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The Persian Winter Solstice of 'Yalda'

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The Persian Winter Solstice of 'Yalda'

A 7,000-year-old celebration of the birth of Sun god Mithra

By Farahani (sadaff)

 

Moon was in love with the Sun, but he couldn't meet her. He always

wanted to wake up earlier to catch the Sun at dawn, but he never

succeeded. Moon found a solution; he hired a star, the star that

always appears beside the Moon, to wake him up.

 

Finally, one night the star informed Moon that Sun was coming and

Moon went to meet her. They fell in love and Moon prevented Sun from

leaving. They forgot about their jobs and Sun rose later than usual.

According to this Persian myth, since that night the Moon and the

Sun meet each other one time a year during "Yalda," a night that is

the longest night of the year.

 

 

http://image.ohmynews.com/down/images/1/todd_265031_1[400396].jpg

Mithra sacrifices a bull before the sun and the moon.

 

Yalda is a Syric word imported to the Persian language meaning

birth, and in the Mithraism religion Yalda is the birth of Mehr or

Mithra, a Sun god. For the past 7,000 years Iranian people have

celebrated the Eve of Yalda on Dec. 21.

 

Mithraism influenced the Roman Empire and it had many followers

among Roman soldiers. Even when the Romans accepted Christianity

they kept some traditions and formalities.

 

Some historians such as Ernest Renan (1823-1892) believed that until

the 4th century Romans celebrated the birth of Jesus on Dec. 21. It

seems they may have used Jesus instead of Mithra.

 

A long time ago, Iranian people used to decorate a cypress tree with

two pieces of golden and silver ribbons for the Eve of Yalda.

Nowadays, some of these traditions have been abolished in Iran, but

still remain among Christians in the form of a Christmas tree.

 

In Iranian culture, "shab e Yalda" (night of Yalda) means the

rebirth of the Sun and they spend this night happily.

 

Persian families go to their grandparents' homes and spend the night

listening to grandpa and grandma's stories.

 

Until some years ago, Persians used a "korsi," a low table with a

big blanket on it and a heater or small oven under it to make it

warm, just like a Japanese kotatsu. The "korsi" is a nostalgic

symbol of Yalda for Persians.

 

Iranian people never forget the essential things for Yalda: to read

Hafez's poems and to eat watermelon!

 

They open a page of Hafez's poems randomly then one of the old

members of the family reads out the poems, which they believe

reveals their destinies.

 

Some people believe if they eat watermelon during Yalda they won't

catch cold in the winter.

 

Nowadays, televisions join this party like a member of the family

and programs tell the stories for young generations instead of

grandmothers and grandfathers. However, Iranians around the world

try to keep and continue these kinds of ancient traditions for

future generations.

 

2005-12-21 13:48

©2005 OhmyNews

http://english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?

no=265031&rel_no=1

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