Norooz

Norooz means new day, and it begins at the exact moment of the spring equinox rather than at midnight. That instant is calculated to the minute and is the same instant everywhere on earth, so the new year arrives in Sydney, Tehran and Los Angeles simultaneously and at different times on the clock. It is usually 20 or 21 March.

It is the Iranian new year and it is not only Iranian. Norooz is kept in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, parts of Iraq, Turkey and India, and across the diaspora, by people of several religions and none. UNESCO lists it as intangible cultural heritage.

The haft-sin is the table it is kept at: seven items whose Persian names begin with the letter sin, each standing for something wanted in the year ahead. Sabzeh, sprouted wheat or lentils, for rebirth. Samanu, a wheat pudding, for strength. Senjed, sib, seer, somaq, serkeh. A mirror, goldfish, painted eggs and a book of poetry usually sit alongside them.

The book is often Hafez. In many houses the year turns with someone reading a ghazal aloud at the moment of the equinox, which makes Norooz the second great occasion, after Yalda, for opening the Divan.

The season does not end that day. Visits to elders run through the following fortnight, and the thirteenth day, Sizdah Bedar, is spent outdoors, where the sabzeh from the table is thrown into running water. Hamdam counts down to the equinox and marks the days that follow it.