Everything You Never Thought to Know About Mithra

I'm on an Archaeology Magazine bent today. Another excellent article from the September/October 2010 edition which is presented online:

Bull-Killer, Sun Lord
August 24, 2010 by Carly Silver
Foreign religions grew rapidly in the 1st-century A.D. Roman Empire, including worship of Jesus Christ, the Egyptian goddess Isis, and an eastern sun god, Mithras

Tools of the Pater (highest rank of the Mithraian brotherhood:
bowl, rod (arrow), Phrygian style hat, and knife. From article,
from Wikipedia Commons :)

In addition to several excellent photographs of mithrea, sculptures and even an excellently preserved cave painting of Mithras slaying a bull, as well as images of Mithras himself, the article cites many close parallels to certain practices and traditions in Judaism and Christianity, while not drawing any specific conclusions.  Ahem. Good, if conservatively phrased, overview of the development of this religion during the Roman Empire.

Barbara G. Walker's "The Woman's Encuclopedia of Myths and Secrets" has much to say about Mithra:

Persian savior, whose cult was the leading rival of Christianity in Rome, and more successful than Christianity for the first four centuries of the "Christian" era.  In 307 A.D. the emperor officially designated Mithra "Protector of the Empire." (1)

Christians copied many details of the Mithraic mystery-religion, explaing the resemblance later with their favorite argument, that the devil had anticipated the true faith by imitating it before Christ's birth.  [Har!  But Muslims use the same argument today to support their claim as the one true faith.]  Some resembalances between Christianity and Mithraism were so close that even St. Augustine declared the priests of Mithra worshipped the same deity as he did.(2)

Mithra was born on the 25th of December, called "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun," which was finally taken over by Christians in the 4th century A.D. as the birthday of Christ.(3)  Some said Mithra sprang from an incestuous union between the sun god and his own mother, just as Jesus, who was God, was born of the Mother of God.  Some claimed Mithra's mother was a mortal virgin.  Others said Mithra had no mother, but was miraculously born of a female Rock, the petra genetrix, fertilized by the Heavenly Father's phallic lightning.(4) [Cf. Bible scriptural references to Jesus and/or Peter as being the Rock, out of which and upon which the church would be built.] 

Mithra's birth was witnessed by shepherds and by Magi who brought gifts to his sacred birth-cave of the Rock.(5)  Mithra performed the usual assortment of miracles: raising the dead, healing the sick, making the blind see and the lame walk, casting out devils.  As a Peter, son of the petra, he carried the keys of the kingdom of heaven (see Peter, Saint.)(6)  His triumph and ascension to heaven were celebrated at the spring equinox (Easter), when the sun rises toward its apogee.

Before returning to heaven, Mithra celebrated a Last Supper with his twelve disciples, who represented the twelve signs of the zodiac.  In memory of this, his worshippers partook of a sacramental meal of bread marked with a cross.(7)  This was one of seven Mithraic sacraments, the models for the Christians' seven sacraments.(8)  It was caled mizd, Latin misa, English mass.  Mithra's image was buried in a rock tonb, the same sacred cave that reprsented his Mother's womb.  He was withdrawn from it and said to live again.(9)

Like early Christianity, Mithraism was an ascetic, anti-female religion.  Its priesthood consisted of celibate men only.(10)  Women wer forbidden to enter Mithraic temples.(11)  The women of Mithraic families had nothing to do with the men's cult, but attended services of the Great Mother in their own temples of Isis, Diana, or Juno.(12)

To eliminate the female principle from their creation myth, Mithraists replaced the Mother of All Living in the primal garden of paradise (Pairdaeza) with the bull named Sole-Created.  Instead of Eve, this bull was the partner of the first man. [It doesn't take much imagination to figure out what happened between Man and Bull.  Man engaged in beastiality by raping Bull and then killed Bull out of repugnance, fear and guilt.  And then sought out other Bulls so he could do it all over again, and again, and again....]  All creatures were born from the Bull's blood.  Yet the bull's birth-giving was oddly female-imitative.  The animal was castrated and sacrificed, and its blood was delivered to the moon for magical fructification, the moon being the source of women's magic lunar "blood of life" that produced real children on earth.(13)

Persians have been called the Puritans of the heathen world.  They developed Mithraism out of an earlier Aryan religion that was not so puritanical or so exclusively male-oriented.(14)  Mithra seems to have been the Indo-Iranian sun god Mitra, or Mitravaruna, one of the twelve zodiacal sons of the Infinity-goddess Aditi.  Another of Aditi's sons was Aryaman, eponymous ancestor of "Aryans," whom the Persians transformed into Ahriman, the Great Serpent of Darkness, Mithra's enemy.(15)

Early on, there seems to have been a feminine Mithra.  Herodotus said the Persians used to have a sky-goddess Mitra, the same as Mylitta, Assyria's Great Mother.(16)  Lydians combined Mithra with his archaic spouse Anahita as an androgynous Mithra-Anahita, identified with Sabazius-Anaitis, the Serpent and Dove of Anatolian mystery cults.(17)

Anahita was the Mother of Waters, traditional spouse of the solor god whom she bore, loved, and swallowed up.  She was identified with the Anatolian Great Goddess Ma.  Mithra was naturally coupled with her, as her opposite, a spirit of fire, light, and the sun.(18)  Her "element," water, overwhelmed the world in the primordial flood, when one man built an ark and saved himself, together with his cattle, according to Mithraic myth.(19)  The story seems to have been based on the Hindu Flood of Manu, transmitted through Persian and Babylonian scriptures to apear in a late, rather corrupt version in the Old Testament.  See Flood.

What began in water would end in fire, according to Mithraic eschatology.  The great battle between the forces of light and darkness in the Last Days would destroy the earth with its upheavals and burnings.  Virtuous ones who folowed the teachings of the Mithraic priesthood would join the spirits of light and be saved.  Sinful ones who followed other teachings would be cast into hell with Ahriman and the fallen angels.  The Christian notion of salvation was almost wholly a product of this Persian eschatology [ya think?] adopted by Semitic eremites and sun-cultists like the Essenes, and by Roman military men who thoguht the rigid discipline and vivid battle-imagery of Mithraism appropriate for warriors.  Under emperors like Julian and Commodus, Mithra became the supreme patron of Roman Armies.(20)

After extensive contact with Mithraism, Christians also began to describe themselves as soldiers for Christ; to call their savior Light of the World, Helios the Rising Sun, and Sun of Righteousness; to celebrate their feasts on Sun-day rather than the Jewish sabbath; to claim their savior's death was marked by an eclipse of the sun; and to adopt the seven Mithraic sacraments.  Like Mithraists, Christians practiced baptism to ascend after death through the planetary spheres to the highest heaven, while the wicked (unbaptized) would be dragged down to darkness.(21)

Mithra's cave-temple on the Vatican Hill was seized by Christians in 376 A.D.(22)  Christian bishops of Rome pre-empted even the Mithraic high priest's title of Pater Patrum, which became Papa, or Pope.(23)  Mithraism entered into many doctrines of Manichean Christianity and continued to influence its old rival for over a thousand years.(24)  The Mithraic festival of Epiphany [January 6th on western calendars], marking the arrival of sun-priests or Magi at the Savior's birthplace, was adopted by the Christian church only as late as 813 A.D.(25)

Notes:

(1) Legge 2, 271; Augus, 168.
(2) Reinach, 73.
(3) J.H. Smith, D.C.P., 146; Campbell, M.I., 33.
(4) de Riencourt, 135.
(5) H. Smith, 129; Hooke, S.P., 85; Cumont, M.M., 131.
(6) H. Smith, 129.
(7) Hooke, S.P., 89; Cumont, M.M., 160.
(8) James, 250.
(9) H. Smith, 130, 201.
(10) Legge 2, 261.
(11) Lederer, 36.
(12) Angus, 205.
(13) Campbell, Oc. M., 204.
(14) Knight, D.W.P., 63.
(15) O'Flaherty, 339.
(16) Larousse, 314.
(17) Cumont, M.M., 17.
(18) Cumont, O.R.R.P., 54, 65.
(19) Cumont, M.M., 138.
(20) Cumont, M.M., 87-89.
(21) Cumont, M.M., 144-45.
(22) J. H. Smith, D.C.P., 146.
(23) H. Smith, 252.
(24) Cumont, O.R.R.P., 154.
(25) Brewster, 55.

For very interesting information on Epiphany, see Catholic Encyclopedia Online. 

Part of Iranian Anahita Temple Destroyed

CAIS reports: Sections of Anahita Temple at Kangavar Destroyed By New Construction Wednesday, 20 January 2010 10:48 LONDON, (CAIS) -- Once again pre-Islamic Iranian heritage faces destruction, this time the victim is the famous historical platform known as the Anahita Temple, in the township of Kangavar in Kermanshah Province. The damages have been caused by construction activities including excavations for concrete-footings on the ancient platform, reported the Persian service of Mehr News on Sunday. The construction has outraged archaeologists and cultural enthusiasts who are voicing their concerns over the destruction.The news agency released pictures showing some concrete-footings at the site that have not yet dried out and metal beams ready to be erected. The evidence suggests a large construction is on the way and no one knows the purpose of the building or who is responsible for the destruction. The construction work at the site has begun despite the fact that the heritage regulations ban any constructions on or around cultural heritage sites, though Islamic Republic is no stranger to ignoring this law. The Islamic Republic’s authorities are also refusing to comment on the issue. When Mehr News agency reporter asked Zeinoldini the director of Kangavar Cultural Heritage Department about the destruction of the site, he refused to comment, responded “the order came from the top to not give any information, and you should contact the ICHTHO’s Public Relation Office to obtain the information.” This is not the first time however the pre-Islamic Iranian heritage is threatened by new constructions. Since the Islamic Republic came to power in 1979, pre-Islamic Iranian heritage has suffered extensively and many historical sites have been destroyed under the guise of development projects. The biggest of them all is the notorious Sivand Dam in Fars province, which submerged over 137 archaeological sites, including an Achaemenid dynastic (550-330 BCE) palace denoted to Darius the Great; a section of the Achaemenid Imperial Road; a Parthian cemetery and a Sasanian dynastic wine workshop. In addition, the humidity that is generated from the artificial lake has affected the structural-integrity of the Pasargadae the first capital of Achaemenid dynasty. Many Iranians and cultural institutions including CAIS, believe the regime’s main objective for building the Sivand dam was a gradual destruction of Pasargadae and particularly the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great as the result of high humidity levels in the area. The historical figure of the Cyrus the Great is placed on the top of the Islamic Regime leaders’ hate list. He who is considered by Iranians as the ‘Father of the Nation’ has been under constant attack and name-callings, simply because Iranians have great respect and deep warm feelings for the benevolent ancient Iranian king. With the current ongoing uprising in Iran, and new hopes for the fall of the theocratic-totalitarian regime on the horizon, Iranians archaeologists and cultural enthusiasts believe the first task of the new regime in power, is an immediate decommissioning of a number of dams built to target pre-Islamic Iranian heritage sites. Anahita Temple The proposed date for the construction of the Anahita Temple is circa 200 BCE, thus placing it as the oldest surviving stone structure from the Parthian dynasty (248BCE - 224CE) in Iran-proper. The platform covers 4,600 sq.m, constructed over a mound 32-meters high, and is claimed to have been a temple dedicated to the Zoroastrian deity ‘Aredvi Sura Anahita’ (Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā), venerated as the divinity of 'the Waters' (Aban), associated with fertility, healing, purity and wisdom.The remains at Kangavar reveal an edifice that is Hellenistic in character and yet displays distinctly Iranian architectural traits. The platform’s enormous dimensions and its megalithic foundations, corroborated by the two lateral stairways that ascend the platform echo and recalling Achaemenid traditions, particularly mimicking that of the Apadana Palace at Persepolis. Since its construction, the ancient structure underwent numerous major reconstruction periods continuing into 19th century, and until detailed further excavations are to be carried out, no definite judgments may be declared on its function. With the recent invasion and destruction of the site, obtaining and establishing the exact date or the function of the structure sinks further into ambiguity.

Goddess Anahita of Persia

(Image: The winged-angel Goddess Anahita flanked by felines, wearing her golden crown of stars). I really enjoyed reading this! I found it at Iranian.com Anahita – Lady of Persia by Nabarz 02-Sep-2009 By Payam Nabarz The following is based on the Anahita chapter from ‘The Mysteries of Mithras: The Pagan Belief That Shaped the Christian World’. By Payam Nabarz, Inner Traditions, 2005. Mighty Anahita with splendor will shine, Incarnated as a youthful divine. Full of charm her beauty she will display, Her hip with charming belt she will array. Straight-figured, she is as noble bride, Freeborn, herself in puckered dress will hide. Her cloak is all decorated with gold, With precious dress Anahita we shall behold. -Original poem based on Kashani’s Persian folk songs, from an Avestan invocation to Anahita. Dusk of Shabe Yalda (Yule) 777 B.C. somewhere on a beach by the Caspian sea. A young Magi (who later was to be known as the prophet Zoroaster) has been keeping a night vigil. His solitary fire is the only light for miles around and his recitation of Aban Yasht the hymn to angel-goddess Anahita the only sound to be heard apart from the waves gently crashing onto the beach. “Angel-Goddess of all the waters upon the earth and the source of the cosmic ocean; she who drives a chariot pulled by four horses: wind, rain, cloud, and sleet; your symbol is the eight-rayed star. You are the source of life, purifying the seed of all males and the wombs of all females, also cleansing the milk in the breasts of all mothers. Your connection with life, means warriors in battle prayed to you for survival and victory. A maid, fair of body, most strong, tall-formed, high-girded, pure, . . . wearing a mantle fully embroidered with gold; ever holding the baresma [sacred plant] in your hand, . . . you wear square golden earrings on your ears . . . a golden necklace around your beautiful neck, . . . Upon your head . . . a golden crown, with a hundred stars, with eight rays . . . with fillets streaming down.” 1 The Magi’s prayer is answered by the sea in the form of a vision; as midnight approaches and time slows, the sea parts. A large silver throne appears; on either side of it sits a lion with eyes of blue flame. On the throne sits a Lady in silver and gold garments, proud and tall, an awe-inspiring warrior-woman, as terrifying as she is beautiful. Tall and statuesque, she sits, her noble origins evident in her appearance, her haughty authority made clear and commanding through a pair of flashing eyes. A dove flies above her and a peacock walks before her. A crown of shining gold rings her royal temples; bejeweled with eight sunrays and one hundred stars, it holds her lustrous hair back from her beautiful face. Her marble like white arms reflect moonlight, and glisten with moisture. She is clothed with a garment made of thirty beavers, and it shines with the full sheen of silver and gold. The planet Venus shines brightly in the sky. 2 Time passes.....history takes place.... The Sassanian Empires fades and Islam arrives in Iran. 900 C.E. Moslem pilgrims make their way to the 1100-year-old shrine of Bibi Shahr Banoo, the Islamic female saint, near the old town of Rey (South of Tehran). Town of Rey is thought to be 5000 years old, the site of this shrine with its waterfall is believed by some to have been an Anahita shrine at one time. It is also close to the Cheshmeh Ali Hill (the spring of Ali Hill), which is dated to 5000 years ago. Perhaps this is an echo of Mithra-Anahita shrines being close to each other and then becoming linked to later Islamic saints, a process seen frequently in Christianized Europe too; for example, sites sacred to the Celtic goddess Brigit became sites dedicated to Saint Brigit. Furthermore, according to Susan Gaviri in Anahita in Iranian Mythology (1993): “. . . it must not be forgotten that many of the famous fire temples in Iran were, in the beginning, Anahita temples. Examples of these fire temples are seen in some parts of Iran, especially in Yazad, where we find that after the Muslim victory these were converted to Mosques.”8 Time passes.... history takes place.... Pilgrims continue to visit the Pre-Islamic Zoroastrian shrine of Pir e Sabz, or Chek Chek (“drip drip,” the sound of water dripping), in the mountains of Yazd. This is still a functional temple and the holiest site for present-day Zoroastrians living in Iran, who take their annual pilgrimage to Pir e Sabz Banu, "the old woman in the mountain,” also called Pir e Sabz, “the green saint,” at the beginning of summer. Pir means “elder,” and it can also mean “fire.” The title of Pir also connotes a Sufi master. Sabz means green.9 Pilgrims also continue to visit Pir e Banoo Pars (Elder Lady of Persia) and Pir e Naraki are located near Yazd. (The dates are unclear.) The Pir Banoo temple is in an area that has a number of valleys; the name of the place is Hapt Ador, which means Seven Fires.10 Time passes.... history take place..... yet she is still remembered.... “Tomorrow (21.8.03), I (Jalil Nozari) will take part in a ceremony to commemorate a very poor, old woman, a relative of mine, who died recently. Her name was Kaneez. The name in modern Farsi has negative connotations, meaning a “female servant.” But, in Pahlavi, the language spoken in central Iran before the coming of Islam, it meant “a maiden,” a virgin, unmarried girl. Indeed, it has both meanings of the English “maid.” Anahita, too, means virgin, literally not defiled. But this is not the end of story. When I was a child, there was a place in Ramhormoz, my hometown, that now is under a city road. In it, there was a small, single-room building with a small drain pipe hanging from it. Women in their ninth month and close to delivery time stood under this pipe and someone poured water through it. There was the belief that getting wet under the drain would assure a safe delivery of the baby. The building was devoted to Khezer (the green one).* Yet, the cult is very old and clearly one of Anahita’s. The role of water and safe child delivery are both parts of the Anahita cult. My deceased aunt, our Kaneez, was a servant of this building. The building was demolished years ago to build a road, and Kaneez is no more. I wonder how will we reconstruct those eras, so close to us in time yet so far from our present conditions. It is also of interest that there exist remains of a castle, or better to say a fort, in Ramhormoz, that is called “Mother and Daughter.” It belongs to the Sasanides era. “Daughter,” signifying virginity, directs the mind toward Anahita. There are other shrines named after sacred women, mostly located beside springs of water. These all make the grounds for believing that Ramhormoz was one of the oldest places for Anahita worshippers.”12 Full article. We have seen the Goddess on a throne flanked by felines in may other cultures - the oldest to my knowledge is from Catalhoyuk (Chatalhoyuk), located in modern-day Turkey. The association of the Goddess with "wild beasts" is age-old, as indicated by one of her myriad titles "Mistress of Beasts"; in the Greek tradition she was embodied as Artemis. The crown with "eight rays" is an obvious reference to Venus, revered by the Sumerians and associated with the Goddess Inanna and immortalized on some of the 20-squares game boards excavated from the graves of Ur by Woolley. The association of the Goddess with a water shrine, often in a cave or outcropping of rock, is also extremely ancient. Ancient sacred places, sometimes built upon over and over and over through the millenia (such as Chatres Cathedral built upon the site of ancient goddess worship in France), were usually built upon or near water - a spring, a stream, a river, or upon a sacred island, and also associated with outcroppings of rock, sacred mountains and plateaus (the Acropolis in Athens, for instance). A modern example is the shrine at Lourdes, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Birds (dove, peacock, owl) are likewise associated with the earliest renderings of the Goddess. There are "bird goddess" drawings that are as old (maybe older) as the drawings in the caves as Lascaux, for instance. The use of the double-entendre pir ("old, elder;" "fire") is reminiscent of how both the ancient Egyptians and the Chinese love to use "pun" words with double meanings. What I find particularly interesting about this article - and what I didn't know before - is the term "chek chek" -- "drip drip" -- a sound uniquely associated with water! Also learned the word "chemesh" meaning "spring" (of water). This will add to my "well" of research (pun!) about the true meaning of the name of the game we call "chess" today. And what is that sacred plant that Zoroaster saw the Goddess holding in her hand in that awe-inspiring vision that night on the shores of the Caspian Sea? Might it have been a mandrake plant (chatrang in Pahlavi)? Chatrang - the Persian name for chess...

The Goddess Anahita

Related to some information contained in the post below, about the traditional (i.e., pre-Islamic) Persian celebration of the New Year. From Barbara Walker's "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets:"

Anahid
This and its variations Anahita and Anitis were the Persian and Armenian names for Venus, the star of Ishtar and Astarte, Mother Goddess of the Zend-Avesta; ruler of waters, stars, and Fate. The Mithraic Mysteries, though strongly male-oriented, retained Anahita as the necessary female principle of creation.(1)

Notes:
(1) Cumont, M.M., 180.

Nowruz, New Year in Iran (well, some parts, anyway)

Nowruz, the Iranian New Year Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:22:22 By Patricia Khashayar, MD., Press TV, Tehran The Iranian New Year, Nowruz, which coincides with the astronomical Vernal Equinox Day or the first day of spring, falls on March 21. While the term Nowruz first appeared in Persian records in the second century CE, there is evidence suggesting that the celebrations may be much older. Tradition takes Nowruz as far back as the time of King Jamshid when the life of Indo-Iranian settlers depended on farming and spring, when nature awakened once again and flowers bloomed. Legend has it that after defeating the demons (daevas), King Jamshid had them lift his throne into the sky. His subjects who were in awe of his might showered him with gifts and the auspicious day was named Nowruz and recognized as the first day of the year. In Zoroastrian cosmology, after Ahura Mazda created the Universe he assigned six holy immortals (Amesha Spenta) as protectors of the world: Khashtra (Sharivar), the protector of the sky; Asha-Vahishta (Ordibehesht) the protector of fire; Vahu Manah (Bahman) the protector of animals, Haurvatat (Khordad) the protector of water, Spenta Armaiti (Esphand) the protector of earth and Ameratat (Amurdad or Mordad) the protector of vegetation. Ahura Mazda himself became the protector of humans and the Holy Fire. The architect of this cosmology, Zoroaster, introduced many feasts, festivals and rituals to honor the seven creations, the holy immortals and Ahura Mazda. Nowruz, the most elaborate one, was to celebrate Ahura Mazda and the Holy Fire at the spring equinox. The Nowruz festival as celebrated today dates back to the Sassanid era. Sassanid celebrations began ten days prior to the New Year when it was believed that the guardian angels (Farvahars) and the spirits of the departed came down to visit humans on earth. To welcome these spirits from the netherworld, a major spring-cleaning along with feasts and celebrations were carried out. At night, bonfires were lit on rooftops to inform the spirits and angels that humans were ready to receive them. This festival was called Suri. Nowadays, although the festival has changed name to Chahar-Shanbeh Souri, it is still held on the eve of the last Wednesday of the year and is the celebration of the triumph of light over the darkness. Iranians believed they could pass through this unlucky night, to the arrival of spring's longer days, with the help of fire and light, the symbols of good. On this night, bonfires are lit in public, and while leaping over the flames, any remaining paleness and evil (pain and sickness) is cleansed with the warmth and vibrancy of fire (strength and health). The tradition is also to show gratitude for the previous year's health and happiness. Children banging on pots and pans with spoons go trick or treating from door to door, a ritual known as Gashog-Zani (spoon beating). A mixture of seven dried nuts known as Ajil-e-Moshkel Gosha (problem-solving nuts) and fruits are distributed in hopes of making wishes come true. Gereh-goshai, is another tradition, in which individuals make a knot in the corner of a handkerchief or garment and ask the first passerby to untie it, symbolically unwinding twisted fate. Kuze Shekastan, is another ritual in which Iranians believed that by breaking the earthen jars used in the previous year, they could rid themselves of their prior misfortunes. Haji Firuz is the traditional herald of Nowruz; he dances through the streets to the sound of tambourines and trumpets and spreads the news of the coming New Year. [Note: is this related to the much later European tradition of the "dancing fool?"] Nowruz preparation begins early in March with khane tekani (house cleaning). This tradition stems from the Zoroastrian concern with cleanliness as a means to keep Evil away. As Nowruz is a feast of hope and renewal, Iranians greet the New Year freshly showered and garbed in new clothes. An important part of the New Year rituals is setting the Haft Seen, a table containing seven items starting with the letter 'S', which each represent one of the seven creations and their holy protectors. The seven items of the Haft Seen are: - Sabzeh or Freshly grown greens The color green was the national and religious color of Persians; therefore, wheat, barley or lentil sprouts were grown in a dish to symbolize rebirth and prosperity. Sabzeh also stands for Hoomet (good thoughts), Hookht (good words) and Hooveresht (good deeds). In royal palaces twenty days before the New Year, cereal grains (wheat, oat, rice, beans, lentils, millets, lima beans, peas, and sesame seeds) were grown on twelve (the number of holy months) clay pillars. The good growth of each grain was considered the sign of abundance in the coming year. - Samanoo Samanoo, a pudding made of germinating wheat or malt mixed with flour and brought to a consistency, is a representation of the excellence of Persian cuisine. It was believed that consuming the sprouts fertilized by Farvahars would bring strength and fertility in the years to come. Some maintain that Samanoo replaced Haoma, a scared herbal drink known for its healing properties. - Senjed or Jujube Jujube, the Lotus tree berry, represents love. It was said that when the lotus tree is in full bloom, its fruit and fragrance make people fall madly in love. The tree symbolizes shelter and security and senjed is placed on the New Year table to motivate nature's rebirth. - Seeb or Apple In Iranian folktales, medicine men often split an apple in halves, giving one to each spouse to prevent infertility. Apple also represents beauty and health. - Seer or Garlic Fresh garlic is used to ward off evil omens and represents medicine (as it lowers blood pressure) and peace. - Sumac Sumac is said to be the spice of life. Sumac berries bring to mind the color of sunrise and with the appearance of the sun, Good conquers Evil. - Serkeh or vinegar Vinegar is a symbol of fermentation, having originated as grapes and undergone many transformations. It symbolizes a tasty preservation and represents age and patience. Apart from the seven main Haft Seen items, other elements and symbols are sometimes placed on the table: - Bowl of fire: Wild rue and other sacred herbs are burnt in a bowl of fire to ward off evil spirits. - Holy Book: Each family places a Holy Book on the table; many also put the book of poems by the celebrated Iranian poet Hafez. - Water and Bread: Water and bread are also placed as traditional symbols and sustainers of life. - Milk: In Iran, fresh milk was considered sacred as food for the newly born. - Eggs: Painted eggs are a symbol of fertility corresponding to Sepanta Armaiti, or mother earth. The eggshell symbolizes the sky and the boundaries of the universe. - Mirror: Mystical Iranian literature extensively refers to mirrors as a representation of self-reflection. The word Ayneh (mirror) comes from Advenak, one of the aiding forces in the creation of man; therefore, Persians believed mirrors represent the images and reflections of creation. - Candlestick: Iranians believed Ahriman (the devil) could not enter wherever there was light; therefore, candles came to represent enlightenment and happiness and a flickering candle was placed for each child in the family around the bowl of fire or mirror. - Fish: The last solar month, Esfand, is in the Pisces period and on the eve of the New Year, it gives its place to Aries; hence, goldfish represent an image of the changing of the year. Fish are also one of the symbols of Anahita, the goddess of water and fertility. - Coins: Coins represent prosperity and wealth. They are also a symbol of Shahrivar, the Amshaspand which represents metals. - Sour Oranges: A sour orange placed in a bowl of water symbolizes the revolving Earth or the twelve months of the year. - Hyacinth: A pot of flowering hyacinth or narcissus heralds the rebirth of nature and the coming of spring with its strong fragrance. For the ancient Iranians, Nowruz was a celebration of life; for modern Iranians, Nowruz is a feast of renewal and change; a time to visit relatives, friends and pay respect to older family members. Family members dressed in their best, sit around the Haft Seen table listening to the head of the family recite the Nowruz prayers and eagerly await the announcement of the arrival of spring. Once the New Year is announced, people exchange presents called Eydi, sweets are passed around and wild rue is burned to keep the evil eye away. Families then eat Sabzi Polo Mahi a special rice dish cooked with fresh herbs and served with fish. The first few days following the New Year are spent visiting relatives and friends. The sixth day of Nowruz is of great importance to Zoroastrians whom celebrate this day as the birthday of Zoroaster. The thirteenth day of the New Year festival is called Sizdah Bedar when families attend picnics or parties to avoid the bad luck associated with the number thirteen On this day, Sabzeh, which has symbolically collected all the sickness and bad luck, is thrown into running water. Iranians believe an individual's conduct in Nowruz will affect their lives throughout the year; therefore, they abstain from fights and disagreements to ensure a good year.