Paitishem

The Zoroastrian community honors the six seasons of the year by celebrating six Gahambars; the word gahambar means "proper season". Each of these six festivals is celebrated for five days, and each honors one of the six material creations: The heaven, water, earth, flora, fauna and man.

Paitishem is the third Gahambar, celebrating the creation of the earth, the end of summer, and the harvesting of crops. It takes place each year from September 12th through the 16th.

Agenda this week:
1. Recite prayers
2. Make Shirazi cucumber salad
3. Work in the late summer garden

1. Recite prayers:
The first four days of Paitishem are devoted to services, and reciting prayers. Zoroastrians turn towards a flame while praying, which symbolizes the fire of creation and the spiritual flame within each of us-- and so I stand before a candle flame to recite the Ashem Vohu (invocation of Asha) from the Avesta (Zoroastrian Book of Common Prayer).

The Ashem Vohu is a prayer with universal appeal. The word Ashem has many meanings: Law, Order, Beauty, Truth, Righteousness, Purity, Freedom. This one word expresses Divine truth, purity of body and mind, and all the beauty of nature. It's a central idea in Zoroastrianism. 

This prayer is like a mantra, to be chanted slowly. To hear it recited, go to this link.

ashem vohû vahishtem astî

Truth is the best good.

ushtâ astî 

It is happiness.

ushtâ ahmâi hyat ashâi vahishtâi ashem. 

Happiness is to one whose truth (represents) best truth.

2. Make Shirazi cucumber salad:
On the fifth day of a Gahambar, all the community comes together for a potluck feast, with traditional Persian dishes: Papeta-ma-ghosh, Iranian soup, fried bread, kharu-ghosh, ambakalio, Shirazi cucumber salad, and ajil - a mix of seven different dried fruit and nuts.

The feast is payed for by those who can afford it. Food is prepared together by volunteers, and served by volunteers. Each person either donates food or helps to serve. The feast is a community get-together, when grudges are forgiven and forgotten, and friendships are formed or renewed.

Zoroastrians believe that the smell of good food attracts the Spiritual Beings, and so during the Gahambars spiritual and physical beings are able to eat together.

I plan to make this salad because I have both cucumbers and tomatoes on hand. (I'll add photos when I do.)

Ingredients:

• 2 cucumbers
• 6 Roma tomatoes
• 1/2 onion
• 1 medium hot green pepper
• 4 Tbsp. fresh or dried mint

Dressing:

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. fresh black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. fine lime zest
• 6 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lime juice (about 2 medium limes)
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil

1 - Dice the cucumbers, tomatoes and onion into small cubes, and put into a bowl.

2 - Remove the seeds from the green pepper and slice very thin. Add to the bowl.

3 - Add the chopped fresh mint and gently mix together.

4 - In a small bowl whisk to combine the lime juice, lime zest, salt, pepper and olive oil. Add to the salad ingredients. Toss gently to coat. Serve immediately.

3. Work in the late summer garden:

The gahambars are seasonal festivals that originally provided an opportunity for the whole village to get together to share the labor required to finish the tasks of the season; for Paitishem that is the harvest.

This summer has been dry and exceptionally hot, and the garden is pretty stunted. We expect some rain this week, which will be a lovely miracle. 

In any case, we will get on with the work of this season - planting fall veggies, and also cleaning up the yard and beds for winter. With a little effort now the garden will shine for two more months with fall blooms and tasty vegetables. 

1. Weeding: It's time to get all the weeds out. If weeds survive now they will produce enough seed to last for years!
2. Planting: I will plant a few plants of bok choy this week, which over-winters really well in our valley, and a cover crop of fava beans in some of the empty beds.
3. Harvest green beans, raspberries, peppers, and cucumbers! I’m also going to gather flower seeds (They need to dry for a week before I store them).
4. Store seeds: Once they are dry I will put all my seeds into zip-lock bags in the refrigerator, near the bottom, away from the freezer. (Note to self: Next spring, take bags out but keep them closed until the seeds warm, so moisture in the air doesn’t condense on the seeds.)