Happy New Year in March

In the course of our travels we never cease to be amazed at what we learn from places we visit and people we meet. A recent response from a subscriber to our YouTube channel brought us the following E-Mail Happy New Year; Nowrooz Pirooz (On 20 March 2010) Happy Persian New year (Nowruz) to you and to your family. In the Persian language Nowruz means new day, it is a celebration to welcome spring, and in our Persian calendar, the most important Holiday. This celebration originated in 550330 BC year ago in the Achaemenid Empire. The celebration of Nowruz dates back to ancient times, it is associated with the lush green color of new growth, and is specifically symbolized by the growing of freshly sprouted wheat, that in turn is associated with the onset of spring. Among the important festivals that are held in anticipation of Nowruz is the festival of fire, Chaharshanbe Suri or soori , which is celebrated on the last Wednesday of the year in the Persian calendar. In the Parsi language suri means red, and also means party. This festival of fire to Zoroastrians includes  jumping over a fire, to rid of the evil spirits, and the bad things youve done,  to essentially have a fresh, and clean start to the New Year. The video that is attached to this e-mail is about the original, traditional table setting used to celebrate Nowruz. This traditional table setting for Nowrooz has been kept by the Zoroastrian culture, and has been passed on from generation, to generation. I hope you enjoy this video that we Parsis made for you. It is about the magnificent original Persian heritage. Thank You. Happy Nowruz! Thank you Vina for sharing your heritage and culture with the world. Here is the video