اسفند

The last weeks of اسفند are the most domestic stretch of the Iranian year. Families do خانه‌تکانی (khâne-tekâni, the deep house-cleaning before Nowruz), shop for the haft-sin table, and prepare new clothes. Markets are crowded; bakeries run extra shifts. Burning اسفند seeds, often by an older woman in the household, is a ritual that crosses religion and class. The smoke is believed to absorb the evil eye, especially around children, brides, and travelers. The continuity from a Zoroastrian Yazata to a modern grandmother smoking a baby's cradle is one of the cleanest demonstrations of how pre-Islamic Iran lives inside contemporary Iran.