Mehregan
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Mehregān (alternatively: Mihragān, Persian: مهرگان) or Jashn-e-Mehregān is a Zoroastrian and Iranian festival celebrated in honor of Mithra (Persian: Mehr or Mihr), the divinity of covenant, and hence of interpersonal relationships such as friendship, affection and love.
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[edit] Introduction
Mehregān was probably once an Indo-Iranian festival, and possibly even older, but what form it had then remains in the realm of speculation. By the 4th century BCE, it was observed as one of the Zoroastrian name-day feasts, a form it retains even today, even in (predominantly) Islamic Greater Iran where it is of the few pre-Islamic festivals that continue to be celebrated by the public at-large.
As intimated above, Mehregān is a name-day feast. These name-day feasts are festivals celebrated on the day of the year when the day-name and month-name dedications to a particular divinity intersect. There are altogether 11 of these feasts, since 11 divinities have both day-name and month-name dedications. The twelfth, Dae, is not a divinity. Of these 11 name-day feasts, only two continue to be have a wide following in (predominantly) Islamic Iran. These are Mehregān, as noted above, dedicated to Mithra-Mehr, and Tiregan, dedicated to Tishtrya-Tir.
Irrespective of which calendar is observed, Mehregān falls on the 196th day of the calendar year. For details on how this date is calculated, see basis for the date, below. For calendars that have March 21st as New Year's day (i.e. in the Fasili and Bastani variants of the Zoroastrian calendar as well as in the Iranian civil calendar), Mehregān falls on October 2nd. For the Shahenshahi variant of the Zoroastrian calendar, which in 2006-2007 has New Year's day on August 20th, Mehregān fell on March 3rd of the following Gregorian year. For the Kadmi variant, which has New Year's day 30 days earlier, Mehregān falls on February 1st.
In a non-Zoroastrian context, where Mehr-Mithra is no longer worshipped, Mehregān still remains a celebration amongst family and friends, but it is today recognized as a harvest festival. The festival symbolically ends with bonfires and fireworks, but should not be confused with Sadeh, which likewise celebrates with bonfires but occurs at the end of the calendrical year.
In al-Biruni's 11th century Book of Instructions in the Elements of the Art of Astrology (233), the astronomer observed that "some people have given the preference to Mihragān [over Nowruz, i.e. New Year's day/Spring Equinox] by as much as they prefer autumn to spring."[1] As al-Biruni also does for the other festival days he mentions, he reiterates a local anecdotal association for his description of Mehregan (ha al-mirjan in the author's Arabic parlance) with a fragment of a tale from Iranian folklore: On this day, Fredon vanquished the evil Dahak and confined him to Mount Damavand. This fragment of the Fredon-Dahak legend is part of a greater cycle that ties Mehregan with Nowruz; Dahak vanquished Jamshid (who the legends have establishing New Year's day), and Fredon vanquishes Dahak, so restoring the balance. The association of Mehregan with the polarity of sprint/autumn, sowing/harvest and the birth/rebirth cycle did not escape al-Biruni either, for as he noted, "they consider Mihragān as a sign of resurrection and the end of the world, because at Mihragān that which grows reaches perfection."[1]
[edit] In ancient times
Mehregān was celebrated in an extravagant style at Persepolis. Not only was it the time for harvest, but it was also the time when the taxes were collected. Visitors from different parts of the empire brought gifts for the king all contributing to a lively festival.
During Pre-Islamic and early Islamic Iran, Mehregān was celebrated with the same magnificence and pageantry as Nowruz. It was customary for people to send or give their king, and each other gifts. Rich people usually gave gold and silver coins, heroes and warriors gave horses while others gave gifts according to their ability, even an apple. Those fortunate enough, would help the poor with gifts.
Gifts over ten thousand gold coins given to the royal court were registered. At a later time, if the gift-giver needed money, the court would then return twice the gift amount. Kings gave two audiences a year; one audience at Nowruz and other at Mehregān. During the Mehregān celebrations, the king wore a fur robe and gave away all his summer clothes.
After the Mongol invasion of Iran, the feast celebration of Mehregān lost its popularity. Zoroastrians of Yazd and Kermān continued to celebrate Mehregān in an extravagant way.
[edit] In the present-day
For this celebration, the participants wear new clothes and set a decorative, colorful table. The sides of the tablecloth are decorated with dry wild marjoram. A copy of the Khordeh Avesta ("little Avesta"), a mirror and a sormeh dan (an antimony cellar) are placed on the table together with rose water, sweets, flowers, vegetables and fruits, especially pomegranates and apples, and nuts such as almonds or pistachios. A few silver coins and lotus seeds are placed in a dish of water scented with marjoram extract.
A burner is also part of the table setting for kondor/loban (frankincense) and espand (Syrian Rue seeds) to be thrown on the flames.
At lunch time when the ceremony begins, everyone in the family stands in front of the mirror to pray. Sherbet is drunk and then—as a good omen—antimony is rubbed around the eyes. Handfuls of wild marjoram, lotus and sugar plum seeds are thrown over each others heads while they embrace one another.
Until at least the mid-1960s, the Zoroastrians of Yazd would still have a ritual butchering of a sheep on this day. As for the other name day-feasts also, this would occur on the name-day itself, and for three days afterwards. The animal would be butchered between dawn and noon, and then slowly grilled on a spit until evening when the meat would then be eaten during a communal meal.
[edit] Basis for the date
As noted above, Mehregān is a name-day feast, that is, a festival celebrated on the day of the year when the day-name and month-name dedications of a specific divinity intersect. In the Zoroastrian calendar, the 16th day of the month and the 7th month of the year are dedicated to Mithra/Mehr, and are respectively named Mehr roj (Mehr-day) and Mehr Mah (Mehr-month). The day of the year when both month and day are named after Mehr is then when Jashn-e-Mehregān is celebrated.
What that day corresponds to in another is another calendar subject to which variant of the Zoroastrian calendar is followed:
- The Fasili and Bastani variants of the religious calendar adhere to Gregorian intercalcation (leap-day) rules, and therefore Mehregān is celebrated on a day that is fixed in relation to the Gregorian calendar. Mehregān is then always on October 2nd.
- The Shahenshahi and Kadmi variants of the religious calendar do not intercalcate at all, with the result that over the last 14 centuries, Mehregān has fallen behind and is presently either 7 (Shahenshahi) or 8 (Kadmi) months before the same date in the Fasili and Bastani variants.
The Bastani calendar is used primarily in Greater Iran and by Iranians of the diaspora, while Zoroastrians of India (subject to calendrical faction) use one of the other three variants.
Non-Zoroastrian Iranians do not of course observe any variant of the Zoroastrian calendar, but instead use the Iranian civil calendar. When introduced in 1925, the Zoroastrian festival days were pegged to the Bastani variant of the Zoroastrian calendar. Because the first six months of the civil calendar have 31 days each while all Zoroastrian calendar months have 30 days each, by the 7th month (Mehr) there is a difference of 6 days between the two. Thus, October 2nd, which in the Bastani/Fasili calendar is the 16th day of Mehr month, is in the Iranian civil calendar the 10th day (Aban) of the same month.
The relationship between Mehregān and the various calendars is perhaps better understood relative to New Year's Day (Nowruz). When (relative to another calendar) the 1st day of the year occurs is subject to interpretation, but independent of when it occurs, Mehregān is celebrated 195 days later, that is on the 196th day of the year.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography and further reading
- Peterson, J. H. (1996), The Festival of Mihragan (Jashan-e Mihragan), <http://www.avesta.org/mihragan.htm>
- Price, Massoume (2001), Mihregan (Mehregan), <http://www.iranonline.com/festivals/mehregan-english-2/>
