Yalda customs and traditions

For nearly several thousand years, the last night of autumn, Yalda Night, which is the darkest and longest night of the year, has been celebrated by Iranians, and various rituals and traditions are celebrated together on this memorable night, a beautiful night that has its own customs and traditions in different cities of Iran.
Yalda Night is the longest night of the year, which corresponds to the time between sunset on Azar 30, the last day of autumn, and sunrise on Dey 1, the first day of winter. It coincides with the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. For this reason, from that date onwards, the length of the night becomes shorter and the length of the day becomes longer.
It is not exactly known how and when the word Yalda entered the Persian language. It is known from history that the early Christians who lived in Rome were experiencing many hardships, at the same time some of them decided to immigrate to Iran, and due to the closeness of the cultures, this Syriac word found its way into the Persian language. As you know, the history and background of Yalda goes back to very ancient times, but it is not clear when exactly it dates. Many archaeologists have proposed seven thousand years ago for the date of Yalda Night. Prehistoric pottery has been cited because animal motifs of the Iranian months, such as the scorpion and the ram, are carved into these vessels. Of course, it goes without saying that archaeological discoveries and inscriptions are rare, but archaeologists believe that the ritual related to Yalda Night can be observed as far back as 7,000 years ago. The Yalda celebration is celebrated today by Iranians with a night of family and relatives gathering together. Family members gather on this important night and the elderly begin to tell old stories. Eating watermelon, nuts, pomegranates, sweets, and various fruits are symbolic aspects of this dear night. Most of these fruits have many seeds and are considered a kind of contagious magic. People increase their fertility by invoking the blessing of their seed-filled nature. They imagine watermelon and pomegranate to represent the sun at night because of their red color. Reading and fortune telling of Hafez on Yalda nights is another Iranian pastime and has long been a tradition. If the intended audience intends to give a fortune to Hafez, the elder of the assembly who is going to give the fortune asks him to repeat this sentence to himself: O Hafez Shirazi, you are the discoverer of every secret, I seek a fortune, cast your gaze upon me… Then he opens the divan and reads the ghazal on the top right because it is the answer to the fortune telling. If they encounter the middle of the ghazal, the fortune must be read from the beginning of the ghazal, that is, the back page. After the ghazal is read, they interpret it. If the fortune comes out with a positive content, it means the fortune is good, but if it is negative, it means it is bad. Of course, it should not go unnoticed that all of Hafez's ghazals have an uplifting and romantic content.

Translator: Faeghe Ebrahimpour