ANNOUNCING THE ARRIVAL OF THE IRANIAN NEW YEAR: SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 2022!

​They call it “Norooz” (or “Norouz,” or “Nowruz” or “Noruz”), literally meaning “New Day” in Farsi, and which some say is the most important day on the Iranian calendar.

This year the first day of the Iranian New Year it falls on Sunday, March 20. And in keeping with the vernal equinox, it marks the onset of Spring!

It’s not hard to see how Spring, the season of new life and renewal, would be a fitting setting for each new year’s arrival. And in keeping with long held Iranian tradition, at least seven special items (all beginning with the “s” sound) should grace a household table with their symbolic, invoking presence:

• Sabzeh: sprouted greens, standing for renewal/new life
• Samanu: a wheat germ pudding, standing for affluence
• Senjed: a dried fruit called “oleaster,” standing for love
• Seer: garlic, which stands for medicinal power
• Seeb: the apple, standing for beauty and health
• Somaq: sumac, which stands for fertility, and
• Serkeh, vinegar, which stands for increased grace and patience with age

 
There’s a whole array of additional options that could make for an even fancier table: the Qur’an (the Islamic holy book) or a book of poetry by the beloved Persian poet Hafez, a polished mirror, shiny coins, brightly colored eggs like you might see at Easter, a single goldfish swimming in a bowl.
 
For a more personalized explanation, watch this three-minute recording of daughter Parisa and her cousin Marjan, from a Norooz past!

Would you like to try to impress an Iranian? Just say “No-rooz Mobarak!” (“A Happy New Year!”), and see their eyes grow wide!

A Happy New Year (Norooz Mobarak!) to all our Iranian family and friends!