Yesterday was Nowruz, a spring equinox festival celebrated all over Central Asia. It is one of the oldest spring equinox traditions (if not the oldest) that exists and is where some of your Easter celebrations come from (who doesn’t like desserts and symbolism of fertility?). It’s origins are linked to Zoroastrianism, one of the oldest religions that first explored and emphasized the link between humans and nature and has deep linkages to fire and sun.
Zoroastrianism has a lot of cool mythologies and philosophies but my particular favorite is how ritual fire is explored throughout the religion. For instance, as part of Nowruz, there is the tradition of Chahar Shanbeh Souri, or fire jumping. It is a purification ritual, where you leave all your bad luck and bad energies behind when you jump over the fire. On the other side, you welcome prosperity, good luck and good health. And of course, also eat ash (figuratively, not literally).
I love spring. It is a time of the year I lay claim to and celebrate quiet a few new years and spring celebrations to usher in good tidings. And this year there’s quite a few reasons to jump through the fire. For the next month and some change, I am sojourning in NYC , frolicking in NJ and playing with one of my favorite babes, Lena Duvall from April 1 - 4. You know the saying, early bird gets the worm.
Want to see my blogposts in your inbox? Want me to come to your city? Tell me HERE
Enjoy my content? Send me a thank you!