#shab yalda

[farsi-calligraphy]

Tonight is the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere: Winter Solstice, Yule, Shab-e Yalda. No doubt for as long as humans have been around they have kept the fires burning on these dark nights of the year. Yalda is a Syriac word for birth, and Shab-e Yalda is an ancient Iranian celebration of the longest night. Not just physical darkness surrounds us as, but other forms of darkness as well. And yet, we find that illumination is found even in the depths of shadow. Hannukah, Advent, the miracle of the Christmas Birth, the fires of Yuletide celebrations and the eating of melons and pomegranates--those fruits of the sun--on Shabe-e Yalda are all portents of hope that the sun and the better lights of human expression will edge back into fullness. Illumination is in the depths of shadows -- روشنایی در اعماق سایه هاست  -- Persian calligraphy by S J Thomas.  www.worldcalligraphy.com

[bita-bita]

Heyo guysss it's finally Yalda Night! My favorite festival (dunno if that's the right word for it tbh)

[In short, I believe it's the longest night of the year, and it's celebrated to welcome Winter/it's the last night of Autumn in solar calendar.]

Anyway. My favorite part of tonight is reading Hafez poetries (a part of it is where we intend/or ask a question, and open Hafez's book of poems on a random page, and we get answers through that ? Does that make sense? It's like a guidance or a fortune telling.)

I do it for fun. And every year on this night I offer to do that for my foreign friends.

Sooo if you'd like a reading, go ahead and intend/ask your question of Hafez (you don't have to tell me), and send me an ask and request a reading. I'll take it for you and translate Hafez's answer as well as I can. I won't be able to translate the poem tho lol. I'll just translate the main message for you 🍉🌰🥜☕️🍬🧁

Happy Yalda♡♡♡

[letsvisitpersia]

Yalda Night, a celebration of winter solstice also known as Shab-e Yalda in Farsi is one of the most ancient and celebrated events in Iran.

Every year, on the last night of autumn, Iranians around the world celebrate the longest and darkest night of the year, the victory of light over darkness, the arrival of winter, and the renewal of the sun on Yalda night.

[natandacat]

it is SO unfair that i dont have a korsi. I deserve to be writing under a korsi rn and maybe even fall asleep :(

[saffronandcyrus]

Shab-e-Yalda: Culture and Classroom Connections

As the eve of Shab-e-Yalda embraced our home, we cranked up the culture thermostat for a celebration of this ancient Persian gem, also known as Yalda Night or Winter Solstice. It marks the longest night of the year and the victory of light over darkness. Top haircuts The stage was set with the boys sporting freshly groomed number 2 haircuts, and the back of Little C’s hair feeling like a “jujeh…

[dcdesmond]

😊 شب یلدا مبارک

[darudedogestorm]

i look very nice and have very beautiful clothes on rn HOWEVER i am scared of posting pictures of myself on the internet so just imagine someone in really really cool clothes and pretend that’s me

[fae7899]

Yalda night or Challah night is one of the oldest Iranian festivals. This celebration was registered as a world heritage on 9 Azar 1401. In this celebration, the passing of the longest night of the year and the subsequent lengthening of the days in the Northern Hemisphere, which coincides with the winter solstice, are commemorated. Yalda night is said to be between sunset on December 30 (the last day of autumn) and sunrise on January 1 (the first day of winter). On Yalda night, Iranian families usually prepare and serve a sumptuous dinner together with all kinds of fruits and, most commonly, watermelon and pomegranate. In this celebration, it is common to serve snacks, read the Shahnameh, tell stories of family elders to other family members, as well as fortune-telling with Divan Hafez. [1] However, Yalda night is the shortest night of the year in the countries of the southern hemisphere, unlike the northern hemisphere.

"Yalda" is derived from the Syriac word that means birth. Abu Rihan Biruni named this celebration as "Milad Akbar" and considered it to mean "Birth of the Sun".The term "Shab Chele" or "Shab Chele Kalan", which is used synonymously with Yalda Night in popular culture, is because the first forty days of winter are called "Big Chele" and the next twenty days are called "Chele Chele". It is said that there were forty divisions among farmers in the old calendar.Challah is two chronology positions during a solar year with the functions of popular culture, one at the beginning of summer (July) and the other at the beginning of winter (January), each consisting of two large (forty days) and small (twenty days) parts.

Yalda night entered the official calendar of ancient Iranians from 502 BC during the reign of Darius I. Chale and celebrations held on this night are an ancient tradition. The people of the distant past, whose agriculture was the basis of their life and experienced natural contrasts and seasons throughout the year, due to experience and the passage of time, they were able to adapt their work and activities to the rotation of the sun and the change of seasons and altitude. Adjust the length of day and night and the direction and movement of the stars. People in the geography of Iran, especially in the field of Zagros-Rafdin civilization, were familiar with solar phenomena such as the greatest night, the greatest day, the spring equinox, and the autumn equinox more than three thousand years ago.

Yalda night is also known as the birthday of the sun god, justice, treaty and war. There are two main narrations about it. First, on this night of Mehr, Mithra or as mentioned in the Avesta and the writings of the Achaemenid kings, Mithra (Mithra) returns to the world. He, who is one of the ancient gods of India and Iran, lengthened the hours of the day and as a result the superiority of the sun appears. Mehr worship or Mehr ritual was formed on the basis of Mithras worship in the era before Zoroastrian religion and it is also called Mithraism in Europe.

[coinandcandle]

The Winter Solstice

This is a two-part post! This part focuses on the winter solstice and surrounding holidays.

What is the Winter Solstice?

Coming from the Latin sol (sun) and stare or sistere (to stand or to stop), a solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice a year; one being the Summer Solstice, the other being the Winter Solstice.

In the Northern Hemisphere, this Solstice takes place on December 20th or the 21st. In the Southern Hemisphere, it’ll take place on June 20th or 21st.

The Winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. The Sun travels the shortest path through the sky, causing this day to have the least daylight.

This post will focus on the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere.

Celebrations on or around the Winter Solstice

This is not a complete or absolute list of Solstice holidays, these are the most common I’ve found while researching. Feel free to comment if you know of any more!

Yule is an ancient holiday still celebrated by many witches and pagans today though it is historically observed by the Germanic peoples. The holiday takes place in mid-winter and spans 12 days. Historically the holiday would land around what is now mid-November and end around early January.

Bruma/Brumalia, the winter solstice festival of the eastern Roman Empire.

Saturnalia, the ancient Roman festival in honor of the god Saturn would be held on December 17th. The holiday involved a festival, gift-giving, and social taboos were permitted. During this time slaves were seen as almost equals and were allowed to take part in festivities. This is the Roman equivalent to the Greek Kronia held for the Greek god Kronos which was celebrated instead during midsummer around what is now late July and early August.

Inti Raymi (Quechua for "Inti festival") is a holiday in honor of the Incan god Inti. This is a celebration of the winter solstice as well as the Incan New year and is held on June 24th near the Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice. The holiday was banned by Spaniards in the past but has since been revived since the 20th Century.

Dongzhi (冬至) or the Winter Solstice Festival is celebrated by Mainland Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Koreans, and other East Asian-related people during the Dongzhi solar term, landing somewhere between December 21 to December 23. Dongzhi is especially popular in Taiwan as well.

Yaldā Night (Persian: شب یلدا shab-e yalda) is an Iranian festival that lands on the winter solstice (December 20 or 21st in the Gregorian Calendar) and to the night between the last day of the ninth month (Azar) and the first day of the tenth month, Dey, of the Iranian solar calendar. Families and friends will gather to eat, drink, and read poetry. This holiday is also observed in Iranian-influenced regions such as Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. Pomegranates and watermelons are significant during this holiday.

Many North American indigenous tribes also have traditions surrounding the winter solstice, with celebrations and beliefs differing by tribe. Some examples of festivals are Soyal of the Hopi and Shalako of the Zuni.

In Japan, there is a tradition surrounding the new year that is associated with luck and good health called Toji.

Quviasukvik (Inuktitut: ᖁᕕᐊᓲᑎᖃᕐᕕᒃ) is considered the first day of the year for the Inuit, who hold festivities from December 24th to January 7th. The holiday is observed by Yupik, Aleut, Chukchi, Iñupiat, and NunatuKavut peoples.

Christmas is the Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Observed on the 25th of December and is celebrated culturally by non-Christians as well.

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. This holiday begins on the eve of the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev and lasts eight days. In the Gregorian calendar, it usually falls somewhere in December.

St. Lucia’s Day is a festival celebrated in Sweden, Norway, and areas of Finland and lands on December 13th in honor of St. Lucia, one of the earliest Christian martyrs.

Looking for ideas on how to celebrate the winter solstice as a modern witch? Stay tuned for the second part of this post coming sometime this week!

[ask-cyno]

What things do you celebrate in the desert?

We celebrate Sabzeruz festival like the rest of Sumeru. We also celebrate Shab-e-Yalda, Nawruz, the Sphinx festival, the sun festival, and more.

[rh35211]

Shab-e Yalda: The Zoroastrian Winter Solstice  – The World Zoroastrian Organisation

birth

The word “yalda” (یلدا‎) comes from the Syriac word yēled (ܝܠܕ), meaning “birth”. However, it is likely that the festivities themselves were adopted by ancient Persians (of Zoroastrian faith) from the annual celebration of the 'renewal of the Sun' of the ancient Babylonians and Egyptians.

[doodoocumfart]

does stewy read forugh , do u think 

Damn tough question. Hmm, probably not. He’s too white washed. I’m sure he’s read the classics like rumi and hafez against his will by his mom for shab e yalda but not anything more modern. I do think he’s a Abbas Kiarostami fan tho.

[eonars]

gods favorite iranian observing shab e yalda with salami and sweet chili doritos

[natandacat]

Shab e yalda mobarak :)))))))

[sauntervaguelydown]

I'm just gonna keep throwing wikipedia trivia at yall

In Zoroastrian tradition the longest and darkest night of the year was a particularly inauspicious day, and the practices of what is now known as "Shab-e Chelleh/Yalda" were originally customs intended to protect people from evil (see dews) during that long night,[rs 7] at which time the evil forces of Ahriman were imagined to be at their peak. People were advised to stay awake most of the night, lest misfortune should befall them, and people would then gather in the safety of groups of friends and relatives, share the last remaining fruits from the summer, and find ways to pass the long night together in good company.[rs 7] The next day (i.e. the first day of Dae month) was then a day of celebration,[note 1] and (at least in the 10th century, as recorded by Al-Biruni), the festival of the first day of Dae month was known as Ḵorram-ruz (joyful day) or Navad-ruz (ninety days [left to Nowruz]).[rs 1] Although the religious significance of the long dark night has been lost, the old traditions of staying up late in the company of friends and family have been retained in Iranian culture to the present day.[citation needed]

[etherealantagonist]

Happy Shab-e Yalda to those who celebrate! In the spirit of reading poetry I will be continuing to reread Sir Gawain And The Green Knight, something I do many other nights. But this night I'm doing it with Extra Vibes.