Christian children get a big Christmas, Hannukah is gift giving time for Jewish children, for my child, it is Ayyam-i-ha.

Ayyam-i-ha are the 4-5 days that occur February 26 thru to March 1st. March 2nd is the beginning of the last Baha’i month of the year and is the time for fasting. During Ayyam-i-ha Baha’is give gifts, perform acts of charity, and share in merry making with other Baha’is and friends of the Faith. The best way to describe it is a combination of Christmas and Mardi Gras; however, family friendly and alcohol free.

I have been a Baha’i now for over 20 years, but have only been a parent for a little over 5 years. When I was childless I participated in Ayyam-i-ha activities that the community sponsored, and my husband and I have also had our own Ayyam-i-ha parties, but I never thought too much about it until my daughter was old enough to be aware of Christmas. When my daughter was 3 she really showed an interest in Christmas. She was going to pre-school and it was primarily Filipina teachers and they made a huge deal out of Christmas. My husband and I have never really celebrated Christmas because we are both Baha’is. His whole family is Baha’i; however, my family does celebrate Christmas, so we would exchange gifts with them, but that would be the end of it. After all the Christmas hype, I really felt like I needed to accentuate Ayyam-i-ha to help develop of sense of Baha’i identity in my daughter.

Some of the activities we have done have been to light candles for the 10 days preceding Ayyam-i-ha, not unlike Advent, except daily instead of weekly, in order to count down to the first day. We also had weekly classes to prepare for Ayyam-i-ha and some of the other Baha’i children and their friends would attend. During these classes I read books about Ayyam-i-ha including, “The Ayyam-i-ha Camel” and “Maggie Celebrates Ayyam-i-ha.” After the readings and discussion we would do an activity such as make Ayyam-i-ha cards to give out to friends and family, bake and decorate cookies, and make little crafts to give as gifts.

My daughter also had a tea party in which she invited her friends to come and share the celebration. Additionally, we decorate our house, both inside and out. It is an interesting assortment of decorations because there is no mass marketing of Ayyam-i-ha decorations. We string lights outside, sometimes in the shape of a nine-pointed star. My daughter loves Christmas lights, so she is very thrilled with this tradition we’ve adopted.

There are many resources online that the friends can access in order to prepare for Ayyam-i-ha and plan successful celebrations. I have listed some here:

http://www.geocities.com/cwynne19/feast/ha/ayyamiha00.html

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/7795/oc5.html

http://home.earthlink.net/~l.qualls/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/todolist.pdf


There is a prayer for Ayyam-i-ha that we often say at the beginning of celebrations, it says:

My God, my Fire and my Light! The days which Thou hast named the Ayyam-i-Ha (the Days of Ha, Intercalary days) in Thy Book have begun, O Thou Who art the King of names, and the fast which Thy most exalted Pen hath enjoined unto all who are in the kingdom of Thy creation to observe is approaching.

I entreat Thee, O my Lord, by these days and by all such as have during that period clung to the cord of Thy commandments, and laid hold on the handle of Thy precepts, to grant that unto every soul may be assigned a place within the precincts of Thy court, and a seat at the revelation of the splendors of the light of Thy countenance.

These, O my Lord, are Thy servants whom no corrupt inclination hath kept back from what Thou didst send down in Thy Book. They have bowed themselves before Thy Cause, and received Thy Book with such resolve as is born of Thee, and observed what Thou hadst prescribed unto them, and chosen to follow that which had been sent down by Thee. Thou seest, O my Lord, how they have recognized and confessed whatsoever Thou hast revealed in Thy Scriptures. Give them to drink, O my Lord, from the hands of Thy graciousness the waters of Thine eternity. Write down, then, for them the recompense ordained for him that hath immersed himself in the ocean of Thy presence, and attained unto the choice wine of Thy meeting.
I implore Thee, O Thou the King of kings and the Pitier of the downtrodden, to ordain for them the good of this world and of the world to come. Write down for them, moreover, what none of Thy creatures hath discovered, and number them with those who have circled round Thee, and who move about Thy throne in every world of Thy worlds. Thou, truly, art the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Informed.

-- Baha'u'llah