Thread by @aaolomi

This week was shab-e yalda, the Winter Solstice festival. It was historically observed in the Persianate world through poetry, fruits, the lighting fires to keep away the dark, and the reading of fortunes.

A thread-

Several yearly festivals are mentioned by al-Biruni and shab-e yalda or chelle as it is observed today likely reflects a mixture of different practices and traditions.

He mentions festivals among the Persians and the Sogdians as pre-Islamic traditions which may have seen a revival during the Samanid period alongside Nowruz, the new years festival.

The name yalda is a bit of a mystery with a popular claim that it originated among fleeing Syriac Christians who settled in the Persianate world. Yet, this remains a bit unclear to me.

Chelle on the other hand is means “40” reflecting the forty days between the winter solstice and another festival where people would celebrate the closing of winter and the coming of the Spring.

40 days was a particularly significant time-period in various devotional practices as we find Sufis would also engage in retreats, fasts, and prayers for 40 days.

On shabe-yalda itself though, people would gather together and consume sweet fruits, nuts, and light fires to keep the darkness at bay.

The festival likely commemorated the balance between the Zoroastrian god of light, Ahura Mazda versus the force of darkness, Ahriman.

Another common practice was the reading of fortunes.

The poetry of 14th century Hafez is opened at random while a question is held in the mind and the verse selected by chance is interpreted as the fortune.

Known as fahl-e hafez, the practice is widely popular and often experienced as a communal activity.

You sit in a group with your friends and family and read the poetry out loud reflecting on the wisdom and beauty of the verses.

The date also coincided with another prognostication tradition: the forecasting of the weather.

Yearly horoscopes were cast for the spring equinox and depending on the omens the single horoscope would represent the entire year or further ones were cast for each cardinal date

Regardless of the outcome though each of cardinal dates were uses to forecast the weather.

Several methods were employed, including the use of the anwa stars which became fused with the lunar mansions, the stations the moon travels throughout the month.

The placement of the moon at this time, as well as certain aspects between planets would be used to predict the weather until the coming of the Spring.

Authors like al-Kindi, Mas’ahallah, and al-Tabari dedicated long and complicated instructions for this process.

Many of the practices of shab-e yalda are apotropaic in nature, designed to keep away ill-fortune.

The consuming of sweet fruits and pomegranates, feasting on nuts, lighting fires, and staying up throughout the longest night were intended to keep away the darkness & misfortune

al-Biruni mentions how charms to keep away scorpions were crafted and instructions are given by al-Ashraf how the dried husks of the pomegranates could be used in healing incenses as remedies.

Today shab e yalda continues to be practiced throughout the Persianate world as families gather together to mark the winter solstice.

So, fill your mouths with sweets, your ears with beautiful verse, and light candles so that you may see the light even in the dark

Happy Winter Solstice!

I’ll be covering further festivals and traditions in future threads.