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Please join us to
celebrate
جشن سده همراه با موسیقی، رقص، و
پذیرایی
the ancient Sadeh Feast
History, Music, Food, Dance and Fun
Saturday Jan 30, 2010 @ 8:00 P.M.
Doors
open: 8:00 p.m., Program starts: 8:30 p.m.,
Dinner: 9:30 p.m.
Music & Dance: after dinner
Tickets: General admission $15.00 (includes dinner,
drinks, and snacks)
Current Members with ID $10.00, Students with ID:
$5.00 (Kids under 12 Free)
Jashn e Sadeh
By: Massoume Price
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Sadeh meaning
hundred, is a mid winter feast celebrated with grandeur and magnificence
in ancient Iran. It was a festivity to honor fire and to defeat the
forces of darkness, frost and cold. Two different days were observed for
its veneration. One celebration marked the hundred day before the
religious No Ruz on the first day of the month Farvardin (religious No
Ruz is different from spring No Ruz). The other one was the
hundredth day after the gahambar of Ayathrima (one of the six feasts of
obligation) held to be the beginning of winter. This day coincides with
10th of Bahman in present calendar. It is not clear why there are two
Sadeh Festivals and why different regions have had different dates. Many
of Zoroastrian holy days were and are celebrated twice; this is caused
by the calendar reform in the 3rd century AD.
| From Achaemenid
times the Iranian calendar had 360 days and was short of 5 days.
Ardeshir the first Sassanian king reformed the calendar and 5
days were added at the end. |
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| The new
calendar receded slowly against the solar year, and the holy
days, which with their symbolism were closely linked with the
seasons, became gradually divorced from them. The months moved
and so did the holy days, to make sure festivals were observed
correctly both the old and the new dates were celebrated. The
festival celebrated in Yazd is according to Fasli calendar and
in a few villages it is called Hiromba. While other Zoroastrians
celebrated the Sadeh in Bahman. There was confusion earlier in
the century as to when it should be celebrated, but most
Zoroastrians have adopted the 10th of Bahman as the main event. |
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In Sassanian times huge bon fires were set
up. Priests led the prayers specific to fire 'Atash Niyayesh'
and performed the correct rituals before it was lit at sunset.
People would dance around the fires. Wine an expensive luxury
would be served communally and like all other Zoroastrian
religious ceremonies the occasion would |
end with fun, merriment and
feasts. The most elaborate report of the celebration comes from
the 10th century during the reign of Mardavij Zeyari, the ruler
of Isfahan. From Iranian origin the Zeyar family did their best
to keep the old traditions alive. Huge bon fires were made in
both sides of the 'Zayandeh Rood', the main river dividing the
city. The fires were contained in specially build metal holders
to maintain control. Hundreds of birds were released while
carrying little fireballs to light the sky. There were
fireworks, clowns, dance and music with lavish feasts of roasted
lamb, beef, chicken and other delicacies.
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The tradition was
virtually lost even amongst the Zoroastrians. In Pahlavi era it
was revived and adopted as a major celebration by the whole
Zoroastrian community and it is becoming known and increasingly
popular with the rest of the Iranians as well. With Zoroastrians
the chief preparation or Sadeh |
is the
gathering of wood the day before the festival. Teen-age boys
accompanied by a few adult males will go to local mountains in
order to gather camel's thorn, a common desert shrub in Iran.
For most it will be the first time they are away from their
families. Wood is a scarce commodity in Iran and the occasion
resembles a rite of passage, a noteworthy step for the boys on
the way to manhood.
The wood gathered would be taken to the local shrine and on
their return home if it is their first time there will be a
celebration for the boys at home with friends and relatives.
However this practice is becoming more difficult these days and
attempts are made to preserve it. The work is hard, wood more
scarce than ever, fewer boys are prepared to attempt it and
safety is a major concern. In addition massive emigration into
the cities or outside the country has significantly reduced the
number of boys available for this occasion.
Traditionally young boys (before the revolution girls had
started joining the boys as well, but the practice has stopped
since 1979) would go door to door and ask for wood and collect
whatever they could get, from a broken spade-handle to logs and
broken branches. While knocking on doors they would chant simple
verses like "if you give a branch, god will grant your wish, if
you don't, god won't favor your wish" and similar verses. All
wood collected would be taken to the local shrine. Before the
sunset all would gather outside the temple to torch the wood
with prayers and chants remembering the great ones of the faith
and the deceased.
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In ancient times the fires were always set near water and
temples. The great fire originally meant (like winter fires lit
at other occasions) to help revive the declining sun, and bring
back the warmth and light of summer. It was also designed to
drive off the demons of frost and cold, which turned water to
stone, and thus could kill the roots of plants beneath the
earth. For this reasons the fire was lit near and even over
water and by the shrine of Mihr, who was lord both of fire and
the sun. Biruni in AD 1000 has very accurately described all
these reasons for Sadeh Festival.
The fire is kept burning all night. The day after, first thing
in the morning, women would go to the fire and each one will
carry a small portion back to their homes and new glowing fires
are made from the ritually blessed fire. This is to spread the
blessing of the Sadeh fire to every household in the
neighborhood. Whatever that is left of the fire will be taken
back to the shrine to be pilled in one container and will be
kept at the temple. The festivities would normally go on for
three days and the wood gathering by the boys door to door and
blessing of the dead happens every night and evenings are spend
eating and giving away 'khai-rat' (giving away as a good deed).
Food prepared from slaughtered lamb and 'ash e khai-rat' are
distributed amongst the less fortunate.
Today, Sadeh is mainly celebrated on 10th of Bahman. The fires
are not lit outside and all activities take place inside the
shrines. The wood gathering activities are reduced though there
are efforts to preserve them. However the bulk of the Iranians
are becoming more familiar with the occasion and there are
gatherings and celebrations outside Iran. Fires are lit, music,
dancing and merriment of all kinds will go on for the rest of
the evening. The occasion for the majority of Iranians has no
religious significance and no specific rituals are involved
other than torching bon fires at sunset and having a merry time
and therefore keeping up with the ancient traditions when
merriment was venerated and practiced. |
By: Massoume Price
Massoume Price is a Social Anthropologist and Human Ecologist from
London University, Kings and University Colleges. She specializes in
ancient Mesopotamian Studies. She currently lives in Canada, works with
a number of Women's organizations and is a freelance writer.
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