Old Tehran meant nothing without its traditions and rituals -- whether religious or national -- but feasts held in houses and alleys celebrating the change in season were the most lively. Spring brought freshness to the city, joy to the children, new life to trees and flowers, and all this called for celebrations. Farmers celebrated their crops, decorating their table with special food. City dwellers stepped out to visit relatives, go to lush, green prairies.

Among the rituals of the New Year was one MIR-E NORUZI, a form of street theater, of particular popularity with the rich and the noble. The royalty set up carnivals in which troupes would perform. Performers were allocated carpeted rooms, given noble clothing and weapons, fake body armor and artillery, and they would put up a Mir-e Noruzi for the king. As the New Year clock started ticking, the king gave them gifts.

Today, we have a poor substitute for Mir, in the form of a droll figure called HAJI FIROUZ [1] – who is usually a boy or a young man from the social periphery, leading a miserable life, wearing soiled red dresses, in no way cheerful, but trying to appear so, begging for a dime or two without even singing a song, on intersections and meydans (squares). Painting his face black, Haji Firouz plays the role of a servant who, using his incredible wit and ready stock of quips, pesters his rich master.

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Twenty some days left to the end of winter, the dirt of the house all of a sudden became an eyesore to the lady of the house. She could hear the chirping of the sparrows looking for seeds. She watched the snow melt even before reaching the ground. Having grown weary of getting the fire going in the sooth-smothered stove all winter long, she brought herself into mood for the annual house cleansing ritual. She couldn't wait to throw the windows open and let the spring air in.

Aided by her family members (and in richer families by servants), the lady of the house swept the house like there was no tomorrow. Carpets were washed before the glassware and silverware. Rich families first started with their embroidered bed linen. Then they would turn to fabrics and satin; later to chandeliers, jugs, jars, pots and pans. It didn't make a difference whether the lady of the house was Golpari Khatun [2], the wife of a minister of the court, or the "threading" woman who had put up with a lifetime of poverty next to her osteopathic husband. For each and every one of them, Mama Coldness [3] would clean the soot off of the house. All through the winter, they had cooped up inside, now it was time to dust, to clean, to sweep, and to rearrange the house.

Washed carpets were hung from rooftops, whether they were Gol Shekari [4] or Toranj-e Khunab-e [5] designs or just a ragged kilim over the short wall of a house whose lady was never a Khatun [6]. By the end of the day, everybody would get exhausted, listening to the whisper of melted snow gushing in streams outside of the house. Winter was out of breath too.

Mir-e Noruzi would land on the earth at this particular time of the year. Spring came to find its way into houses with open windows and doors. Neighbors cheerfully gathered as Mir-e Noruzi mocked the fake King. One actor wore the King's clothes, sitting on a white mule, shouldering a black crow and holding a fan in his hand. A chubby boy in red accompanied him on foot holding a parasol over the king's head. Musicians played drums and horns, taking the revelry to every street and alley. Together they became the court. The one who wore the robe would choose a chancellor, dismiss an army general; convict a cabinet minister, pardon a military commander, all in burlesque, to make people laugh. These street comedians roamed around the city from twenty days before Noruz to the thirteenth day of the New Year, when people return their homegrown plates of alfalfas to the earth and water [7].

Landowners and farmers sprouted theirs before others. They had once heard from their fathers, who in turn had heard from theirs that the quality of alfalfas is a sign of the quality of next year's crop. Seyedeh Khanum [8] or any white-haired lady with a "lucky hand" would grow wheat or lentils for them so that greenness and freshness would not leave their homes. For the mournful wearing black, people would bring fresh sprouts or rolls of fabric, so they would strip off their mourning clothes for the New Year and start dusting their houses to make their ancestors happy.

Girls of marrying age were recommended to approach Mir-e Noruzi and to pray to find a suitable husband in the coming year. To make sure, on SIZDA BE DAR [9], when Mir-e Noruzi would say goodbye, the girls were to tie a knot with stalks of grass so that the men they had wished for would ask for their hands. During the annual cleansing, girls showed off their housekeeping skills to the neighbors, so everyone knew how capable and ready they were to run their own households. The dust collected from the annual cleansing was poured into a jug to be submitted to the waters either on the same day or on CHAHASHANBE SURI [10], so it would take with it miseries and pains of the entire household.

The family having named a girl as their bride in the ritual of SHIRNI-KHORAN [11] called for a porter to carry a gift tray to the bride. The preference was for a Seyyed [12] with a green shawl around his waist. If rich, families covered the trays with termeh [13] or silk and decorated it with sprouts, cardamom, and rosewater. In a red, woven bag, they placed a jeweled ring and a pearl necklace. The tray ready, they added a censer and gave it to the porter to take to their new bride, wishing she would bring them a handsome boy like their groom, or a pretty girl like herself, in the coming year. If poor, they handed the sprouts along with a bundle of bread, cheese, and inexpensive jewelry to a young, under-aged boy to take to their bride.

Mir-e Noruzi went around the city in a dazzling array of song and dance. He mocked the royal court, made fun of the king, and no one would dare reprimand him for it. And when the time arrived for this whole sham royal game to come to an end, and the sprouts were given to the waters, daily life started once again. Mir e-Noruzi would go, not to be seen for another whole year.

Footnote

 

[1] Men and boys coloring their faces black, wearing red outfits, singing and dancing, announcing the arrival of the New Year
[2] A name for a woman of a noble family
[3] Cold weather was compared to an old mother with white hair
[4] A carpet design with flowers in sugar white
[5] A carpet design with toothed oval shapes in blood red
[6] A name for a woman of a noble family
[7] It's a tradition to grow plates of different seeds for the table set for Noruz. A handful of wheat, legume, or vetch seeds were placed in water so that they would sprout. Just a few days later, when the sprouts had reached the right height, the water was poured away, the sprouts wrapped in cloth and placed on brass plates or trays. When sprouts appeared, at each sunset, people lit up candles and looked at the stems as a sign of good omen.
[8] Probably an old spiritual woman
[9] The 13^th and last day of Noruz celebrations, known also as Nature Day, when families go to park and meadows for picnic
[10] The last Tuesday night of the year celebrated by jumping over fire and fireworks
[11] Literally meaning "sweet-eating party," this was an engagement ceremony for a girl and boy
[12] A descendent of Prophet Mohammad
[13] A hand-woven fabric made of fine cashmere, wool, silk, and decorated with stylized motifs (Karim Emami. Kimia Persian-English Dictionary. Farhang Moaser: Tehran, 2006)