besides Christmas, Persian people have Yalda Night celebration,

bitpost (44)in #life • 7 years ago (edited)

These days, Christian countries around the world are getting ready for Christmas. Christmas songs everywhere, colors ad pine trees and people wearing Christmas jumpers. kids getting ready to get presents and keeping their tooth for an extra gift...so much fun going on at christmas nights...

But in Iran there's a night called Yalda and is much more highlighted than christmas in Iran. but before explaining this tradition of Iran, let's watch this music being played to celebrate such a night

How to Celebrate Yalda Night
Yalda is a time when friends and family gather together to eat and read poetry (especially Hafez) until well after midnight. Fruits and nuts are eaten and pomegranates and watermelons are particularly significant. Old texts say the red color in these fruits symbolizes the crimson hues of dawn and glow of life, invoking the splendor of Mithra.

Food plays a central role in any form of the celebrations in Iran. In most parts of the country the extended family come together and enjoy a fine dinner.there are a set of symbols including fruits and foods you can't miss in such a day. watch this and enjoy:

Reading poems out loud in Family

“The true morning will not come, until the Yalda Night is gone," the great 13th century Persian poet Sa'di writes.

One of the other traditions of Yalda night, which has been added in recent centuries, is getting a ‘Hafez reading’ from the book of great Persian poet Shamsu d-Din Muhammad Hafez-e Shirazi, the Iranian poet of 14th century AD. Each member of the family makes a wish and randomly opens the book and asks the eldest member of the family to read it aloud. What is expressed in that poem is believed to be the interpretation of the wish and whether and how it will come true. This is called Faal-e Hafez (Hafez Omen).

The Origine?
This celebration is coming from the time when a majority of Persians were followers of Zoroastrianism prior to the advent of Islam. Ancient Persians believed that evil forces were dominant on the longest night of the year and that the next day belonged to the Lord of Wisdom, Ahura Mazda.