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Azerbaijan
March 21, 2009
The biggest holiday in Azerbaijan is Novruz. (you may also come across several other spellings: nowrooz,nowruz,noruz,no ruz…)
This spring event has its roots as a pre-Islam New Year celebration. Novruz is the favourite holiday in Azerbaijan. It has a remarkable endurance and survival capacity, being of non Islamic origin it managed to retain its importance after the Arab conquest and in this century survived Soviet attempts to destroy it.Novruz is a celebration of the spring Equinox (which marks the new year) . Novruz is a time of renewal and symbolizes rebirth, awakening, cleanliness and newness.
Several things are used to symbolize the occasion, sprouted wheat is a favourite. This is grown in a small vase and placed in a prominent place in the house, such as a table center (the vase with the wheat is called 'semeni')
On the last Wednsday before Novruz people light bonfires and jump over them, as in similar Spring festivities in Europe. Tradition holds that the living are visited by the spirits of their ancestors on the last days of the year. Children symbolically reenact the visits. They jump over bonfires and run through the streets, banging on pots and pans with spoons and knocking on doors to ask for treats.
The menu varies from a great deal from region to region, but for Novruz abundant meals are prepared and ritually seven objects are laid on the tables. Children enjoy this holiday very much, since they get present from their elders, often in the form of money.The most pleasant aspect : a full week of vacation for entire country
Happy Novruz for everyone !
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12:28 AM Mar 30 2009 |
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Yüksali
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02:01 AM Mar 26 2009 |
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my_high_IQ
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01:42 AM Mar 22 2009 |
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theMasterMinD
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01:21 PM Mar 21 2009 |
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Agnolia
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September 15, 2008
............
A fly cop--an angel policeman--flew over to me and took me by the
left wing. Near at hand was a group of very prosperous-looking
spirits arraigned for judgment.
"Do you belong with that bunch?" the policeman asked.
"Who are they?" was my answer.
.............
"Why," said he, "they are the men who hired working-girls, and paid
'em five or six dollars a week to live on. Are you one of the
bunch?"
"Not on your immortality," said I. "I'm only the fellow that set
fire to an orphan asylum, and murdered a blind man for his pennies."