In Persian culture mothers have very high value and this has been true since forever. Throughout history all over the planet, the earth has been symbolized as the mother. It is what gives love and life to all livings. And, this is where Sepandarmaz comes from. The word Sepandarmaz is named as the angel who stands for the earth, trees and forests and the month’s belongings. In addition, in ancient Iran, one of the many names they used for the earth was Sepandarmaz. That’s why, the word Sepandarmazgan comes from mother earth and it shows love and respect.
Sepandarmazgan is the celebration of love, friendship and the earth. On this day in ancient Persia, men respected and obeyed the women and gave them gifts. By this way, men were reminded to acclaim and honor women. Actually, this day proves the fact that since the establishment of the first Persian Empire, women in Iran have always had high status.
Sepandarmazgan is known as the Iranian Day of love much like Valentine’s Day. In ancient Iran around 2500 years ago dating back to Achaemenid Empire the day of love was named Sepandarmazgan and this tradition has roots in the Zoroastrian religion.
Although, these days most Iranians celebrate Valentine’s Day as the symbol day of love, ancient ceremonies have been renewed and many focus on bringing back that rich culture. Therefore, Iranians actually have two special days for love which are only 4 days apart.
On such days, Iranians usually buy candies, teddies and everything shaped in a heart and give it to each other. Most restaurants and coffee shops are really busy and you can even see people selling hearted balloons on the streets. Even though there are some restrictions, the sweet feeling of emotion can be felt everywhere.
In ancient Persian dynasties, not only the 12 months had names, but even the days of the months had a separate name of their own. In each month whenever the name of the day and the month coincided, that day would be celebrated. The name of the 5th day of each month was named Espand which was the same name of the 12th month. That’s why the celebration of Sepandarmazgan was held. That’s why this special day was celebrated in the ancient time. In today’s western calendar it will be on the 24th of February. But nowadays, the modern day for this festival is on the 18th of February only 4 days after valentines’ day.