Chaharshanbeh Suri or Charshanbeh Suri (; ), is an Iranian festival of the fire dance celebrated on the eve of the last Wednesday of the year, of ancient Zoroastrian origin. It is the first festivity of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.
Etymology
The Persian name of the festival consists of (), the Persian word for Wednesday, and (), which has two meanings; it may mean "festive" and it may also mean "scarlet" (in traditional Persian and some current local dialects in Iran), which stems from the reddish theme of fire. Since fire plays a fundamental role in this event, the latter meaning ("scarlet") is more likely. The names of the festival in other languages include Azerbaijani (in Ardabil and Tabriz), Kurdish and (in Kurdistan), (in Piranshahr) and Isfahani Persian (in Isfahan). The importance of fire is evident in the stone inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings, and the very first mantra of the Rig Veda is in praise of fire. Chaharshanbe Suri and Holi share roots in ancient Aryan religions.
Observances
Jumping over the fire
People collect brushwood in an open, unrestricted outdoor area prior to the festival's commencement. At sunset, after making one or more bonfires, they jump over the flames, singing , literally meaning "[let] your redness [be] mine, my paleness yours", or a local equivalent of it. This is considered a purification practice.
Spoon-banging
Charshanbe Suri includes a custom similar to trick-or-treating that is called (), literally translated as "spoon-banging". It is observed by people wearing disguises and going door-to-door to hit spoons against plates or bowls and receive packaged snacks.
Smashing the pot
Smashing the pot (kūza-šekanī) is one of the more fun activities of Chaharshanbe Suri. In most towns, pots are smashed after the jumping over fire; this custom is evidently rooted in the superstitious belief that smashing a pot transfers misfortune from the people of the house to the pot. There are slight variations in different regions. In Tehran one or more coins are put into a new jug, which is then dropped from the roof to the street below. Until the early years of the Pahlavi period many Tehranis liked to go to the gallery of the Naqqāra-ḵāna, where drummers used to perform at certain hours, and drop their jugs from there. In Khorasan a lump of charcoal symbolizing bad luck, salt to ward off the evil eye, and coins for charity are put into the pot before it is smashed; then each member of the family swings the pot around his or her head so that any misfortune due in the coming year may be transferred to the pot. Finally, the pot is thrown from the roof into the street. In eastern and southeastern Iran a useless old pot is usually chosen, rather than a new one. In Arāk and the Āštīān district grains of barley are put into the pot.
Fortune telling (fāl) Another popular practice on Chaharshanbe Suri is fortune telling from a jug (fāl-e kūza, fāl-e bolūnī), usually one with a wide mouth (bolūnī). Everyone present puts an ornament—a ring, bracelet, an earring—that he or she has been wearing into the jug. Then slips of paper inscribed with verses or sentences containing auguries—the number of slips must equal the number of people present—are put into the jug. A young child is assigned to reach into the jug and pull out one piece of paper and give it to the most learned or literate man in the party. Then the child pulls one of the ornaments from the jug. The man reads aloud the verse on the piece of paper, and the owner of the ornament learns from it what his or her fortune will be. In many places, including Isfahan and towns in central Iran, it is customary to take the fortunes from a copy of the dīvān of Ḥāfeẓ, rather than from pieces of paper. The reader chooses a verse at random as the fortune for the owner of the object taken from the pot. At Isfahan a small mirror and a box of collyrium, which supposedly bring good luck, are added to the ornaments in the jug (for similar customs connected with the first evening of winter, Šab-e Čella, see Enjavī, e.g., I, pp. 26, 126; II, p. 165).
