Iransaga - The Festival of Noe-Rooz

The Festival of Noe-Rooz

"Noe-Rooz" celebrates the coming of spring by nations of Aryan heritage or Iranians. (When referring to Iranian nations, we include nations that have a common foundation, history and language.)

In the Persian language "Noe" means "new", and "Rooz" means "day". Hence, "Noe-Rooz" means "new day".

Noe-Rooz occurs at the exact time of the Vernal (Spring) Equinox, when the length of night and day are equal. Translated literally, Equinox means "Equal Night". Because the sun is positioned above the equator, day and night are about equal in length all over the world during the equinoxes.

A true Earth year is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 64 seconds, which is the time taken for the Earth to complete one orbit around the sun.
Every fourth year an extra day is added to the calendar (called a Leap Year), to adjust for this extra 1/4 of a rotation each year. This correction was introduced at the time of Julius Caesar (46 B.C.) and allows the calendar to always measure the location of the Earth in its orbit about the sun accurately. Thus, the Spring Equinox can fall on different days (either March 20^th or 21^st).

People around the world have recognized the vernal equinox for thousands of years. There is no shortage of rituals and traditions surrounding the coming of spring. Many early peoples celebrated at this time, for the basic reason that their food supplies would soon be restored. The date is significant in Christianity because Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. It is probably no coincidence that early Egyptians built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising of the Sun on the day of the Vernal Equinox.

The ancient Iranians celebrated two seasons. One was "Zayana" or winter, (the festival of Mehr'gaun) and the other "Hama", summer, celebrated by the festival of Noe-Rooz to announce its coming.

*Noe-Rooz* *Persian New Year 1389 (2010)* *First day of Spring*
Tehran, Iran	Saturday March 20, 2010	21:02:13 PM
London	Saturday March 20, 2010	17:32:13 PM
Europe	Saturday March 20, 2010	18:32:13 PM
New York	Saturday March 20, 2010	13:32:13 PM
California	Saturday March 20, 2010	10:32:13 AM
Tokyo	Sunday March 21, 2010	04:32:13 AM
The following chapters provide a brief insight into the History and Traditions of the Festival of Noe-Rooz: A Brief History of Noe-Rooz The New Year's Ceremonies and Traditions

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