JASHN-E SADEH 2024

Dear Community,

JASHN-E SADEH will be celebrated on Saturday, 3rd of February 2024 at the AZA Darbe Mehr.

Venue: AZA Darbe Meher, 196 Annangrove Road, Annangrove NSW 2156 Time: 3rd of February, 5pm to 9pm The evening will include some prayers, lighting of the fire, singing, food and celebrations!

This is a POTLUCK event, so please bring a dish to share.

To RSVP, please click https://forms.gle/mAWktEFeFTRbsAvX8

Sadeh meaning hundred, is a mid winter national feast that is celebrated with grandeur and magnificence in Iran 50 days before Norooz (New Year). It is a festivity to honor fire and to defeat the forces of darkness, frost and cold. It is a grand celebration for Zoroastrians in Iran.

It is on 10th of Bahman (11th month of Iranian/Persian calendar) which is the day that Hushang Shah discovered how to make fire. Hushang Shah, the 2nd king of Pishdadian Dynasty was climbing a mountain when he saw a snake and wanted to hit it with a stone. When he threw the stone, it fell on another stone and since they were both flint stones, fire broke out and the snake escaped. This is how he discovered how to light a fire. Hushang cheered up and praised God who revealed to him the secret of lighting a fire. He then announced: “This is a light from God. So we must admire it.”

The day that we discovered how to make fire and how to control it changed humankind’s history. They didn’t need to move from season to season and they stayed in one place and could be safe from wild animals. Sadeh, like all the Iranian/Persian celebrations, is based on nature and it is a national celebration regardless of people’s tribe, city or religion.

On the day of Jashne Sadeh people would collect wood and priests led the prayers specific to the fire ‘Atash Niyayesh’ and performed the correct rituals before it was lit at sunset. The fire is lit at sunset and the evening is spent spreading happiness, dancing, playing music and celebrating.

We’ll have the lighting of the Sadeh fire and following the lighting of the fire we’ll have Afrinagan-e Do Dahman, a ceremony of blessing for the whole community, and Atash Niyayesh (fire litany).

We look forward to celebrating with many of you on the day.