Axır çərşənbələr
A month of awakening
Four weeks before Novruz a countdown begins: each Tuesday is devoted to one of the four elements. Together they lead nature out of its winter sleep and prepare the earth for the new year.
These Tuesdays are called the “last” ones — axır çərşənbələr. Each has its own rites, omens and treats, and people await them with special excitement.
The loudest is the Tuesday of Fire, when bonfires are lit and people leap over the flames. And the Tuesday of Earth ends the series and opens the road to Novruz itself.
Su — Water
Water awakens first. On this Tuesday people renew the water at home, leap over a stream and wash at dawn “for good luck”.
Od — Fire
Fire awakens. Bonfires are lit, people jump over them and light candles — a symbol of warmth, light and purification.
Yel — Wind
The wind rises: it fans the bonfires, spreads the warmth and helps the grain to sprout. The wind wakes the sleeping earth.
Torpaq — Earth
The earth comes alive, ready to give birth. It is the last Tuesday before Novruz; in these days people sow and sprout the səməni.
Tonqal — Bonfire
The main rite of the evenings is the tonqal, the festive bonfire in the yard. Families and neighbours gather around it.
Fortunes and omens
In the evenings people tell fortunes: they eavesdrop at doors, drop a ring into water and make wishes upon the fire.
TonqalFire and jumping
The leap over the flame
On Novruz Eve and on the Tuesday of Fire bonfires blaze in the yards. People leap over them — young and old — saying: “my heaviness to you, your lightness to me”.
Thus they leave in the fire the troubles and illnesses of the passing year, to enter the new one clean and light. The bonfire must not be put out with water — it should burn down on its own.