Yalda: Written by Ali Bolukbashi

In the past, Iranians observed several different New Year’s Days, one of which was the first day of Dey. This day marked the end of one cosmic cycle and the beginning of another with the arrival of winter. Yalda night was regarded as the birthday of the Yazata Mehr or Mithra and the rebirth of the sun, the symbol of light and love. Al-Biruni referred to Yalda—the night marking the beginning of winter (the winter solstice)—as the “Greater Birth,” equating it with the twenty-fifth of Kanun al-Awwal (the third Syriac month), which in the Roman tradition corresponded to Christmas.

Yalda Night coincides with the beginning of the Great Winter Cheleh. According to ancient custom, people stay awake past midnight—and sometimes until dawn—gathered around the mizd or shab-chareh spread. Iranians in different regions decorate this table with a variety of summer and autumn fruits and snacks—especially pomegranates and watermelons. Through eating fruits and nuts, storytelling, and divination with Hafez’s poetry, they try to ward off the ill omen of this longest night by staying awake and symbolically “breaking the back of the demon of darkness” with the rising of the winter sun.