Local Baha’is Will Celebrate Naw-Ruz March 19 to Welcome Their New Year
News Story by Cassy Benefield | FāVS News
The spring Equinox brings more than just the joy of birds singing and nature blooming for Behnoosh Armani. This cosmic change also marks her New Year celebration as a Baha’i — a celebration known as Naw-Ruz (pronounced no-rooz), which means “new day.”
“It’s a time of rejuvenation … a time of renewal,” Armani said.
Naw-Ruz has a rich history and holds deep spiritual significance for Baha’is.
In 1863, Baha’u’llah — the prophet and founder of the Baha’i faith — announced he was the “Promised One of all religions.”
Born in Iran, he took what was then the Persian New Year celebration and incorporated it into the Baha’i faith to symbolize the oneness of all the messengers (or prophets of God).
For Baha’is, Naw-Ruz commemorates the spiritual renewal that their faith’s teachings brought to humanity from teachers including Zoraster, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad and ultimately Baha’u’llah.
The holiday, though, is rooted in various cultures.
It originated nearly 3,000 years with Zoroastrianism — a monotheistic religion whose birthplace is modern-day Iran, which was Armani’s home for the first 14 years of her life. As an Iranian, she celebrates Baha’i Naw-Ruz and the Persian New Year, which is celebrated for 13 days in a similar way people celebrate Christmas.
Before Their New Year Baha’is Participate in a 19-Day Fast
Naw-Ruz falls on Tuesday, March 19, this year at sunset. Other years, it can fall on March 20 or 21. Before Baha’is celebrate their New Year, they participate in a 19-day fast the month prior.
Baha’is do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset — similar to how Muslims and Jews mark their days of fasting. Once the sun sets, they break their fast and oftentimes will eat their evening meals with family and friends during those 19 days.
“[Fasting] is a time to reflect inward to think about who we are and what is our purpose and what can I do,” Armani said. “We (Baha’is) have a bigger responsibility in this world, to look out for each other to help one another in every way we can. And not just even in our community, but for the world.”
She lives in Pullman and the sun will set at 7:01 p.m. on March 19. She will join about 30 Baha’is from her town and about 30 more from other parts of Whitman County to break the fast. This year, they will do this at Viola Community Center with music, dancing and other activities.
The Baha’i Faith Travels from Iran to the U.S.
While Armani was growing up in Iran, born into the Baha’i faith, Joe and Marsha Urlacher, Spokane Valley residents, were on their own journeys toward the faith in the U.S.
The seeds of their faith were sown during their teenage years, blossoming into spiritual journeys they pursued separately in college before their paths eventually converged.
For Marsha Urlacher, the principles of the equality of men and women and that science and religion are in harmony attracted her to the faith. As she began reading the literature about what Baha’is believe and what Baha’u’llah taught, she would think “this is the truth.”
As a lover of music on her way to becoming a pianist and a music teacher, she wondered if she could find a faith that would allow her to keep these passions. She thought if she’d found the truth in religion, she’d have to give up her love of music to follow it.
“I found out that the Baha’i faith says work done in the spirit of service is worship. So, playing the piano, having music, doing creative, artistic things is worship,” Marsha Urlacher said.
Growing in the Baha’i Faith by Fasting Before Naw-Ruz
It so happened when she became a Baha’i after this revelation in 1972, it was the time of the fast before Naw-Ruz. She was excited about participating in the fast. She quickly jumped into fasting from food, but she was drinking water all day. Except, she found out at the end of the fast she was not supposed to drink either.
Joe Urlacher smiled next to his wife while she related this story of her first memory of fasting as a Baha’i, noting it takes time to learn a new faith.
“Everybody takes baby steps at first,” he said. “We all have a different understanding and then we become better.”
Joe Urlacher’s journey was less intuitive than his wife’s and more text-oriented. For him, reading Baha’i literature and understanding how Baha’u’llah fits the prophecies in the Bible of the return of Jesus Christ led him to become Baha’i in 1975.
“Mine was much more biblical text oriented. Marsha’s was not as text oriented as it was the feeling of this is true. This is lovely. This is beauty,” he said.
While the Urlachers are beyond the age of the requirement to fast as Baha’is, which is between the ages of 15 to 70, they still take time to participate in the fast before Naw-Ruz in other meaningful ways, they said.
Marsha Urlacher tries to make herself exercise every day and not eat sweets. Joe Urlacher meditates on the fact that there is much more than the material realm.
“[A spiritual fast] is being mindful of your surroundings, mindful that you are a material being in a spiritual existence, that everything is ephemeral. You’re not going to last forever,” he said. “To realize that we’re here for others. We’re here to make the best of this world.”
Celebrating Naw-Ruz
The Baha’is of Spokane Valley will end their fast a minute later (7:02 p.m.) than those in Whitman County. About an hour before that, about 60 people within their Baha’i community, along with their guests, will start filling Darcy’s Restaurant for their Naw Ruz celebration.
A Naw-Ruz prayer and program along with music and a feast will accompany their festivity.
While these New Year celebrations tend to be for the Baha’i community only, the Urlachers said they would pass along the following words to their greater communities.
“Happy New Year,” Joe Urlacher said.
“It’s the first day of spring. It’s a beautiful start to a new year — a new Baha’i calendar year. And rejoice and be happy together,” Marsha Urlacher said.
