Get Ready For Nowruz - Haft Sin

The Nowruz season is a couple weeks away. It marks the first day of spring in the Iranina calendar, which normally falls on March 21 based on the astronomical vernal equinox. General preparation begins with house-cleaning or spring cleaning (khoone takooni) and purchase of new clothing and putting together the haft-sin.

Haft-Sin basically indicates the seven items that begin with the letter S (sin). The items are put together on a cloth (sofre) that is placed on the table or floor in the main room of the house (dining room or living room).

The Haft-Sin includes:
1. Samanu (wheat germ pudding) -  symbolizing wealth
2. Sīr (garlic) - symbolizing medicine
3. Somaq (sumac berries) - symbolizing good over evil
4. Serkeh (vinegar) - symbolizing age and patience
5. Sīb (apples) - symbolizing beauty and well-being
6. Sabzeh (wheat, barley, lentil) - symbolizing rebirth
7. Senjed (the dried fruit of the oleaster tree) - symbolizing love

Other items on the table may include:
•    Sonbol - Hyacinth (plant)
•    Sekkeh - Coins - representative of wealth
•    traditional Iranian pastries such as baghlava, toot, naan-nokhodchi
•    Aajeel - dried nuts, berries and raisins
•    Ait candles (enlightenment and happiness)
•    A mirror (symbolizing cleanness and honesty)
•    Decorated eggs, sometimes one for each member of the family (fertility)
•    A bowl of water with goldfish (life within life, and the sign of Pisces which the sun is leaving)
•    Rosewater, believed to have magical cleansing powers
•    A holy book (e.g., the Avesta, Qur’an, Bible, Torah, or Kitáb-i-Aqdas) and/or a poetry book (almost always either the Shahnama or the Divan of Hafez)

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