Mehregan Festival

In Mehr 1394 (October 2015), I was invited with a group of friends to the Mehregan festival in a vast, green, and beautiful space. After the festival ended, what I imagined about Mehregan was vastly different from what I had seen and heard, and following the words of the thinkers at the festival, I set out on the path of kindness and love. Now, I share with you everything I experienced with heartfelt belief and inner feeling.

What I learned from this rich and noble culture and civilization of ancient Iran prompted me not to forget my responsibility as a thoughtful participant in public cooperation. I realized that all the festivals, rituals, and celebrations of this sacred culture are life lessons, guiding me in the university of life with knowledge toward goodness, virtue, and humanity.

“Mehregan or the Festival of Mehr,” one of the greatest Iranian festivals after Nowruz, is over 4,000 years old, with roots tracing back to ancient kings like Fereydun.

The origin of the word “Mehr” comes from the common Indo-Iranian word “Mitra,” and in Persian, Mehr or Mitra means “light, brightness, friendship, unity, connection, and love,” and is opposed to lies, falsehood, breaking promises, and cruelty.

Our ancestors gave a name to each day of the month, intended to cultivate the divine qualities in humans. The first day of each month was called “Ahura Mazda,” the Lord of Life and Wisdom, and the sixteenth day was called “Mehr.” Once a month, when the day and month names coincided, Iranians celebrated with joy and dance. The sixteenth of Mehr was one of the most important national festivals, Mehregan, honoring the deity Mehr, symbol of covenant, truth, awakening, order, bravery, guidance, and justice. It also supports those whose rights are violated and punishes the oath-breakers.

According to our legends, Kaveh the Blacksmith rose from Isfahan and, with the help of Fereydun Abtin, fought Zahhak the tyrant, who, according to Ferdowsi, knew nothing but plunder, robbery, and burning. Eventually, on the day of Mehr in the month of Mehr, they defeated Zahhak Mardoush, and Iranians celebrated the victory, establishing the Mehregan festival. Mehregan thus became a ritual, culture, and celebration, calling all to justice. On one hand, it commemorates the victory, and on the other, it reminds of spiritual battles ahead.

Moreover, in Mehr (autumn), six months after sowing in Nowruz, it is harvest time, and people reap the results of their labor. According to the Avesta (the Zoroastrian holy book), the Iranian calendar before the Achaemenids had two seasons: summer and winter. Nowruz was the festival marking the new year, and Mehregan marked the beginning of the second half of the year. Both festivals, occurring when day and night are equal, convey messages of love, equality, and justice through celebration and joy.

Therefore, “Mehregan” symbolizes justice in Persian culture. In today’s world, where everyone thirsts for joy, kindness, friendship, justice, and equality, gathering, speaking, and remembering Mehregan, and discussing the culture, civilization, and rituals of the “Festival of Mehr,” has profound value in social, cultural, and economic development.

Mehr or Mitra in Iranian culture means the light of the sun, friendship, and guardian of covenants, and in Middle and Modern Persian, it also means love. Mehregan is a festival of kindness, joy, benevolence, justice, and human commitment to love, truth, and righteousness. This festival symbolizes renewing one’s covenant with God to do good and avoid evil. During the festival, humans seek the divine spirit, spreading the warmth and light of the sun and promoting justice. It calls all to support light, fight ignorance and darkness—the same ideas that helped Kaveh the Blacksmith defeat Zahhak.

Mehregan recalls the ancient Iranian thought, calling for love, avoiding oath-breaking, and symbolizing work, effort, and building the world. Mehregan is the day when the sun reaches the scale of Mehr, bringing balance and peace to the world. Light and love have always been aligned with the infinite divine light.

As the verse says:
“Because light is neither separate from Mehr nor apart,
The world is all signs of God and God is not separate.”

This reminds me of a story from Luqman the Wise:

When Luqman entered Canaan, many gathered around him, each with a question. A wise man asked: “Why are our hearts not happy?”

Luqman replied: “For many years, I treated people, witnessed their hardships, and found a miraculous remedy. Through all I learned, I realized that ‘love is the cure for all pain.’”

A depressed mother said, “I tried that, but it was not helpful.” Luqman stood and said: “Perhaps, but this is the medicine. If you have not achieved what you want, increase it, for surely this is the most effective healer of human suffering.”

As Rumi says:
“From love, thorns become flowers,
From love, vinegar turns to honey.”

Before Mehregan, our ancestors cleaned their homes, wore new clothes, and set mirrors, kohl, rosewater, and pomegranates on the table. If a child was born that day, their name included “Mehr.”

Unfortunately, over time, these traditions have faded. Today, detachment from rituals, celebrations, culture, and civilization has stolen love for tomorrow, nostalgia for yesterday, and joy for today. This leads to bitterness, lifelessness, and depression. If we reopen the ancient book, the dormant awareness within us will awaken, enabling us to cultivate love. As Khwaja Abdullah Ansari said:

“The blessing of the heavens comes from the sky, and the blessing of souls comes from love.”

Thus, by listening to Khwaja’s words, let us pledge to respond to all misbehavior and harsh words with love, eradicate violence and hatred, and win each other’s hearts, so life may flourish joyfully, bearing fruits of happiness. Helping others is our foremost duty. Let us view the world justly, consider kindness as society’s “healing medicine,” and walk the path of physical and spiritual well-being, believing that the key to sovereignty lies in justice, fairness, and equality. If we wish to build a “celebration of life,” we must know that no festival is created by one person alone.

We must cleanse ourselves of cruelty and malice rooted in selfishness and arrogance, plant the tree of friendship, and, seeking peace and comfort, offer our shade to all. We should spread this thought and action globally, prescribing Plato’s advice about King Cyrus’s reign, rich in justice, equality, love, and friendship, to the world. Let us give people the joy of ancient Iranian civilization, sow the seeds of kindness and peace in the Mehregan of our soul, and reap the fruits of happiness and friendship.