A Consideration of Zoroastrian Customs and Ceremonies in Iran

Some customs of present Iranians, like Norouz ceremony and Haft-sin, Chaharshanbe-suri, the customs of Arafe/Alafe on the last night of the year, Yalda and some other ceremonies, has been retained from the ancient Iran. Zoroastrians of Iran have preserved these ancient customs more than other groups, so the consideration and deliberation of Zoroastrian ceremonies will help us to analyze the Iranian ceremonies as a whole. However, the contemporary Zoroastrian rituals, in some respects, differ from the rituals and customs mentioned in middle Persian texts. Moreover, these rituals are not the same in all Zoroastrian regions of Iran (i.e., Kerman, Yazd and etc). In this paper, the common customs of present Zoroastrians and the important elements of their rituals are studied, so we can survey the development of their customs and make a comparison between them.