Happy Spring! (Narooz)

Editors, Wisdom Quarterly edit of Wikipedia entry Nowruw

Spring: the flowers of the New Year when Bhumi (Gaia) is in full bloom (Lila Daley)

 

Nowrūz (Persian, نوروز‎, "[The] New Day") is the name of the Iranian/Persian New Year  (2013 actually being 1392) in Iranian calendars and the corresponding traditional celebrations.

Nowruz is also widely referred to as the "Persian New Year." Nowruz is celebrated and observed by Iranian peoples and the related cultural continent and has spread in many other parts of the world -- including parts of India, Central Asia, Caucasus, South Asia, Northwestern China, the Crimea, and some groups in the Balkans.

 

Nowruz marks the first day of SPRING and the beginning of the year in the Iranian calendar. It is celebrated on the day of the astronomical Northward equinox, which usually occurs on March 21 or the previous/following day depending on where it is observed. 

 

Nature's otherworldly lights (aurora borealis) visible from space

 

Auroras ("sunrises") north and south

As well as being an Asuran (Buddhist titan) Zoroastrian holiday and having significance amongst the Zoroastrian ancestors of modern Iranians (the Parsis and Iranis of India), it is also celebrated in parts of the South Asian sub-continent as the new year. The moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator and equalizes night and day is calculated exactly every year and Iranian families gather together to observe the rituals.

 

Originally being a Zoroastrian festival, and the holiest of them all, Nowruz is believed to have been invented by the founder Zoroaster (Zarathustra) himself, although there is no clear date of origin.

 

Since the Achaemenid era the official year has begun with the New Day when the Sun leaves the zodiac of Pisces and enters the zodiacal sign of Aries, signifying the Spring Equinox. Nowruz is also a holy day for Sufis (Buddhist-influenced mystical Muslims), Bektashis, Ismailis, Alawites. Alevis, Babis, and adherents of the Bahá'í Faith. More