Fāl-gūsh ( fa, فالگوش) is the act of standing in a dark corner spot or behind a fence and listening to the conversations of passersby and trying to interpret their statements or the subject of their dialogue as an answer to one's questions. It is a traditional

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian custom that certain days are especially good for divination. During the last Wednesday of the year, the Chahārshanbe Suri;

divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...

, especially by listening to the conversations of the passers by and interpreting that which is heard (fālgūsh) as a sign is quite common. Fortunetellers, (fālgīr), who are mostly gypsies, are still active in some parts of Iran.

Fāl-gūsh on Chahārshanbe Suri

On Chahārshanbe Suri night, young girls make intentions, stand behind a wall and listen to the words of passers-by; and then interpret their words to get the answer to their intentions.

Saeed Nafisi Saeed Nafisi (also Naficy) ( fa, سعید نفیسی; June 8, 1895 – November 13, 1966) was an Iranian scholar, fiction writer and poet. He was a prolific writer in Persian. Nafisi was born in Tehran, where he conducted numerous research proje ...

reports that in his time another type of divination was common in Zanjan instead of Fāl-gūsh, in which young people insert a rope through a chimney into the house of others so that the owner of the house could tie the first thing they could find. The object that was tied to the rope was interpreted as their omen; For example, if it was sweet, it was considered a sign of sweetne
.

References

2. Irpersiatour
Chaharshanbe Suri , A beautiful festival of fire and lights!
Iranian culture Persian culture Divination Iranian folklore Persian words and phrases {{cultural-anthropology-stub

Fāl-gūsh on Chahārshanbe Suri

See also

References