Spring Celebrations

SPRING CELEBRATIONS [Text of address given on 09 October 2016.] At last, we come to the fourth and final instalment of my series on seasonal festivities. That started two years ago with summer festivals, so now the cycle is completed. The Vernal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere falls between 19 and 21 March, depending on one’s location. An equinox is meant to be when day and night are both exactly twelve hours in duration every-where on Earth – but that doesn’t happen because the Sun can be seen shortly before the physical sunrise and after the physical sunset. Nevertheless, seen from space, exactly one-half of the Earth is illuminated and the solar terminator (the border between light and dark) is perpendicular to the Equator, passing through both poles. In that sense, an equinox or solstice is a single instant of time rather than a 24-hour day. Understandably, many traditional spring festivals have themes of renewal, fertility and the planting of crops. Indeed, ancient calendar years often began at or near the Equinox and a few still do. The earliest known example of this is the lunar calendar of ancient Sumeria, which began on the first New Moon after the Vernal Equinox. That event was commemorated by the 12-day festival of Akitu, which involved massive parades and a re- enactment of the marriage of the two principal deities. The name of the festival means ‘barley’, a reference to the harvesting of the crops that had been planted in the previous autumn. Later empires in the region continued the practice in their respective capitals, though its religious associations evolved over time, and Akitu was still being celebrated after the Roman conquest. The Mesopotamian festivities may have inspired the Persian New Year festival of Nowruz, which is said to have taken place at the Equinox for over 3000 years. That calendar was said to have started from the creation of the world and the two-week festival has cosmological themes to this day. One tradition has it that a legen- dary king named Jamshid was crowned on that day in ages past but, in fact, Persia was first united under the Achaemenid dynasty that began with Cyrus the Great in 559 BCE. 1 Cyrus and his descendants built a vast empire that extended from the Indus River to Macedonia. Nowruz became an occasion for the provincial rulers to bring gifts to the King of Kings at his royal capital of Perse- polis, which is attested to by many frescoes in the ruins of that city. It was in the same period that Zoroaster founded his religion and Nowruz was promptly adopted as one of its seasonal observations. Because they worshipped the Sun, the Zoroastrians celebrated all of the Equinoxes and Solstices, and the rising Sun of spring made Nowruz the holiest festival of them all. Conversely, their concept of an ongoing battle between the good god and the evil god supplemented the previous cosmological signi- ficance of the event. Such was the extent of the various Persian empires over the succeeding centuries, Nowruz must have been celebrated in such provinces as Macedonia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Uzbek- istan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. How else can we explain the revival of that festival in those countries after the dissolution of the Soviet Union? 2 Nowruz had long been celebrated by the Kurds of Iraq, Syria and Turkey (whose language is closely related to Farsi) and it is now commemorated in Albania, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and a neighbouring province of Mongolia – all places that the Persians never reached! These festivities are quite secular today, especially in Iran, where Nowruz actually gained importance after the Muslim conquest of 651 CE. It is also a holy day in the Bahá'í Faith and, of course, it is celebrated by the Parsis of India. Strangely enough, the first Persian Empire inspired the Jewish festival of Purim, which usually takes place some time in March. Cyrus’ conquest of the Middle East ended the Babylonian Captivity and it appears that some Jews went to Persia. The Book of Esther relates how she was married to the King, who did not know she was Jewish, and subsequently thwarted an attempt to kill all the Jews in Persia. If this ever happened – and there is no historical evidence for it – it would probably have been in the 5th Century BCE. The celebrations include reading the entire Book of Esther in the synagogues, exchanging gifts of food and drink, donating food or money to the poor, and a sumptuous feast at which wine is obligatory. Purim is the occasion of the largest carnival of the year in Israel and everyone has a special costume for the event. This will be the best time to mention the Feast of the Passover, which always takes place close to our Easter because both dates are calculated from a lunar calendar. It is thought to have originated as a spring festival before the Book of Exodus was written, for which reason it starts at a Full Moon (usually the first) after the Vernal Equinox. The traditions of eating unleavened bread and daubing the blood of a sacrificial lamb on the doorposts may well date from that earlier time. The Seder meal, usually a family procedure, is highly ritualised and includes the reading of a question-and- answer version of the story of the Passover. The food includes slabs or balls of matzo (unleavened bread), bitter herbs such as horseradish and four cups of wine consumed at set intervals. A special cup is left for the Prophet Elijah, whose appearance will announce the coming of the Messiah and a piece of roasted meat on the bone (representing the lamb) is not eaten. The ritual ends with a prayer and some seasonal songs. 3 Passover lasts for seven days but, before it starts, every trace of chametz – anything made from leavened grain – must be removed from the household. This normally means scouring the house for breadcrumbs and traces of flour, which are burned on the morning of the first day. In Israel, the sale of chametz products in stores or restaurants is forbidden during the period, which is a long-standing matter of contention for secular Jews. However, there is an ‘escape clause’ that says these products cannot be in one’s possession – so, it is in order to sell valuable goods made from leavened grain, such as spirits, to a non-Jew for the duration and then buy them back, even if they never leave one’s house! These days, it is more common for the rabbi to transact the sale and repurchase on behalf of the whole community. Similarly, the State of Israel sells its entire bread industry to a Palestinian to that effect. The next five days are a semi-festive occasion for family outings and picnics, but the seventh day commem- orates the crossing of the Red Sea. Thus, it is a full holiday that features religious services and a festive meal. Also more ancient than it appears is the Egyptian festival of Sham el-Nessim, whose name is derived from Shemu, the Egyptian name for the harvest season (again, in the spring). That holiday has been traced back to 2700 B.C.E. and Plutarch recorded in the 1st Century C.E. that offerings of salted fish, lettuce and onions were made to their deities on that day. It was celebrated at the Vernal Equinox before the Roman Empire became Christian but it was then moved to Easter Monday of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Arabic name means ‘Smelling of the Zephyrs’ and today it is a national holiday, celebrated by Muslims and Christians alike. It is a day when people go to the Nile or public gardens or parks for a picnic, eating such foods as salted fish, lettuce, green onions, Lupini beans and coloured boiled eggs. Many Indian regional calendars began at the Vernal Equinox; that is, when the Sun entered the constellation we know as Aries. But that was at least 2000 years ago and, due to the Precession of the Equinoxes, those years now start in mid-April. For example, the Tamils of southeast India and Sri Lanka celebrate Puthandu on 14 April with family feasts. The night before, a tray is arranged with mango, banana and jackfruit, betel leaves and areca nuts, jewellery, money and flowers, to be viewed on waking in the morning. The entrances to homes and temples are decorated with elaborate kolams – patterns made from coloured rice flour, chalk or powdered rock – as a sign of welcome. 4 Similar practices are found across southern India and elsewhere. In northeastern India and Bangladesh, the day is called Pohela Baishakh and the celebrations include singing, processions and fairs. People wear traditional clothing, prepare special dishes and go to visit family and friends. Those who can go to a river or lake to see the sunrise, while others gather under a large tree. In Bangladesh, Pohela Baishakh is a national holiday and therefore both Muslims and Hindus take part. Probably due to Indian influence, the New Year’s Days of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia also fall at this time. However, any Hindu associations have long been overridden by Buddhism, as the customs in Cambodia make clear. This, too, marks the harvest before the rainy season and the festival lasts for three days. Interestingly, the name of the first day, Maha Sangkran, is derived from Sanskrit – that is when people dress up, light candles and incense sticks, wash themselves with holy water and give thanks for the Buddha’s teachings before his image.

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