Sepandārmazgān (in Persian: سپندارمذگان)[1] is the celebration day of love and earth in ancient Iranian culture. This day is dedicated to Spenta Armaiti, Spandārmad in Middle Persian, the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times (224-654 CE) became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well.
It is celebrated the 29th of Bahman in Iranian calendar. Modern folklore dates the celebration to ancient times and Zoroastrian tradition.[citation needed] Sepandarmazgan is the celebration day of Love, Friendship and Earth in ancient Persian culture.
According to Iranian tradition, the day of Sepandarmazgan was held in the Great Persian Empire in the 20th century BC. That is the national title of the Earth and the Earth is the symbol of love & modesty. Persians have a rich culture with many great feasts based on natural occasions that have been mixed up with happiness and Joy. In the feast of Sepandarmazgan, the Earth was worshiped and women venerated. On this day, women and girls sat on the throne and men and boys had to obey them and bring them presents and gifts. In this way, men were reminded to acclaim and respect women. Sepandarmaz is another name for mainyu (earth) meaning Holy, Humble and Passionate. Sepandarmaz is also Earth Guardian Angel. It is the symbol of humbleness. It means modest toward the entire creation. These are the qualities attributed to Earth that spreads beneath our feet, thus the symbol of modesty and love. As human beings, there are creatures that we find unpleasant and repulsive, but Earth is not like us. She embraces all creatures the same and loves them the same; like a mother who loves all children alike, even when they are ugly. In ancient Persian culture, mother is symbolized by Sepandarmaz or earth.
In ancient Iran each day of the month had a name, and all months had 30 days. For example, the first day was called Ahuramazda, the second day Bahman, which is the first attribute of God, the third day was called Ordibehesht meaning truth and purity which again are attributes of God. The fourth day is called Shahrivar, meaning ideal kingship that belongs to God who rules the whole universe. The cryptic meaning of this word is that in the same way that God rules over the heavenly bodies, we should rule our bodies with good thoughts, words and deeds. This brings us to the fifth day Sepandarmaz. Another rule here was that whenever the name of a day coincided with that of the month, a feast was held. So the feast of Sepandarmazgan is held on the sepandarmaz day of the month of Esfand (originally Spand or Espand). Similarly, the 16th day of any month is called Mehr and the feast of Mehrgan is held on the 16th day of the month of Mehr which was one of the most important feasts of the past. The day of Aban in the month of Aban is the day of another feast called Abangan, and was used as an occasion to appreciate and worship water and the day of Azar in the month of Azar, called Azargan was the feast of appreciation of fire and so forth. And after the Persian calendar was changed, the six first months ended with 31 days, the next five months have 30 days, and only Esfand has 29 days that will change to 30 days in a four year period and Sepandarmazgan moved from 5th of Esfand 29th of Bahman, i.e. February 17th.
Notes
- ^ There is no entry for "Sepandarmazgan" in Joseph Steingass, A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary (on-line search engine).
The original date for this ceremony is 5th of Esfand. The popular revised date of 29th Bahman is due to the disorganized calendering during the past 20 years. please refer to the website below for information based on Abu Rayhan Biruni's book (The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries)
()http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki
See also
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