Norooz: Persian New Year

In VietNam, “Ao Dai” has become the standard costume for formal events and hence a cause for celebration.

Egyptian Mythology’s creation started with Nu, the dark and swirling chaos before time. Eventually, Atum rose from Nu and created a hill for himself to stand on. He had one eye that would see everything, but was very lonely. Soon after, Atum brought Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess of mist and moisture into life. They gave birth to Geb, the earth, and Nut, the sky. Nut would give birth to the sun every night before sunset so the sun would shine through the day, and die at night.

Document 2, the empire stretched from Greece in the west to India in the east. Persian

Celebrated on October 31st, the festival of Halloween (also known as Samhain) includes dressing in costume, trick or treating, and decorating. Tracing back in history Halloween is considered to be one of America’s oldest holidays, and is still celebrated today. Halloween is believed to come from Celtic rituals. Celtics believed the cosmological myth of Saman (Lord of the Dead). Saman would call on the souls of the people that passed away that year to take them to the afterlife or underworld; the Celtic underworld identifies with the Christian Hell. In order for the spirits to believe they were on their own, the living would wear costumes and mask their identities, along with fairies, witches and demons. This functions as a cosmological myth because it provides a creation story and framework in which this universe occupies and includes many other realms of existence. Another tradition that followed was to give food to the Saman, to persuade him to be more tolerant while he judged the dead ancestors of the living, which he would chose to take to the underworld. In this essay I will further investigate what the origins of Halloween consist of and how it offers reasoning for trick-or-treating. Also I will examine how trick-or-treating, which is still continued today, is connected to ancient Celtic festivals.

On this day streets are filled with masked people in outrages colorful costumes. Feathers as well as gold, purple and green seem to be just about everywhere people look. Beads are thrown high into the air from elaborate creative floats while people try desperately to be the lucky ones who catch these festive beads. While confetti falls down from the sky and the bands march through the streets filling the city with music as the crowds of people dance. New Orleans, the city that lets the good times roll is where the biggest party in America, also known as Mardi Gras takes place.

A celebration of Beltane ritual of life symbolically a chalice and athame (the Goddess and the God). The athame is inserted in the chalice (God into the Goddess). The Great Rite ritual that was created by and for farmers asking for a blessing for the livestock, crops and a good year of harvesting. A positive act and it can just an easily be misunderstood or abused. It has accountability also and needs to be answered for. Drawing of the energy from male and female during a spring festival. When we look at the people of the ancient Pagan religions we see that all the celebrations and rituals surrounded a specific purpose: survival.

In the ceremony, the dancers line up in two lines dancing while portraying goats. The dancers wear outfits made of white silk thread with normal tennis shoes and socks. The mask, of course, is the most important aspect of the attire. Mask makers typically decorate the masks with horns, a head-dress, or both. They also usually paint them in bright colors, such as the one found on masksoftheworld.com. In some areas, the masks also have colored ribbon at the tips of the horns and hair made of sisal or raffia thread. The dancers are primarily male, though there are some areas that have female dancers, as well. This is the case in Quechultenango, Guerrero, Mexico. Groups of both male and female dancers complete the dance. In the same area, they dance in normal, everyday attire and only wear masks they decorated to resemble the goat.

The Celtic people would have huge bonfire celebrations in which they dressed up in costumes and wore masks to mimic and appease the spirits.”

Similar to the Roman Empire the Persian Empire stretched across vast lands without any serious rivalry. At the height of the empire it stretched across, not only, Asia, from the Aegean to the Indus River, but also included part of the continent of Africa. We get the word, Persia, from the Greek word Parsa meaning, “Above reproach”. The Persians unlike most other Empires would be ruled under a benevolent ruler. This would bring a large amount of cultural diffusion to the Empire. The empires history is separated into three historical periods: Old Persia (600-300 B.C.E), Middle Persia (300-800 B.C.E.) and modern Persia (800-Present). The height or the Empire was reached around 500 B.C.E. (Ancient and Medieval History

Us troubadours are very skilled at playing instruments and writing songs. Yes, learning to play an instrument and learning to write songs and poems requires a lot of skill and knowledge. Luckily, I got the proper training to become a professional troubadour. Villagers constantly face problems in their life. Sometimes, they need a break. That’s what troubadours are for! Everyday, we work hard to cheer up your lives. I’ve come to realize that villagers nowadays are always very depressed and tired. That’s why you need people like me! Because of this, troubadours throughout Europe are respected by

1.subpoint 1: Fravahar is one of the most important symbols in Iran. It has deep roots in the history of Iran. Fravahar is a symbol that reminds people to have a purpose in life and follow the footsteps of Ahura Mazda, the God of Zoroastrian. The angel that the symbol represents has 3 simple rules for people to follow in life: good deeds, good thoughts and good words. He also resembles the angel that has been sent by God to tell people that there is one God and that people should always follow the truth. And this is how I identify with my Persian culture and ancestors.

This book, “Iran Awakening”, is a novel written by Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi. Ebadi weaves the story of her life in a very personal and unique way, telling the account of the overthrow of the shah and the establishment of a new, religious fundamentalist regime in which opposition to the government are imprisoned, tortured, and murdered. By simply reading the Prologue, one can see the love Ebadi has for Iran and her people. This love that Ebadi has for the oppressed of Iran is a theme that appears throughout the book and seems to be a large factor behind her drive to stand up for those who cannot stand up for

Fish also play a large role in the celebrations. The word for fish, “Yu” sounds like the words both for and abundance. The fish is usually served whole, with head and tail, which mean having a good beginning and ending for the coming year. These round dumplings which is called JiaoZi signify family reunion. Its shape look like a bag the has many gold coins inside. This dish is called Lion’s Head Meatball. They are cooked with oversized meatballs and some vegetable soup. The lion represents power and strength in Chinese culture, while the oversized meatballs symbolize family reunion. Duck symbolizes fidelity in chinese culture. Also, sweet and sour pork is popular with families hoping for a lot of grandchildren because the Cantonese word for “sour” sounds like the word for grandchild. Cakes have a special place in Chinese New year celebrations. Chinese people called them NianGow. NianGow is made up of rice flour, wheat starch, water and sugar. Their sweetness symbolizes a rich and sweet life. The family will then end the night with firecrackers.

     Masks were created to be placed over the face, on the top of the head, or even over the head. Most masks represent spirits of ancestors (Fetzer 106). Some villages make masks with full costumes and use them with music to dance in ritual performances. They used masks for social control,

Chinese New Year is the most widely celebrated tradition in Asia. The tradition is usually celebrated on the first day of the first month on the Chinese Lunar calendar. This tradition is rooted in centuries-old customs and is one of the most popular public holidays in China. Apart from China, this tradition is also celebrated in many Asian countries like Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Japan. There are many values and rituals tied with this tradition. For example, people would wear red clothing, decorate the house with red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. According to legend, it is said that red can drive away bad luck, which is why the color red is highly emphasized. In myths, our ancestors would