Zoroastrian Festivals
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Zoroastrian Festivals
Zoroastrianism has numerous festivals and holy days, all of which are bound to the Zoroastrian calendar. The '' Shahenshahi'' and ''Kadmi'' variants of the calendar do not intercalate leap years and hence the day of the Gregorian calendar year on which these days are celebrated shifts ahead with time. The third variant of the Zoroastrian calendar, known as either ''Fasli'' (in India) or ''Bastani'' (in Iran), intercalates according to Gregorian calendar rules and thus remains synchronous with the seasons. For details on the differences, see Zoroastrian calendar. Seasonal festivals Six irregularly-spaced seasonal festivals, called '' gahanbars'' (meaning "proper season"), are celebrated during the religious year. The six festivals are additionally associated with the six "primordial creations" of Ahura Mazda, otherwise known as the Amesha Spentas, and through them with aspects of creation (the sky, the waters, the earth, plant life, animal life, humankind). Due to the peculiarities ...
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Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic ontology and an eschatology which predicts the ultimate conquest of evil by good. Zoroastrianism exalts an uncreated and benevolent deity of wisdom known as '' Ahura Mazda'' () as its supreme being. Historically, the unique features of Zoroastrianism, such as its monotheism, messianism, belief in free will and judgement after death, conception of heaven, hell, angels, and demons, among other concepts, may have influenced other religious and philosophical systems, including the Abrahamic religions and Gnosticism, Northern Buddhism, and Greek philosophy. With possible roots dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE, Zoroastrianism enters recorded history around the middle of the 6th century BCE. It served as the state religion of th ...
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Aban
Apas (, ae, āpas) is the Avestan language term for "the waters", which, in its innumerable aggregate states, is represented by the Apas, the hypostases of the waters. ''Āb'' (plural ''Ābān'') is the Middle Persian-language form. Introduction "To this day reverence for water is deeply ingrained in Zoroastrians, and in orthodox communities offerings are regularly made to the household well or nearby stream." The '' ape zaothra'' ceremony—the culminating rite of the ''Yasna'' service (which is in turn the principal act of worship)—is literally for the "strengthening of the waters." Avestan ''apas'' (from singular ''āpō'') is grammatically feminine, and the Apas are female. The Middle Persian equivalents are ''ābān''/Ābān (alt: ''āvān''/Āvān), from which Parsi Gujarati ''āvā''/Āvā (in religious usage only) derive. The Avestan common noun ''āpas'' corresponds exactly to Vedic Sanskrit '' '', and both derive from the same proto-Indo-Iranian word ...
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Zartosht No-Diso
Zartosht no-diso, or Zarthost no deeso, is an important day of remembrance in the Zoroastrian religion. It is a commemoration of the death anniversary of the prophet Zoroaster. It is observed on the 11th day (Khorshed) of the 10th month ( Dae). In the seasonal calendar, Zarthost No-Diso falls on December 26. It is an occasion of remembrance with lectures and discussions held on the life and works of the prophet. Attendance at the fire temple is very high during this occasion. A much higher number of mobeds are brought to pray at the Atash Behrams and Atash Adarans. There is no mourning in the Zoroastrian religion, only remembrance and worship of the Farohars of the departed. However, Zoroaster's death is not mentioned in the ''Avesta''. Nonetheless, in the '' Shahnama'' 5.92,. he is said to have been murdered at the altar by the Turan Turan ( ae, Tūiriiānəm, pal, Tūrān; fa, توران, Turân, , "The Land of Tur") is a historical region in Central Asia. The term ...
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Sadeh
) , observedby = Canada (by Iranian Canadians) USA (by Iranian Americans) , ends = , week_ordinal = , weekday = , month = January , date2008 = , date2009 = , date2010 = , date2011 = , date2012 = , date2013 = , date2014 = , date2015 = , date2016 = , date2017 = 29 January , date2018 = 30 January , date = 10 Bahman , celebrations = , duration = 1 day , frequency =annual , observances = , relatedto =Nowruz, Tirgan, Mehregan, Yalda , significance = Sadeh ( fa, سده also transliterated as ''Sade''), is an Iranian festival that dates back to the first Persian Empire, Achaemenid Empire. ''Sadeh'' celebrates 50 days before Nowruz. Sadeh in Persian means "hundred" and refers to one hundred days and nights remains to the beginning of spring. Sadeh is a mid winter festival that was celebrated with grandeur and magnificence in ancient Persia. It was a festivity to honor fire and ...
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Pateti
Zoroastrianism has numerous festivals and holy days, all of which are bound to the Zoroastrian calendar. The '' Shahenshahi'' and ''Kadmi'' variants of the calendar do not intercalate leap years and hence the day of the Gregorian calendar year on which these days are celebrated shifts ahead with time. The third variant of the Zoroastrian calendar, known as either ''Fasli'' (in India) or ''Bastani'' (in Iran), intercalates according to Gregorian calendar rules and thus remains synchronous with the seasons. For details on the differences, see Zoroastrian calendar. Seasonal festivals Six irregularly-spaced seasonal festivals, called '' gahanbars'' (meaning "proper season"), are celebrated during the religious year. The six festivals are additionally associated with the six "primordial creations" of Ahura Mazda, otherwise known as the Amesha Spentas, and through them with aspects of creation (the sky, the waters, the earth, plant life, animal life, humankind). Due to the peculiaritie ...
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Equinox
A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and set "due west". This occurs twice each year, around 20 March and 23 September. More precisely, an equinox is traditionally defined as the time when the plane of Earth's equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun's disk. Equivalently, this is the moment when Earth's rotation axis is directly perpendicular to the Sun-Earth line, tilting neither toward nor away from the Sun. In modern times, since the Moon (and to a lesser extent the planets) causes Earth's orbit to vary slightly from a perfect ellipse, the equinox is officially defined by the Sun's more regular ecliptic longitude rather than by its declination. The instants of the equinoxes are currently defined to be when the apparent geocentric longitude of the Sun is 0° a ...
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Nouruz
Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, uz, Navro'z is the Persian-language term for the day of the Iranian New Year, also known as the Persian New Year. It begins on the spring equinox and marks the beginning of Farvardin, the first month of the Solar Hijri calendar (an Iranian calendar used officially in Iran and Afghanistan). The day is celebrated worldwide by various ethnolinguistic groups and falls on or around the date of 21 March on the Gregorian calendar. The day of Nowruz has its origins in the Iranian religion of Zoroastrianism and is thus rooted in the traditions of the Iranian peoples; however, it has been celebrated by diverse communities for over 3,000 years in Western Asia, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Black Sea Basin, the Balkans, and South Asia. Presentl ...
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Mehregan
Mehregan ( fa, ) or Jashn-e Mehr ( '' Mithra Festival'') is a Zoroastrian and Iranian festival celebrated to honor the yazata Mithra ( fa, Mehr), which is responsible for friendship, affection and love. Name "Mehregan" is derived from the Middle Persian name ''Mihrakān/Mihragān'', itself derived from Old Persian ''Mithrakāna''. Introduction Mehregan is an Iranian festival honoring the Zoroastrian '' yazata'' (angelic divinity) Mithra. Under the Achaemenid Empire (330–550 BC), the Armenian subjects of the Persian king gave him 20,000 horses every year during the celebration of Mehregan. Under the Sasanian Empire (224–651), Mehregan was the second most important festival, falling behind Nowruz. Due to these two festivals being heavily connected with the role of Iranian kingship, the Sasanian rulers were usually crowned on either Mehregan or Nowruz. By the 4th century BCE, it was observed as one of the name-day feasts, a form it retains in today. Still, in a predomi ...
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Mithra
Mithra ( ae, ''Miθra'', peo, 𐎷𐎰𐎼 ''Miça'') commonly known as Mehr, is the Iranian deity of covenant, light, oath, justice and the sun. In addition to being the divinity of contracts, Mithra is also a judicial figure, an all-seeing protector of Truth, and the guardian of cattle, the harvest, and of the Waters. The Romans attributed their Mithraic mysteries to Zoroastrian Persian sources relating to Mithra. Since the early 1970s, the dominant scholarship has noted dissimilarities between the Persian and Roman traditions, making it, at most, the result of Roman ''perceptions'' of Zoroastrian ideas. Etymology Together with the Vedic common noun ''mitra'', the Avestan common noun ''miθra'' derives from Proto-Indo-Iranian '' *mitrám'' (Mitra), from the root ''*mi-'' "to bind", with the "tool suffix" ''-tra-'' "causing to". Thus, etymologically ''mitra''/''miθra'' means "that which causes binding", preserved in the Avestan word for "Covenant, Contract, Oath". In ...
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Aredvi Sura Anahita
Anahita is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as ('), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. There is also a temple named Anahita in Iran. Aredvi Sura Anahita is ''Ardwisur Anahid'' (اردویسور آناهید ) or ''Nahid'' (ناهید) in Middle and Modern Persian, and ''Anahit'' in Armenian. An iconic shrine cult of Aredvi Sura Anahita was – together with other shrine cults – "introduced apparently in the 4th century BCE and lasted until it was suppressed in the wake of an iconoclastic movement under the Sassanids.". The symbol of goddess Anahita is the Lotus flower. Lotus Festival (Persian: Jashn-e Nilupar) is an Iranian festival that is held on the sixth day of July. Holding this festival at this time was probably based on the blooming of lotus flowers at the beginning of summer ...
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Tiregan
Tirgan ( fa, تیرگان, ''Tirgān''), is a mid summer ancient Iranian festival, celebrated annually on Tir 13 (July 2, 3, or 4). It is celebrated by splashing water, dancing, reciting poetry, and serving traditional foods such as spinach soup and sholezard. The custom of tying rainbow-colored bands on wrists, which are worn for ten days and then thrown into a stream, is also a way to rejoice for children. Overview Tirgan is an ancient Iranian tradition which is still celebrated in various regions of Iran, including Mazenderan, Khorasan, and Arak. It is widely attested by historians such as Gardezi, Biruni, and Masudi, as well as European travelers during the Safavid era. The celebration is dedicated to Tishtrya, an archangel who appeared in the sky to generate thunder and lightning for much needed rain. Legend says that Arash the Archer was a man chosen to settle a land dispute between the leaders of the lands Iran and Turan. Arash was to loose his arrow, on the 13t ...
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Tishtrya
Tishtrya ( ave, 𐬙𐬌𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀, Tištrya, fa, تیر, Tir) or Roozahang is the Avestan language name of a Zoroastrian benevolent divinity associated with life-bringing rainfall and fertility. Tishtrya is Tir in Middle- and Modern Persian. As has been judged from the archaic context in which Tishtrya appears in the texts of the Avesta, the divinity/concept is almost certainly of Indo-Iranian origin. In a hymn of the Avesta (incorporated by Ferdowsi, with due acknowledgement, in the Shahnameh), Tishtrya is involved in a cosmic struggle against the drought-bringing demon Apaosha. According to the myth, in the form of a pure white horse the god did battle with the demon who, in contrast, had assumed the form of a terrifying black horse. Apaosa soon gained the upper hand over Tishtrya, who was weakened from the lack of sufficient prayers and sacrifices from humankind. The yazata proceeded to call upon the Creator Ahura Mazda, who himself then intervened by offerin ...
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