Mehregan and the Waning Crescent Moon

Mehregan (pronounced ‘meh-re-gahn’), is an ancient Persian festival, older even than Zoroastrianism, that began as a feast for the sun god/dess, Mehr.

Mehr (also known as Mithra) is responsible for knowledge, love, friendship, promises, and the light. The word "mehr" in Farsi means kindness.

When Zoroastrianism took hold in Persia, in around 1400 BCE, Mehr was reduced from a God to an angel, but the festival of Mehregan remained. Now Iranians celebrate it usually on October 1st or 2nd, as a day of thanksgiving and the start of the second half of the year (Noruz, in March, is the start of the first half). People decorate their houses, put on new clothes, and visit their relatives and friends, wishing each other a good harvest, long life, and happiness.

And today's waning crescent moon is the final phase of the Harvest Moon cycle. The next new moon, in four days, will be the Chrysanthemum Moon cycle. At the new moon I'll set my intentions for the month ahead.

But right now, at the waning crescent, it's time to evaluate and brainstorm, find purpose, and surrender. I'll open to curiosity and attention, contemplate what I might want in the 30 days ahead, and rest up for the move back into yang-action mode. These next few days are a chance to look back and look forward, and think about the big picture of my life.

Agenda Today:
1. Journal queries

2. Evaluation and Inspiration House

3. Review my purpose

4. Review my priorities

5. Surrender, rest, recuperate

6. Make Aash-e-jo (barley soup) with lamb
7. Set the table
8. Fire

1. Journal queries:
Because Mehregan's focus is on friendship and love, today I give attention to how well I honor the promises and commitments of friendship.

In what condition are my friendships? 
How might I be a better friend?

I made a list of the friends that I want to nurture and pay special attention to this month - those I feel distant from or whom I want to understand better and appreciate more.

2. Evaluation and Inspiration House:

Today I get to reflect back on the whole lunar cycle that I've just passed through. I will review the intentions I set at the start of the cycle and draw a house with 4 rooms: 

• A room for things I have accomplished and completed.
• A room for things I will finish in the next couple days.
• A room for the things I have released because they became irrelevant or didn't go as planned.
• A room for things I will save for the next month.

In that last room I will brainstorm and add new ideas for actions, projects, studies, and plans for the next month.

3. Review my purpose:

My purpose is to love and serve my family and my community (learning greater equanimity and compassion); lead a simple life of integrity (caring for the earth and working to become anti-racist); and be a creative force in the world (expressing myself with my writing, art, and actions).

4. Review my priorities:

I have lots of things in lots of categories that I do every day, but which of those are priorities now in my life? I only have so much time each day, so I hope to give priority to the activities and people that matter most to me right now. 

My priorities are fluid; they change with the seasons and with my responsibilities. I like to review them monthly, before the new moon. Today I ask myself:

-Which of my priorities have gotten the least attention this last month and why? 

-What seasonal focus and upcoming events are priorities now?

-What are my important responsibilities this month?

-What upcoming activities give me the biggest rewards?

-What would I do this month if I knew I only had 6 months to live?

-What activities best support my beliefs and values?

-Where do my strengths lie?

    

After some thought, this is my slate of priorities: 

• Heart is friends and family: I'm finding a balance of retreat and adventure ... my family is a top priority.
• Celebration and Play: I'm having great fun with sharing my nature table, fall festivals, walking adventures, and spontaneous art play.
• Creativity is my writing, arts, and crafts: Writing is my prime focus for the month, and painting is a little off the burner.
• Health is exercise, eating right, etc: I'm working on tendonitis therapy.
• Service is my committees and activism: I've got a good mix and good energy.
• Learning is all the topics I'm studying: I need to find a good book on balance to focus on this month, and also review my top favorites for the bibliography.
• Home is all the tasks I do to create sanctuary in my home: My focus now is putting the garden to bed for the winter, and simplifying the home.
• Career is my teaching and work tasks: I'm including book blogging now - we'll see where it leads.

5. Surrender, rest, recuperate: 

This next few days is a time to be empty; the time for striving is past. As the moon’s light fades into darkness I get to relax and surrender to the universe. 

Some things will always be out of my control. As the moon's appearance dwindles, I let go of useless beliefs, unreasonable expectations, grudges, defensiveness, projects that don't fit into my life, and anything else that isn't working for me. I turn these all over to the Divine and give thanks, my way of opening to receive new intentions in the new month.

Then I give myself permission to rest! 

6. Make aash-e-jo (barley soup) with lamb:
Zoroastrians in Iran and India have a community feast today, and non-Zoroastrians have a family feast. I usually make a large pot of vegetarian noodle stew, called âsh-e-reshte, with my students, but this year I'm going to make Persian lamb and barley stew for my family.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red chili pepper
• 2 lb. lamb leg meat
• 2-3 fresh tomatoes
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 2-1/2 c. chicken stock
• 1 can chickpeas
• 1/2 c. dried pearl barley
• handful of parsley
• 1/2 lemon

1. Chop the onion, and mince the garlic and chili pepper. Cube the lamb meat. Peel the tomatoes, and roughly chop them.





2. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat, add onion, and cook until soft. Add garlic and chili pepper, and stir for 1 minute. 

3. Add the lamb cubes to brown on all sides for about 5 minutes. Add the powdered spices and stir for 1 more minute. Add the tomatoes.




4. Pour in chicken stock and lower the heat. Partially cover the pot and simmer gently for 60 minutes.

5. Add chickpeas and pearl barley and cook for another 30 minutes, or until lamb is tender and barley is cooked. 

6. Chop the parsley and squeeze the lemon. Add salt and pepper to taste, parsley, and lemon juice. Serve hot with flatbread.

7. Set the table:

Zoroastrians set a very elaborate table display for this celebration, with a copy of Khordeh Avesta (Little Avesta), a mirror, an antimony container, rosewater, sweets, flowers, vegetables and fruits (especially pomegranates and apples), nuts such as almonds or pistachios, silver coins and lotus seeds; also a burner for burning frankincense and rue seeds. The sides of the tablecloth are decorated with dry wild marjoram. 

I don’t even try to duplicate it but sometimes I include these Zoroastrian symbols:

• Mirror – symbolizing Sky 
• Apple – symbolizing Earth 
• Candles – symbolizing Fire 
• Rose water – symbolizing Water 
• Seeds (such as peas, beans, and lentils) – symbolizing last year's harvest and next year's plan.

Last year I kept it simple with only branches of herbs to decorate the table. We had a moment of silent prayer, with a focus on thankfulness for food, family, and friendship. 

After our meal, we had fun tearing up rosemary and lavender leaves to sprinkle on each other’s heads as a blessing of love.

We put the pot down for Sadie, because Zoroastrians revere dogs and always make sure they get soup on this day.