Naw-Ruz (New Years) March 21st 164 BE (Jesus, tradition, grace, myth)

[arthra]

Baha'is celebrate New Year on March 21st. It's called "Naw-Ruz" and has an ancient history going back thousands of years. Zoroastrians and many Shiah Muslims in Iran and Afganistan also celebrate Naw-Ruz.

Anyway March 21st or Naw-Ruz is also the first day of Spring and what is called the "Vernal Equinox"!

For Baha'is this will be the year 164 of the Baha'i Era which began in 1844.

Baha'is celebrate Naw-Ruz by having community dinners and enjoying the fellowship. It also ends the Nineteen Day Fast so every one is happy to eat and drink after sunrise again.

- Art

[arthra]

Here's some additional information about Naw-Ruz:

Naw-Ruz: The Bahá'í New Year
Dr. John Walbridge

Naw-Ruz (`New Day') is the Bahá'í and Iranian new year, which occurs on the date of the vernal equinox, about 21 March. It is one of the nine Bahá'í holy days on which work is suspended.
The Iranian Naw-Ruz
Naw-Ruz is the first day of Farvardin, the first month of the Iranian solar year. Since ancient times it has been the great national holiday of Iran, the only holiday celebrated by more than one religious group.
The origins of Naw-Ruz are unknown but it obviously began as a pastoral fertility festival. Legend attributes its foundation to the mythical antediluvian king Jamshid. Naw-Ruz and ihrajan, the corresponding festival of the autumnal equinox in September, are the two great annual festivals of Zoroastrianism. Originally a sombre festival dedicated to the spirits of the dead was held for five days ten days before Naw-Ruz, followed by a further five days corresponding to the Bahá'í Ayyam-i-Ha. Later Naw-Ruz gradually became a secular holiday and as such it continued to be observed even after the triumph of Islam in Iran. Muslim kings in Iran, like their Zoroastrian predecessors, celebrated Naw-Ruz with great magnificence. As late as the nineteenth century Naw-Ruz was the only day the Shah would dine with other people.
Shi`i traditions attributed to the Imams endorsed the observance of Naw-Ruz, which was, it was said, the day of many events of great religious significance, among them God's first covenant with mankind, the first rising of the sun, the grounding of Noah's ark on Ararat, Gabriel's first appearance to Muhammad, the destruction of the idols in the Ka`bih by `Alí, Muhammad's appointment of `Ali as His successor, the appearance of the Qa'im, and the final triumph of the Qa'im over the Antichrist. Such traditions echoed similar accounts of Naw-Ruz found in Zoroastrian literature.
Naw-Ruz is celebrated rather like the Christian Easter, with many symbols indicating spring and renewal. A week or so before the holiday lentils are placed in a dish to sprout into a mass of green blades. On the day of Naw-Ruz the family gathers in new or freshly cleaned clothes. The table is decorated with fruit, cakes, coloured eggs and other treats, as well as symbolic objects such as a holy book and a mirror. Among the best known customs of Naw-Ruz is the haft-sin -- the `seven S's'. These are seven objects beginning -- in Persian -- with the letter `S', such as hyacinths, apples, lilies, silver coins, garlic, vinegar and rue, decoratively arranged on a table. A great deal of time is spent exchanging visits with friends and relations. The celebrations end on the thirteenth day of Naw-Ruz with a picnic in the country. The sprouted lentils are thrown into running water, carrying away the bad luck of the previous year.
Naw-Ruz is observed wherever Iranian culture has penetrated, notably among the Zoroastrians of India and in the migrant Iranian communities around the world.
`Naw-Ruz' is occasionally used as a personal name in Iran.

Source:

Naw-Ruz: The Bahá'í New Year

[arthra]

Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast ordained Naw-Rúz as a festival unto those who have observed the fast for love of Thee and abstained from all that is abhorrent unto Thee. Grant, O my Lord, that the fire of Thy love and the heat produced by the fast enjoined by Thee may inflame them in Thy Cause, and make them to be occupied with Thy praise and with remembrance of Thee.
Since Thou hast adorned them, O my Lord, with the ornament of the fast prescribed by Thee, do Thou adorn them also with the ornament of Thine acceptance, through Thy grace and bountiful favor. For the doings of men are all dependent upon Thy good pleasure, and are conditioned by Thy behest. Shouldst Thou regard him who hath broken the fast as one who hath observed it, such a man would be reckoned among them who from eternity had been keeping the fast. And shouldst Thou decree that he who hath observed the fast hath broken it, that person would be numbered with such as have caused the Robe of Thy Revelation to be stained with dust, and been far removed from the crystal waters of this living Fountain.
Thou art He through Whom the ensign “Praiseworthy art Thou in Thy works” hath been lifted up, and the standard “Obeyed art Thou in Thy behest” hath been unfurled. Make known this Thy station, O my God, unto Thy servants, that they may be made aware that the excellence of all things is dependent upon Thy bidding and Thy word, and the virtue of every act is conditioned by Thy leave and the good pleasure of Thy will, and may recognize that the reins of men’s doings are within the grasp of Thine acceptance and Thy commandment. Make this known unto them, that nothing whatsoever may shut them out from Thy Beauty, in these days whereon the Christ exclaimeth: “All dominion is Thine, O Thou the Begetter of the Spirit (Jesus)”; and Thy Friend (Muḥammad) crieth out: “Glory be to Thee, O Thou the Best-Beloved, for that Thou hast uncovered Thy Beauty, and written down for Thy chosen ones what will cause them to attain unto the seat of the revelation of Thy Most Great Name, through which all the peoples have lamented except such as have detached themselves from all else except Thee, and set themselves towards Him Who is the Revealer of Thyself and the Manifestation of Thine attributes.”
He Who is Thy Branch and all Thy company, O my Lord, have broken this day their fast, after having observed it within the precincts of Thy court, and in their eagerness to please Thee. Do Thou ordain for Him, and for them, and for all such as have entered Thy presence in those days all the good Thou didst destine in Thy Book. Supply them, then, with that which will profit them, in both this life and in the life beyond.
Thou, in truth, art the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
—Bahá’u’lláh

[Booko]

Happy Nawruz, y'all (a few days early, but still).

[ayani]

happy Naw Ruz, to the Ahl Baha!

[Popeyesays]

The Feast of Naw Ruz is followed by the popular Feast of Eating During Daylight.

Regards,
Scott

[arthra]

My good friend Harmonia sent me a special message that corrected my previous blunder! We are LEAVING 164 BE and entering 165 BE tomorrow evening!

I will then have the correct year 165 BE on our Naw-Ruz party plackard which will be set up on our table for our Naw-Ruz dinner tomorrow night!

Thanks Harmonia!

- Art

[9harmony]

How time flies when we're having fun.

[BruceDLimber]

Happy Naw Ruz, all! :-)

Bruce