Why Chaharshanbeh Suri is a REALLY BAD Idea
Feb 16th, 2010 by pedestrian
In Blogistan, there is already lots of chatter about planning for Chaharshanbeh Suri.
As I’ve mentioned before, Chaharshanbeh Suri is a national celebration held on the evening of the last Tuesday of the year, sort of like an opening ceremony to the new year celebrations. Bonfires are made in yards, parks, etc, and people jump over them while singing sorkhi-ye to az man, zardi-ye man az to. The literal translation is, Your fiery red color is mine, and my sickly yellow paleness is yours. I think it’s a symbol, an act of purification of the soul as one begins for the new year.
Among the other traditions of that night, which has been long forgotten, is ghashogh zani [hitting on spoons]. Men and women wear long chadors, covering their face, and they go door to door, carrying a metal plate and spoon. At each home, instead of knocking, they start hitting their spoons on their plates. The door opens, the residents give them sweets to take away with them.
The last time I remember seeing ghashogh zani was as a 6 year old, in Ahvaz/Khuzestan [south of iran]. Since, I have never seen it again, especially in Tehran.
The website Neday-e Sabz-e Azadi, has published some of the readers’ suggestions for the night.
- Green balloons
- Green silence
- Singing green tunes while jumping over the fire
- Green ghashogh zani [I guess they mean wearing green symbols while going for ghashogh zani]
As I was discussing with someone on this blog a few days ago, I think the idea of nighttime protest is a really great one. But I also think Chaharshanbeh Suri is a terrible, terrible idea.
Why?
For multiple reasons:
In the olden days, that is, when my mother was a child, in every city, parks would hold a festivity for the night. The park personnel would lit a fire, watch out for the kids, etc. With the strong aversion to national holidays after the revolution, that custom is no longer. In big cities, Chaharshanbeh Suri is a frightening spectacle. Each year, in Tehran alone, dozens of people are killed, paralyzed, burned, injured, etc. People make sure to be home before nightfall, because the city feels like a war zone. Molotov cocktails go off every second, and the city shakes.
Add to this the exitement and angrer that comes with a protest. It could easily get out of hand. And, ill-wishers could easily use it to incite violence as well. Stores can catch fire by “accident”, property can be destroyed, (as some is during Chaharshanbeh Suri anyway) … and the responsibility will all be put on the greens.
Every year after Chaharshanbeh Suri, IRIB features interviews with victims and families. I can just imagine them this year blaming it all on the greens.
Also, it will be a problem of numbers again. Generally, people lock themselves indoors, and people try not to be in the streets that night, given the dangers. Many would simply refuse to participate.َ
Iranian blogger Zehn-e Ashofteh, agrees:
Dear Green Friends!
Please stay away from organizing anything for Chaharshanbeh Suri! If the Greens so much as lift a finger for that night, we can all picture the day after: all the stores and homes you burned [IRIB will claim you burned], burn victims and paralyzed victims who’ve heard a “Mir Hossein” from the distance and will appear on state TV blaming the greens, footage of mothers crying for their injured children two days before the new year, blaming the greens. Photos of a beautiful 5 year old now burned and bruised, whose parents will cry and blame the greens.
You know what sort of monster you’re dealing with, why are you going down this path?
As I’ve mentioned here before, I think Sizdah Bedar [the last day of the new year festivities] is a much, much better idea. On that, I will have more later.
I think you have a good point there.
Thanks christinA, … a lot of debate will come about in the next month or so. I just hope they make a wise decision.
[heckling from abroad:]
There is no denying the plausibility of the convincing various arguments put forward by you.
I remember when I was a kid during the start of the Khatami era hearing about people throwing taranghe (crackle doesn’t at all sound harmful compared to what they throw in Iran to be honest) among some more serious stuff at the law enforcement as they proceeded to beat them with their batons; with the way things are this year I do hope they avoid doing that, otherwise they are bound to get beaten really badly or even killed.
Also I have to say I feel you are making caharshanbeh suri sound alot more menacing than it really is to be honest.
Now admittedly things could have changed a lot since last time I was in Iran for the festival, but I remember everyone in my family going out to around Nazi-abad to spend time with our grand parents while all the kids and family would be outside throwing taranghe at walls or in air and having generally a good time.
Injuries happen in all festival including fireworks and yet they generally aren’t treated as a menacing festival(no narenjak was allowed to be used at all by our parents tho).
lol, you are probably right … But I really think it also depends on the neighborhood. In some places, the grown-ups organize and supervise everything, the fire, the jumping, the party, etc and everything is fine. In khuzestan, we gather in our family’s bagh (citrus orchard) and we have a huge party that I miss like MAD these days. … But it’s not like that everywhere. My friend’s neighbor, a young man with a 7 month old kid I personally knew, was killed instantly when a cocktail hit him straight in the face. In some areas, schools let the kids go earlier in the day so they can be home by nightfall … argh, I don’t know. I just know I hate being in Tehran for Chaharshanbeh Suri with all the sounds and accidents.
This festival sounds fascinating, I can’t wait to hear more about the second one you mention that you believe would be the better choice. I confess I know nothing about these holidays, but it’s amazing how the rituals and events you describe resonate with other festivals from around the world! It seems like many people have such an end-of-winter cleansing ritual type festival, such as the Mardi Gras/Lent that some in the West are celebrating right now!
The idea of jumping over a fire for purification sounds familiar, as does the idea of pretending to be strange spirits in order to get candy from people! It breaks my heart to think of how it must hurt to have such traditional national festivals suppressed and perverted into something menacing. I can’t imagine how awful it would be if theocrats took over America and Mardi Gras and Halloween became really frightening nights instead of being just semi-dangerous wild parties.
I can see the appeal it must have to people, the idea of being a sort of invading army of peace, to take back this night from the hooligans, and get everyone back out on the street, maybe not doing the spoon thing, but doing SOMETHING, in peace, all together as one people, reaffirming those bonds of nationhood.
Seems like one fundamental pillar of the IRI is the idea that the ‘79 revolution was just the first success in a worldwide Islamic Revolution that will eventually create a one-world government, so if you’re proud of being Iranian in particular, and if you hold fast to unique Iranian customs, to the dictators that means you’re being disloyal to the future one-world government, in which nations will have ceased to matter because all will follow the will of the savior (or his representative on Earth, as determined by the guardian council!).
I can also see how foolish it would be for Greens to participate in anything that could later be used to frame them as being violent. No doubt many hooligans and thugs are already planning mayhem for that night, and if victims of it see green anywhere, they may indeed blame the protesters, and the state media will be right there to play it up.
Maybe there is some way to protest that night that would be indisputably nonviolent and separate from anything else, like something people could do while locked in their houses, some online or phone thing (if it could be made safe!), or maybe putting green lights in windows, or rooftop chanting? It’s such a beautiful idea, to do something to show the hooligans that in Free Iran the People will again own this night the thugs took over under the mismanagement of the IRI.
I have no idea what anyone should do, just sharing how I see the situation from what you guys have said. Please correct me if I have the wrong impression! It can be so hard to get the right picture when you only have the web to go by. Thank you all for sharing your comments so the world can learn about these things!
Rev. Magdalen, thanks for your comment!
I don’t think we should only blame the theocrats. As Artanian and I mentioned, in neighborhoods where elders do step in, there are usually no problems. Society has also changed. For instance, people are no longer comfortable with the idea of going door to door especially in big, scary cities like Tehran. Seems like during the early days of the revolution, the state actually created problems for people wanting to celebrate Chaharshanbeh Suri. But ever since I was old enough to remember, we did what we wanted and we never had any problems. It’s not just hooligans that create the accidents. Young, curios kids who are unsupervised. Chinese made materials and bombs instead of good ol’ simple fire and firecrackers. The lack of oversight and supervision is leagues worse than none at all, or the sloppy kind.
Regarding the fundamental pillars of the IRI, I’m not sure! Maybe that was the ideal 30 years ago … it is certainly a rhetoric now. But I think the current custodians/fascists in charge are more corrupt businessmen then anything else. if they can find a way to exploit this day, they will! Look at Mashaie’s rants already … it will only be a matter of time before Ahmadinejad is photographed jumping over the fire.
Yes, I think keeping things “local” is key. Having neighborhoods plan their own festivities. That way, elders are there. The kids are alert and there’s less chance of things getting out of control.
I think it is that the generation is wilder these days. Especially when there are so many restrictions imposed and no way to let out ones’ frustration safely. I know I’d be staying in my house that night.
Lola, yes, that too. This night is one of the only nights when youth in Tehran can actually “socialize” … albeit in very different ways.
i am picturing sabzeh sprouts littering the streets (and not the rivers) green!
yes! because the whole day is about being OUTSIDE and about being GREEN! I really think it deserves a worthy mention on the green calendar, it’s meaning, message, colors, etc fit so well with the aspirations of the movement in Iran.
Thanks for the interesting article! I also believe if Greens plan anything for Chaharshanbesuri, the gov’t, by hook or by crook, is gonna impute any disastrous event of that night to Greens and question their peaceful reputation.
However, I’m afraid if Greens don’t plan anything, IRIB is gonna keep lying about the Green movement’s being almost finished! So it would probably be wise to look for some alternative plans… I assume a cultural* activity for Sizdebedar could be a good idea! Because it will show the unity and strength of the Green movement and prove its peaceful nature.
*Cultural being non-political! For instance, planting trees, etc..
Bsalamati, I too think that SizdahBedar is a good idea. I’ve written a bit more about that in a post today. IRIB always airs footage of parks on Sizdah Bedar, I think they will abstain this year, with all the green that families will have with them in the parks and everywhere else they may be.
I have received much correction from many people about my first impressions of Chaharshanbeh Suri, so thank you everyone for sharing thoughts and experiences with me! It is so fascinating to learn about this tradition.
I wanted to share in return that here in America we have what we call “neopagans,” which is a sort of general term for people who reject the modern religions and try to go back to ancient nature or Earth traditions. Only, being American, most of us don’t know our own ethnicity back beyond our grandparents, and our heritage is usually so mixed anyway that it would be a tossup as to which of your ancestral traditions you would choose to embrace.
So this has led to a lot of people inventing new traditions, basically satisfying the ancient need to feel connected to the Earth and to one another by cribbing together elements from real ancient traditions of peoples around the world. These folks too have many kinds of bonfires, as people recognize intuitively the powerful mystery of fire, as it transforms ordinary dead wood into a source of light, heat, and protection!
We have so many seekers striving so hard to create good traditions to hand down to their children, to recreate a connection with the intuitive side of the human condition and reconnect with the Earth and our fellow humans, but Iranians have a real, for-sure honest BEAUTIFUL fire tradition already! It’s fantastic that Iranians still have living memory of something so precious and unique, and no matter what happens that day in terms of protest, I just wanted to say that the world is a richer, better place because you all have shared with us your experiences of Chaharshanbeh Suri!
Your assessment on Chaharshanbeh Suri is all fine and dandy if Iranians are still under the illusion that a “peaceful” conclusion to this mess is in the horizon. Illusion may be an understatement here as an expectation of a challenge to theocracy being “peaceful”, contrary to all historical evidence from around the world is more of dellusion than anything else.
The only times this movement has been successful, it has at the very least included elements of violence and the only times the movement has subsided, it has been in response to its self-proclaimed leaders emphasizing a peaceful approach. The escalation of violence is and has always been a subset of a challenge to theocracy and denying that, is pure ignorance.
Given the level of frustration, the sliding Iranian economy, and the militarization of every aspect of the Iranian society, a violent confrontation with the regime during Chaharshanbeh Suri is an inevitability that not only needs to be acknowledged, but embraced. Those who ignore universal truths are only setting themselves up for disappointment as they did on the 22nd of Bahman.
Those who acknowledge and embrace universal truths, such as the eventual triumph of good over evil and the right to God granted freedoms (universal freedoms) realize that there’s only one way forward, regardless of whether it supercedes our moral values and dedication to non-violent means.
Hi Arash K. I suspect from your wishful prose that you are writing this perched on a chair outside of Iran. For those inside, things are just a tad bit more complicated. I’m glad that the gradual shift in – at least parts – of our society has been a move away from “universal truths of good vs. evil” which have been just catastrophic for our country if the last few decades are any indication. I would ask you to take a few minutes and read Farrokh Negahdar’s account of really how detrimental this good vs. evil mentality has been to us as a whole, and I’d ask you to take this all in a bit slower (the proverbial chill pill would so us all a world of good). For many of those who have to live and grow and work and breathe inside this system, the violent option just isn’t an option, but it’s pretty easy to say if you are watching this all from the TV with that bowl of nachos to calm you down if the scenes ever get too gruesome.
And your history also needs some fact checking. “The only times this movement has been successful, it has at the very least included elements of violence and the only times the movement has subsided”?! This new movement, born out of decades of older struggle, was actually REBORN on June 15th, when MILLIONS of Iranians SILENTLY took the streets to protest in peace.
Rev. Madalen, we do have some beautiful traditions if I do say so myself
and I think part of what gives us hope is that despite centuries of inner and outer conflict, despite all the tyranny, we’ve managed to keep ourselves connected, we’ve managed to keep these traditions alive. This is what makes me think “this too will pass” … b/c it certainly is not the first time!
I think it is time for you Iranian people to make sacrifice. In order to ende religeous tyranny you need to sacrifice. Europe did this in hte middle ages. We also fought the Nazis in ww2 and lost close to 80 million people. Iranians have not made any sacrifices (in real terms and extent). Its time to pay the price for freedom. Otherwise watch your beautiful delicate culture get infested by the dogmatic prehistoric Islamic savagery and your people persecuted for years. Its time to put the genie in hte bottle. Its time for a real reveloution.
So get your green arm bands, knives guns and sticks…meet the Basijis face to face and do not relent until you are victorious.
chindoo, I’m not sure how you measure “sacrifice” but non-violence is a strategy and it requires a whole lot of it.
to the author: do u honestly believe the iranian people really believe the lies they hear on the tv, even my 6 years old cousin calls the guy pictured on the rial (Khomeini) div(or monster). no believes their lies. plus freedom can not be achieve through peace with the mullahs.