Persian New Year 2019 | Nowrooz 1398

As much as I look forward to setting up my Haftsin every year, I've been so exhausted from my pregnancy prior to this Nowruz that I was unable to shop/assemble it this year. I decided I would at least create a style board of what mine would've looked like had I gone through with it, as well as educate those of you whom are unaware of what items go on the Haftsin and what each represent in the Persian culture. So let's start with a bit of history:

Nowruz, or "new day" in Persian, is an ancient festival that marks the beginning of spring and celebrates the rebirth of nature. And naturally, it has a lot to do with fresh, green foods just beginning to poke out of the ground that remind us winter is not, in fact, eternal. Nowruz begins at the stroke of the vernal equinox, when the sun crosses the equator. When the equinox comes, millions of families of Iranian descent gather around a ceremonial table known as the haftsin or haftseen. (Think colorful, elaborate Day Of The Dead-type altars meet a mashup of Easter and Passover traditions.) Young and old hold hands and count down to the New Year together and cheer "Eide Shoma Mobarak", or translated as Happy New Year! The haftsin or haftseen table includes the follwing items:

Happy Persian New Year! May the new year bring you peace, tranquility, health and happiness!