Naw Ruz is Baha’i New Year; however, it is also the end of the Baha’i Fast, as well as the beginning of the Baha’i Calendar.

Naw Ruz originated as a custom in Iran long before the Baha’i Faith or Islam. It is celebrated during the Spring Equinox, March 21st. Scholars date the celebration of Naw Ruz back to Achaemenid times (555-330 BCE). This is during the Zoroastrian and polytheistic times in Iran. Later it was continued and adopted by Shiite Muslims. Naw Ruz is also celebrated in the countries of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Naw Ruz was incorporated into the Baha’i calendar during the time of The Bab and continues to be celebrated today by Baha’is around the world. Because Naw Ruz is celebrated at the Vernal Equinox, it also is occurs close to a Christian holiday of Easter. Easter traditions of egg hunts, bunny rabbits and other baby animals really have nothing to do with the religious context of Easter, but are remnants of customs that predate Christianity and celebrate Spring. I decided two years ago, when my daughter was 3, that there was nothing wrong with adopting some of these customs and incorporating them into our Naw Ruz celebration. As a result, we have had our egg hunts and my daughter gets a Naw Ruz basket, instead of an Easter basket.

One of the things that I love about the Baha’i Faith is that local traditions are maintained and incorporated into Baha’i Celebrations. One of the catch phrases you will often see in Baha’i literature is “Unity in Diversity.” Baha’i Holy Days are often celebrated in many different ways throughout the world, depending on local customs and traditions.

In Connecticut, we often had a huge statewide party, with lots of food and entertainment. In North Carolina, the “Triangle” area: Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and the surrounding suburbs also had a huge party. In other places I’ve lived the communities have been much smaller, and the celebrations have been smaller as well. Today in Okinawa, we did not even have a community celebration, but my daughter experienced a day with both her parents off from work, went to the aquarium, and a surprise egg hunt and basket of goodies when she got home.

I hope and pray that all of you have a beautiful spring. I will close my short editorial with the Naw Ruz Prayer:

“Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast ordained Naw-Rúz as a festival unto those who have observed the fast for love of Thee and abstained from all that is abhorrent unto thee. Grant, O my Lord, that the fire of Thy love and the heat produced by the fast enjoined by Thee may inflame them in Thy Cause, and make them to be occupied with Thy praise and with remembrance of Thee. Since thou hast adorned them, O my Lord, with the ornament of the fast prescribed by Thee, do Thou adorn them also with the ornament of Thine acceptance, through Thy grace and bountiful favor. For the doings of men are all dependent upon Thy good-pleasure, and are conditioned by Thy behest. Shouldst Thou regard him who hath broken the fast as one who hath observed it, such a man would be reckoned among them who from eternity had been keeping the fast. And shouldst Thou decree that he who hath observed the fast hath broken it, that person would be numbered with such as have caused the Robe of Thy Revelation to be stained with dust, and been far removed from the crystal waters of this living Fountain.

Thou art He through Whom the ensign "Praise-worthy art Thou in Thy works" hath been lifted up, and the standard "Obeyed art Thou in thy behest" hath been unfurled. Make known this Thy station, O my God, unto Thy servants, that they may be made aware tha the excellence of all things is dependent upon Thy bidding and Thy word, and the virtue of every act is conditioned by Thy leave and the good pleasure of Thy will, and my recognize that the reins of men's doings are within the grasp of Thine acceptance and Thy commandment. Make this known unto them, that nothing whatsoever may shut them out from Thy Beauty, in these days whereon the Christ exclaimeth: "All dominion is Thine, O Thou the Begetter of the Spirit (Jesus)"; and Thy Friend (Muhammad) crieth out: "Glory be to Thee, O Thou the Best-Beloved, for that thou hast uncovered thy Beauty, and written down for Thy chosen ones what will cause them to attain unto the seat of the revelation of Thy Most Great Name, through which all the peoples have lamented excepted such as have detached themselves from all else except Thee, and set themselves towards Him Who is the Revealer of Thyself and the Manifestation of Thine attributes."

He Who is Thy Branch and all Thy company, O my Lord, have broken this day their fast, after having observed it within the precincts of Thy court, and in their eagerness to please Thee. Do Thou ordain for Him, and for them, and for all such as have entered Thy presence in those days all the good Thou didst destine in Thy Book. Supply them, then, with that which will profit them, in both this life and in the life beyond.

Thou, in truth, art the the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”

-- Baha'u'llah