save their rites and customs from extinction. One solution was to protect them under the veil of Islamic practice. They chose the last Wednesday of the year, since Arabs believed that Wednesday is unlucky and a day of bad omens and that n such days, people should feast and be happy not to let devils and genies enter their souls. So Iranians shifted their fire festival to Wednesday in order to celebrate their traditional customs and save them from Arab influence.

The celebration usually starts in the evening. People set up bonfires in the streets and began to jump over them. It is an old belief that jumping over the fire will burn away the participants’ pains, impurities, diseases and misfortunes. Therefore the ashes should be thrown away as people have cast off their former pains and misfortunes into them.

While jumping over the fire people sing: zardi-ye man az to, sorkhi-ye to az man, literally: my sickly yellow paleness is yours; your fiery red color is mine. It is customary on this night for families to buy Ajil-e Chaharshanbe Suri which is made of different dried nuts, fruits and sweets. They also prepare a kind of Âsh (noodle soup) called Âsh-e Chaharshanbe Suri.There are some other rituals connected to the festival that have almost disappeared nowadays. One of them is Kuze-Shekani (earthenware jar-shattering) in which people put some coals, salt and a very cheap and worthless coin into an earthen jar and then throw it down from the roof into the alley to break. Coal and salt are signs of ill omen and bad luck and a worthless coin is the symbol of indigence. By doing this people drive away misfortunes and bad omens from their homes.

Fâl-Gush neshini is another custom in which the girls who wish to find a husband or have any other desire to fulfill in the New Year, go out of the house into the streets and hide behind a wall and listen to the conversations of passersby. If what is overheard is positive or optimistic then their wishes will come true and if otherwise, not.

The other ritual of this night is Qaashoq-Zani (Spoon-hitting). Young girls wrap themselves into a shroud (chador) and then while banging a spoon against a bowl go and stand at the door of neighbors, where the house owner fills their bowls with Chaharshanbe Suri’s ajils. A person who receives nothing is believed to expect an unfortunate year. Sometimes young boys don a chador and do this for fun.

Kooze Shekani in Birjand, North East of Iran

The household put some coal, as the sign of ill omen, and some salt, standing for evil eye, plus a cheap coin, signifying poverty, inside an earthenware jar. They turn the earthenware jar around their heads one by one. Then, one of them throws the jar over the roof onto the alley. Thus, ill omen, evil eye and poverty are driven out of the house.Today only the name remains of many of these customs. Instead various kinds of firecrackers have become part of the celebrations. Unfortunately every year some people are hurt and hospitalized by the fireworks. Chaharshanbe Suri, however, remains one of the most important and joyous national festivals for Iranians around the world.

Gereh-Goshaee

Similarly, women yearning to tie the knot or persons who have run into some problem, make a knot at the corner of a handkerchief or some other garment and request the first person whom they come across to undo it. The willingness will signal a hopeful portent.

Shaal-Andazi (shawl-dropping)

In some parts of the country, young boys, who are engaged, drop a shawl or wraparound down from the roof of their fiancé’s house and she would present him with some confection or other present. Along with these rites, there are also others such as making soup for the sick, discarding the outworn furniture, etc.