Chahar Shanbe Suri' (The Festival of Fire)

Chahar Shanbe Suri', the Festival of Fire, is part of the ten day Zoroastrian festival, Farvardegan, which concludes with Nowruz, the Persian New Year, on March 21. On this last Tuesday of the year, Iranians jump over bonfires.

Agenda this week:

1. Make Ajeel
2. Spring cleaning

3. Build a fire and JUMP!

1. Make Ajeel:

Tonight children in Iran visit their neighbor's houses in disguise, usually something like a veil covering their entire body. Each kid carries an empty metal bowl and a metal spoon. At the door, they bang the spoons on the bowls and on the door. The neighbor places a treat in each visitor's bowl, usually ajeel. The kids try to remain silent and anonymous throughout the process.

Ajeel is a Persian mixture of dried fruits with roasted nuts and seeds, similar to trail mix. There is no one recipe- you just make it as you like it. Use the list below as a starting place, and add or subtract as you wish.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. shelled pistachios
1/2 c. roasted almonds

1/2 c. roasted cashews
1/4 c. roasted chickpeas
1/4 c. black or golden raisins
1/4 c. dried mulberries

1/4 c. dried apricots

1/4 c. dried cranberries

In a bowl mix together all the fruit and nuts.

2. Spring cleaning:
To honor the angels, and prepare for Nowruz, Iranians clean their houses, mend anything that is broken, take baths, and buy new clothes. Today they will also gather wood scraps for a fire.

In March each year I take the first steps of spring cleaning- those big jobs that get put off through the winter months. The big job I'm going to tackle this week is to build a tool pegboard and reorganize our tools.

3. Build a fire and JUMP!
Chahar Shanbeh Soori means Red Wednesday, and tonight- the last Tuesday of the year, neighbors in Iran gather to build bonfires. Everyone leaps over the fire, to burn away the bad luck of the old year, and create good luck for the new year.