Ushering in the New Year

While memories of champagne and countdowns to 1998 have already faded into memory, Orange County’s Iranians have just begun their New Year’s party.

Norouz, a New Year’s celebration with roots in ancient Persia, was toasted all over the county at 11:45 a.m. Friday. As many as 50,000 Orange County residents honored the most widely celebrated event on the Iranian calendar, observed near the spring equinox.

“It’s almost like a Thanksgiving for us as well as New Year,” said Gordafrid Aresh, who spent Norouz in Newport Beach with her husband and children. “Families get together and they visit each other, the youngsters visit with the elders. We make it a point to come together and meet.”

A highly anticipated event in the Iranian calendar, the New Year is welcomed by enjoying mountains of food, dancing and traditional rituals that continue for 13 days after the equinox. Norouz season begins with preparation; houses are “spring cleaned” a month in advance. It ends with a festive banishing of demons, called Sizdeh-Beder.

Aresh spent nearly 10 days preparing her table, spread with lamb, sweets, cheeses and spices. In keeping with tradition, she displayed a coin in an apple for prosperity, and greens to be exchanged with guests.

Also on each Norouz table is a book of worship. In Aresh’s case it was the “Avesta,” a holy script from the Zoroastrian religion.

“All the Iranians celebrate Norouz, whether they are Jews, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Bahais . . .,” said Dr. Ali A. Jafarey, a member of the California Zoroastrian Center in Westminster and of the Zarathustrian Center in Anaheim. Norouz is recognized by people in Afghanistan and Azerbaijan as well as by Zoroastrians in India, a large settling ground for Zoroastrians, ancestors of modern-day Iranians.

Norouz’s origins can be traced back many a millennium. Zoroastrian legend credits King Jamshid, who symbolized the transition from animal hunting to animal husbandry, with its creation. The holiday’s emphasis has always been on rebirth and growth.

“The spiritual significance of the New Year is very high,” said Sam Billimoria, a “Zarthosti” from Irvine. “The sun is at its height and that is the strongest part of the year. When the New Year occurs, there is a truce between the good spirit and the evil spirit.”

Though each religion emphasizes its own New Year’s nuance, Aresh says the holiday brings people of Persian descent together. “It’s always been very popular with the Iranian people--no matter where they go.”