Ayathrem is the fourth Gahambar celebrated by the Zoroastrian community, who honor the six seasons of the year with 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.
Ayathrem celebrates the creation of plants, the time to sow winter crops, and the season when the herds come home from pasture. It takes place each year from October 12th through the 16th.
Also, I'm having a rare unscheduled day, mostly alone - a mini-retreat, and I hope to take some time to just putter.
Agenda:
1. Read "Comfortable with Uncertainty"
2. Recite prayers
3. Putter in the garden (and plant garlic)
3. Putter in the garden (and plant garlic)
4. Make vegetable soup
1. Read "Comfortable with Uncertainty":
The theme throughout this book is training in tenderness for life, called bodhichitta. "We train in the bodhichitta practices in order to become so open that we can take the pain of the world in, let it touch our hearts, and turn it into compassion."
Chapter 3 is Comfortable with Uncertainty. "Those who train wholeheartedly in awakening bodhichitta are called bodhisattvas or warriors - not warriors who kill but warriors of nonaggression who hear the cries of the world."
Training includes sitting meditation, tonglen, slogan practice, and cultivating the four qualities of loving-kindness: compassion, joy, and equanimity.
"A warrior accepts that we can never know what will happen to us next. We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not-knowing is part of the adventure."
The first four days of Ayathrem 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.
3. Putter in the garden (and plant garlic):
Puttering is the art of being occupied without a set agenda, in a leisurely and casual manner. My favorite place to putter is in the garden, when I don't have a specific chore to do, but just want to see what needs doing.That said, I do have one easy chore today: planting the garlic.
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 Ayathrem that is planting the winter crops, so this is the day that I plant my winter garlic.
Garlic (Allium sativum L) is one of the world’s oldest cultivated crops. Scientists debate its origin: It's a native of central or South Asia, or perhaps southwestern Siberia. Garlic lovers carried the pungent herb into Egypt, Pakistan, India and China. The crusaders brought it back to Europe.
Besides being used in almost every cuisine of cooking, garlic also repels pests, so it makes an excellent companion plant to many annual vegetables, and is often planted along the dripline of fruit trees.
Growing it yourself means you’ll have access to a wider variety of garlic flavors. You can plant organic garlic from the grocery store, but at a nursery you'll find more variety options. Last year I planted Elephant garlic, and Northern White. This year I chose Shandong, a reddish variety from China's Shandong province.
Break your garlic bulbs up into single cloves; each clove will grown into a new bulb. Choose large cloves that are firm to the touch, free of blemishes, plump and have a healthy sheen. Make holes in loose soil 2-inches deep and 6-inches apart. Place your garlic cloves pointy side up into the holes and cover with soil and then a layer of mulch.
4. Make vegetable soup:
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.
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.
Today I'm going to make âsh-e-reshte, a delicious, rich, Iranian vegetable noodle soup.
Ingredients:
- 1/4-c. dry lentils
- 1/4-c. pearl barley
- 1 small bunch fresh parsley or cilantro
- 1 carrot
- 1 small potato
- 1 tomato
- salt and pepper
- 1/2-lb. fresh spinach
- 1/4-lb. linguine (or persian reshteh noodles)
- 1 can each garbanzos and red kidney beans
- 1 medium onion
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
- 1 tsp. turmeric
- 1/2 c. plain yogurt
(Yield: 4-5 servings)
1- Pick over and rinse the dried lentils. Cover with 2 c. water and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook the barley in another pot, covered with water, for about 30 minutes.
2- Meanwhile, clean the parsley and chop finely. Put into a soup pot with 4 c. water. Peel and chop carrot, potato & tomato (and really any veggies you have on hand - I'm using green beans). Add veggies with salt and pepper. Simmer 20 minutes.
3- Clean and chop the spinach and add to the soup pot. Break the noodles into 2-inch pieces and add to the pot. Simmer until noodles are cooked.
4- Slice the onions and fry in a little oil until they turn golden brown. Add the mint and turmeric, stir, and set aside.
3- Clean and chop the spinach and add to the soup pot. Break the noodles into 2-inch pieces and add to the pot. Simmer until noodles are cooked.
4- Slice the onions and fry in a little oil until they turn golden brown. Add the mint and turmeric, stir, and set aside.
5- When the noodles are cooked, add lentils, beans, barley, and onions to the soup pot; simmer for 10-15 minutes. Taste for seasoning. Place âsh-e in bowls and stir in yogurt.
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