Friday, March 20, 2009

Nowrooz; Revival of Nature and Cleansing of Hearts

Many people do not know the vast influence of Persian tradition and culture in the world. When traveling in Central Asia several years ago , I realized that most of these countries are also deeply touched by Iranian history and culture . In Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, I realized that Nowrooz was practiced during the first three months of Spring. They had celebrations of all kinds many similar to Iranians. In some Eastern European countries you can also find the footprints of Persian culture, some older generations in the Balkans speak Farsi from the poems of Moulavi.
In addition, now that there are many expatriate Iranians living in Europe and the US , Persian customs are more appreciated and understood in the world.
Here in Tehran , the early signs of Nowrooz begin with Khanetakani or " house cleaning" . Iranians thoroughly clean and throw out the extra items piling up in homes. Its a symbol of preparing for new times and better days. It is also a symbol of the changes we need to bring about in our hearts and minds, we need to mend broken hearts and to heal the scars left behind. In Islamic ethics as individuals we need to revisit our practices and behaviours and to evaluate them on the basis of the religion's teachings , we need to clean the greed, deceit and hatred that plagues our hearts and prepare for an inner Spring and new life.
On the other hand, Nowrooz is the revival of nature after a long winter sleep. Nature displays its goodness and services and we need to use wisely and protect these precious gifts.
The Iranian new year coincides with what is called the Equinox and the true shift in the earth's axis and change in climate. Although today we are experiencing the "anthropogenic climate change phenomena" and for this phenomena humanity is now deeply concerned since it has tilted the balance of the ecosystem.
As you have heard in the news, Khatami officially announced his decline to run for presidency in June. This decision deeply saddened his supporters and the sympathizers of the reform campaign but they understood that Khatami has made a very sound ethical decision. Many analysts believe that this decision has elevated his position and rank among various political groups and figures. He has implicitly indicated that he prefers to support Engineer Mousavi in the upcoming race. Some of his followers will follow course while others might prefer Mehdi Karroubi who was the former Majlis Speaker. In any case, we have to wait at least for two weeks until national holidays are over .

8 comments:

Black Chador said...

Eideh hameh mobarak.
I remember when I was growing up in Iran every year 30 days to Nowrooz I would write 1 through 30 on a piece of paper and then each morning I drew a line through the highest number so I knew exactly how many days was left to Shabeh Eid.
I remember we would beg the teacher to give us our homework few days ahead so we could have a head start and maybe even finished our homework before Nowrooz.
This year I believe we will have two Nowrooz, one which we are celebrating now and one that we will celebrate in next June. Both will bring new changes and hopes for all Iranians especially brave Iranian women.
Long live Iran
Long live Iranian Women Power.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year Dr. Ebtekar! What do you think about Obamas's message to Iranians?

Anonymous said...

Nowrooz mobarak ! Where are Kathy and Anna? I think this is the most interesting time to visit Iran. I've travelled before as a journalist to Iran but I think Iran is most beautiful in Spring.

Anonymous said...

:-) thanks for asking about me Jack! that was nice!
Love,
Kathy aka Anna
;-)

p.s. reporter Jack, didn't you recognize my style of writing to be the same whether I signed as Kathy or as Anna? or did you but you're too nice to throw it into my face? it's OK though, I just liked using different names when putting different hats on and playing DIFFERENT people's devils as advocates! my REAL name is Katayoun, but people call me Kathy for short, and Anna is short for Anahita which is the name of planet Venus in Persian, and also another name for Princess Katayoun of the old Persian Empire as recounted in The Book of Kings

Anna said...

btw, I'm not interested in politics anymore, so this is NOT the website for my comments any longer! however I do like to talk to Iranian youth and tell them all I know about REAL democracy, so I might do that on another website and I will put links of my comments (which I might write on nasim88.ir news website) copy-pasted on my own weblog for you Jack and others like you to come and follow there!
thanks!
I guess I need to read Ariana Hoffington's new book about how to make your weblog visible to the outside world! I'm an engineer who doesn't know much about blogging and the ins and outs of the internet!

Black Chador said...

It is nice to see Anna/ Kathy is still around and active. I think she has too much passion for Iranian politics to just simply disappear.
I hope we see more of her passionate "roodeh Derazi" again.

Long live Citizen of the World" eh!!

Anna said...

My dear friend Holly (Black Chador),

I am not passionate about Iranian politics, it's WORDS I'm passionate about!
:-)
I do too much "roodeh deraazi" b/c I'm a wordoholic not b/c I like the topic of conversation! it is the idea of having a conversation that I'm passionate about, pure and simple! I'm just a talkative little lass!
:-)


You know?! ...
I remember as a child, once I went on a vacation with my grandma and my aunt, and when I came back home to my mom and my brothers (I was 6 years old and they were around 9 and 13 years old), they all said:

Oh Kathy we missed you!!! the whole house was so silent for the entire time you were not here! for 10 days we all sat at the kitchen table eating in silence and saying nothing to each other!!! not having you to tell us all about your crazy stories and ideas which we used to tease and bug you about! please keep telling us your crazy stories, what will we ever do without you????

I swear to God, this is what my brothers said to me when I was 6, and now it seems like at least I have a couple of fans (Holly and Jack) who agree with that statement, eh?!
:-)


Now, I will just leave one youtube clip here for all those readers of Persian Paradox who do not agree with Holly and Jack and don't like me to continue saying anything:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coum0s2o1sg&feature=related

:-)))))


and I shall let you all know when my own weblog gets up and running again, OK? I'm busy right now, but I will try to start the conversation of my Anna alter-ego with the WORLD on my "Citizen of the World" website, at least once a week, how's that?


again,


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coum0s2o1sg&feature=related



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coum0s2o1sg&feature=related



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coum0s2o1sg&feature=related


hehehehehehe! :-))))

LONG LIVE MIKE MYERS!!!
I love the man, eh?!
;-)

Black Chador said...

Ok, Kathy,
Forget Iranian politics; tell us more about your childhood on your blog.
Like you my best memories are from when I was in Iran as growing up as a teenager. It was fun growing up where I could wear what I wanted to wear, ride my bicycle, and play basketball with me team or just stand outside our house and gap with my friends. We did not drink alcohol, do drugs or even smoke cigarette because no one told us don't do it. All we did was study, play and talked, I wish Iranian youth especially the young Iranian women had those personal freedoms we experience before some SMART men took over their lives and told them how to live.