Nowrooz

Now that I am writing these sentences, some minutes later Nowrooz will come.

Nowrooz is great celebration of Iranian culture and, doubtlessly, one of the most archaic celebrations all over the world. Our calendar is solar. For Iranians, since thousands years ago, the moment which everything in the nature begins to rebirth, has been very important and even – I can say – magic! In Persian language, "now" means new, fresh, and "rooz" means day.

The religious political regime established after 1979 revolution, often has divided ceremonies and rites into two groups: national ceremonies and religious ceremonies. Of course, this dividing is rooted in people's conception. In the past, some religious authorities like Ghazali (who lived about ten centuries ago), was considering Nowrooz ceremony as an unholy/pagan rite and was rejecting it. In fact, after collapsing Sasanian Empire in 642 AD, prevailing Islam among Iranian as a foreign religion emerged a duality in the surface of Iranian consciousness: at first sight, our religion was from Arab, and other parts of our culture were Persian. But, this duality, there is only in surface and not in depth. Because, Iranian along the time make some changes in the formal and common version of Islam and they create a new version called Shiism which has characteristics of Persian religions.

I do not want to elaborate on Persian elements in Shiism. (Perhaps I would deal with this subject in next posts.) But, awakening of this point that actual political structure in Iran, despite its Islamic tendency, is completely Persian (through Persian elements in Shiism), time after time has made me astonishing. This is a monumental reality which is concealed and usually there has been a trend to cushion it by religious and non- religious people both! Advocates of religion conceal it in order to demonstrate authenticity and originality of Shiism and secular people – especially those who are nationalist – conceal it in order to pretend ancient Iranian with their glorious and imposing political power, were behaving another way.

Whereas, ancient Iranian were completely religious people and all their ceremonies have had religious content, as other ancient people were like this.

According to Shahnameh – the book of our national stories – Keikhosrow who was the most spiritual personality in our national stories, has had a great mysterious revelation in Nowrooz. Then, these moments are so holy and spiritual. And Nowrooz must consider not only national, but also religious ceremony of Iranian people.

The photo you are seeing is the "haftseen" table in my home which is a rite in Nowrooz.

My Old Home

Iran is my old home, and the old home of so many people living here.
Every old home is expected that would be collapsed in someday, whether its inhabitants would be survived or be buried under it.
Everything is indicative a big earthquake. The more we study newspapers, and the more we become award of economic, political, security situation of the country, the more we see fearful ghost of the bad days which are coming toward us.
The most disastrous thing is the war. The war which, as it were, is unavoidable for all of us.
According to Hegel, every country's destiny is made up by its volksgeist.
Ernst Cassirer says: "it is not by its history that the mythology of a nation is determined but, conversely, its history is determined by its mythology – or rather, the mythology of a people does not determine but is its fate, its destiny as decreed from the very beginning."
I am a typical Persian person in terms of my awareness of my country's culture. I know its mythology, its religion, its language and its literature. I like to find relations between what are about to happen, and what is our volksgeist.
Then, I intend to make this notepad as a chronology of the events with my comments. These comments, would be written by a Persian who likes his country with all its past, however, likes his country's future too. And the latter, give me courage to keep a critical approach about our past. And it is expected from a student of philosophy too.
I live in Tehran now because of my University and I will try to make my web log updated once a week regularly.