Language/Iranian-persian/Culture/Sizdahbedar

Persian Culture ➡ Sizdah Bedar (سیزده بدر)

Sizdah bedar is a traditional Persian (Iranian) holiday celebrated thirteen days after Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

The thirteenth day of the New Year celebrations is Sizdah Bedar – literally meaning “thirteenth out” – which is a festive day celebrated in the open air, often accompanied by music and dancing. This day is spent picnicking with the family.

Leaving the house on the thirteenth day of the year comes from the belief of the ancient Persians who believed that to avoid bad luck from this day it was necessary to spend it in nature.

The thirteenth day celebrations, Sizdah Bedar, stem from the belief of the ancient Persians that the twelve constellations of the Zodiac influenced the months of the year, and that each ruled the earth for a thousand years. At the end of this cycle, heaven and earth descended into chaos. This belief is one of the possible origins of the superstition which attributes to the number thirteen an evil power (unlucky number), at the origin of triskaidekaphobia. Nowruz, therefore, lasts 12 days and the thirteenth represents chaos, when families put order aside and avoid the bad luck associated with the number thirteen by going outside and enjoying a picnic and a Party.

At the end of the celebrations on this day, the sabzeh grown for the Haft Sin (which symbolically collected all sickness and bad luck) are thrown into running water to exorcise the demons (divs) from the household. It is also customary for young unmarried women to tie the stems of the sabzeh before throwing them away, thus expressing the wish to be married before the Sizdah Bedar of the following year.