Navjote
The Navjote is the sacred ceremony that initiates children into the Zoroastrian faith. The word is made up of the word nao meaning "new" , and zot, meaning "worshiper". Together Navjote is literally translated to "new worshiper".
During Navjote, the child publicly declares their faith in front of their relatives and friends. The child is initiated when he or she is seven to eleven years old before the child reaches puberty. They must to be old enough to recognize their duty to pray to God, live according to Zarathushtra's teachings, and follow the rituals and customs of Zoroastrianism.
Before the ceremony, the child must learn several prayers, one of which is the Nirang-I-kusti. A Zoroastrian follower will say this prayer when they wake up, after they take a bath and use the toilet, and before they go to sleep.
During the ceremony the child must receive a ritual purification bath called the nahn, in order to be internally and externally purified. After the nahn, the child will be dressed in white pajamas and a shawl. They will be led to a room or stage and sit on a low stool covered by a white sheet of cloth before their relatives.
One of the most important part of this ritual is receiving the sudreh-kushti, a white vest and holy thread that is tied around the waist. The word sudreh means "good path" to remind followers to reamin on the good path of life. This vest is made out of white cotton to represent purity. The kusti thread is meant to lead Zoroastrians to the light and truth, and symbolizes their service to God. The sudreh-kushti is put on the child as they say the prayers they have learned. A proper Zoroastrian may wear any other clothes they desire as long as they also always wear their sudreh-kusti.
During Navjote, the child publicly declares their faith in front of their relatives and friends. The child is initiated when he or she is seven to eleven years old before the child reaches puberty. They must to be old enough to recognize their duty to pray to God, live according to Zarathushtra's teachings, and follow the rituals and customs of Zoroastrianism.
Before the ceremony, the child must learn several prayers, one of which is the Nirang-I-kusti. A Zoroastrian follower will say this prayer when they wake up, after they take a bath and use the toilet, and before they go to sleep.
During the ceremony the child must receive a ritual purification bath called the nahn, in order to be internally and externally purified. After the nahn, the child will be dressed in white pajamas and a shawl. They will be led to a room or stage and sit on a low stool covered by a white sheet of cloth before their relatives.
One of the most important part of this ritual is receiving the sudreh-kushti, a white vest and holy thread that is tied around the waist. The word sudreh means "good path" to remind followers to reamin on the good path of life. This vest is made out of white cotton to represent purity. The kusti thread is meant to lead Zoroastrians to the light and truth, and symbolizes their service to God. The sudreh-kushti is put on the child as they say the prayers they have learned. A proper Zoroastrian may wear any other clothes they desire as long as they also always wear their sudreh-kusti.
Marriage
The first step is of marriage in the Zoroastrian faith is the proposal. The man can either find a wife on his own or have his parents match him with a woman. Both the man and his parents must agree on the bride before the man proceeds to ask the woman's parents if their daughter will marry him. The woman's parents ask the daughter for her opinion and their daughter must either agree or decline the offer of marriage through her family.
If the woman accepts, the families will plan to hold an engagement party, or the nam-e-jadsood (meaning to name or declare), preferable in spring as opposed to autumn or winter.
In the days following the engagement, the groom goes from town to town to search for presents for his fiancée. His mother will then present the gifts to the bride.
At the betrothal ceremony, the groom's family prepares a tray of rock sugar candy, a green silk headscarf, a new pair of shoes, a skull cap, and a pomegranate with seven to twenty three coins inside of it. During the betrothal, a tray is passed around for each guest to take a piece of candy. The groom gives the pomegranate to the bride and his female relatives place the shoes on her feet. The new shoes symbolizes how she will now walk with her new husband and be his rightful life partner.
On the day before the wedding, female relatives of the groom will go to the bride's home and apply henna to her hands and feet. Afterwards they will apply it to their own. According to tradition, both the bide and groom wear white as symbol of purity.
Right before the marriage the bride will lie down covered by a green silk shawl pretending to sleep. The groom's best man will then ask her if she wants to marry the groom, to which she will only respond on the eleventh time he asks her. The bride will then walk towards the groom's home while receiving gifts. Once entering his house she will hide as a playful sign of resistance. When she is found, she will be seated next to the groom.
During the wedding, the priest will then ask for the bride's consent three times. She will not reply the first two times he asks, but will say yes the time. All of the signs of resistance from the bride throughout the wedding are to symbolize her free will and that it is her choice to be married. The priest then recites the Zoroastrian laws and gives the newly weds advice and admonishments. A cord will be tried around the hands of the bride and groom. Female relatives that are already married will hold a scarf over the couple's heads while two sugar cones are rubbed together to symbolize sweetening the couple's life together. The two parts of the scarf are them sewn together to represent their union for the rest of their lives.
If the woman accepts, the families will plan to hold an engagement party, or the nam-e-jadsood (meaning to name or declare), preferable in spring as opposed to autumn or winter.
In the days following the engagement, the groom goes from town to town to search for presents for his fiancée. His mother will then present the gifts to the bride.
At the betrothal ceremony, the groom's family prepares a tray of rock sugar candy, a green silk headscarf, a new pair of shoes, a skull cap, and a pomegranate with seven to twenty three coins inside of it. During the betrothal, a tray is passed around for each guest to take a piece of candy. The groom gives the pomegranate to the bride and his female relatives place the shoes on her feet. The new shoes symbolizes how she will now walk with her new husband and be his rightful life partner.
On the day before the wedding, female relatives of the groom will go to the bride's home and apply henna to her hands and feet. Afterwards they will apply it to their own. According to tradition, both the bide and groom wear white as symbol of purity.
Right before the marriage the bride will lie down covered by a green silk shawl pretending to sleep. The groom's best man will then ask her if she wants to marry the groom, to which she will only respond on the eleventh time he asks her. The bride will then walk towards the groom's home while receiving gifts. Once entering his house she will hide as a playful sign of resistance. When she is found, she will be seated next to the groom.
During the wedding, the priest will then ask for the bride's consent three times. She will not reply the first two times he asks, but will say yes the time. All of the signs of resistance from the bride throughout the wedding are to symbolize her free will and that it is her choice to be married. The priest then recites the Zoroastrian laws and gives the newly weds advice and admonishments. A cord will be tried around the hands of the bride and groom. Female relatives that are already married will hold a scarf over the couple's heads while two sugar cones are rubbed together to symbolize sweetening the couple's life together. The two parts of the scarf are them sewn together to represent their union for the rest of their lives.
Funerals
In the Zoroastrian faith, physical and spiritual purity are heavily connected. They believe that decomposition is caused by the demon Druj-I-Nasush and that it is dangerous to interfere with this process. Therefore, Zoroastrian funerals were traditionally organized in way that would separate the decaying corpses from the rest of the community.
The first step after a person's death is that the corpse is washed in unconsecrated bull’s urine and water. Both the garments that will clothe the corpse and the room in which it will lie will be cleaned. Afterwards the clothes will be thrown away as they have been defiled by the body. The corpse will be displayed on a clean white sheet for others to view and pay their respects. However, visitors are forbidden from touching the body. A ritual known as sagdid will be performed. During this ritual, a dog will be brought to the corpse two times to drive away demons.
The body is then given to corpse-bearers, the only ones allowed to touch the deceased body from this point on. They will wash the body and place new clean clothes around it like a shroud. The corpse will then be placed on either a stone slab or a shallowly dug out hole in the ground. Circles will then be drawn around the ground around the body as another measure to ward off evil and to warn visitors to keep away. A fire is lit with fragrant woods like frankincense and sandalwood to further repel corruption and disease.
Within one day the corpse will be moved to the dakhma, also known as the tower of silence. It is a wide tower with a platform that is open to the sky. The body must be moved in the daytime by an even number of bearers. Even mourners following the body must walk in pairs and hold a cloth between them called a paiwand. Two mobads pray and all that are present bow to show respect. They then wash themselves in unconsecrated bull’s urine and water at the site of the tower and later take a normal bath at home. At the tower, the clothes of the deceased are removed with tools as opposed to bare hands and are destroyed. The bodies are left on the tower's platform as leaving them on the ground would corrupt the earth. The corpses are left to be completely eaten by vultures and the remaining bones are disposed of in a pit at the base of the tower. This would be a traditional Zoroastrian funeral, however, the practice of this ritual is becoming less and less common as the vulture population declines. This ritual is also both impractical and illegal in western countries, so most followers will opt to cremate their dead instead. Mambai, India is one of the few places where the traditional Zoroastrian funeral is still practiced.
The first step after a person's death is that the corpse is washed in unconsecrated bull’s urine and water. Both the garments that will clothe the corpse and the room in which it will lie will be cleaned. Afterwards the clothes will be thrown away as they have been defiled by the body. The corpse will be displayed on a clean white sheet for others to view and pay their respects. However, visitors are forbidden from touching the body. A ritual known as sagdid will be performed. During this ritual, a dog will be brought to the corpse two times to drive away demons.
The body is then given to corpse-bearers, the only ones allowed to touch the deceased body from this point on. They will wash the body and place new clean clothes around it like a shroud. The corpse will then be placed on either a stone slab or a shallowly dug out hole in the ground. Circles will then be drawn around the ground around the body as another measure to ward off evil and to warn visitors to keep away. A fire is lit with fragrant woods like frankincense and sandalwood to further repel corruption and disease.
Within one day the corpse will be moved to the dakhma, also known as the tower of silence. It is a wide tower with a platform that is open to the sky. The body must be moved in the daytime by an even number of bearers. Even mourners following the body must walk in pairs and hold a cloth between them called a paiwand. Two mobads pray and all that are present bow to show respect. They then wash themselves in unconsecrated bull’s urine and water at the site of the tower and later take a normal bath at home. At the tower, the clothes of the deceased are removed with tools as opposed to bare hands and are destroyed. The bodies are left on the tower's platform as leaving them on the ground would corrupt the earth. The corpses are left to be completely eaten by vultures and the remaining bones are disposed of in a pit at the base of the tower. This would be a traditional Zoroastrian funeral, however, the practice of this ritual is becoming less and less common as the vulture population declines. This ritual is also both impractical and illegal in western countries, so most followers will opt to cremate their dead instead. Mambai, India is one of the few places where the traditional Zoroastrian funeral is still practiced.
Prayers are said for the deceased for three days after their death as it is believed that the soul remains on earth for three days. At home, fragrant woods are burnt for three days. Family and friends of the dead mourn by avoiding eating meat. Furthermore, no food can be prepared in the house where the body was prepared so relatives must bring food to the immediate family of the deceased throughout this three day period. On the fourth day, the soul and its guardian, Fravashi, rise up to the bridge of judgment. During the winter, it is forbidden to enter the place where the body rested for at least ten days, and a lamp is kept burning. This is done for thirty days during the summer.