Why do persians jump over fire

All Rights Reserved. Chaharshanbe Suri. Chaharshanbe Soori. Jumping over fire. Chaharshanbe Suri historical background Ancient origin. Ghashogh Zani. Nowruz — Iranian New Year. Yalda Night. There are several rituals and routines performing in the Chaharshanbe Suri, which make the festival a richer perspective. Some of the most important ones are listed here:. On the eve before the last Wednesday, Iranians get together and make bone fire through out the streets, alleys, and inside backyards or gardens and jump over the fire and sing:.

People make wishes and in order to make them come true, they prepare the following food and snacks and distribute them on this night at the gatherings or to people passing by. Qaashoq Zani is a Celtic variation of Halloween with a history way older than Halloween.

There are some other rituals connected to the festival that have almost disappeared nowadays like Qaashoq Zani. The household presents them with treats such as nuts betokens a positive omen. I'm in a backyard in San Francisco with friends, many of whom are Iranian like me.

We're all taking turns jumping over fires burning in large cast-iron pans. The fire-jumping, she says, is one of the night's rituals. And I think it's a really good way [to celebrate,] symbolically, the ritual of burning away the bad energy from the last year and making way for the new energy in the new year.

It's a Zoroastrian purification chant. As you hop over the fire, you ask to be rid of any sickness and bad luck — and wish for good luck and health in the new year. Tara Samiy is the host of the party. She was born in Iran, but raised in the US, and she sees nights like this as holding onto her culture. She also loves that it marks the start of spring. This is part of that, this purification ritual of jumping over the fire. We're asking for the strength of the fire.