salām shāgerdāné aziz (hello dear students),

I know this year's nowruz feels different for many of us.

What is happening in Iran- what has been happening- touches every family in this community in one way or another. I've thought a lot about whether this is the right moment to send these letters, whether celebrating feels wrong, whether joy is something we're allowed to have right now.

And I keep coming back to this: nowruz is not a celebration that depends on circumstances. It is the earth turning. It is spring arriving whether we are ready or not. This holiday has been celebrated for thousands of years. No empire canceled it. No revolution ended it. And it will not end now.

Spring comes no matter what. And we have a duty to carry these traditions forward, now more than ever.

So I'm writing these letters again. Not because the world is perfect, but because this is what we do. We clean the house. We plant the sabzé. We set the table. We turn toward each other and toward community. However you are observing nowruz this year, whether quietly, fully, somewhere in between- these letters are for you.

A few years ago, I began writing a series of nowruz letters to help you prepare for every part of this incredible holiday. I first wrote them back in 2019 while on maternity leave, waiting for my son Caspian to arrive (he was born March 19th — 13 days "late"!). My email list was just a few thousand then, compared to the 55,000 of you reading this now. But the letters resonated, and they've become a tradition of their own. Each year I refine them, and each year this community grows.

If you want the full picture of everything that happens before, during, and after nowruz, you can always reference our Complete Guide to Living Your Best Nowruz. But in these emails, we'll go deeper into each tradition one by one — and I'll show you how I'm personally preparing along the way.

Let's start with the first one.

khooné takoonee- It's Time to CLEAN

February 20th was the first day of esfand in the Persian calendar — the last month of the year!

This month corresponds to Pisces in the zodiac (did you know the Persian months correspond with the zodiac? That's one of the benefits of having a calendar system based on the seasons and the stars!).

For those of you that don't know, esfand is the name of the incense that is burned in Persian culture to get rid of the "evil eye." Iranians, even the ones who claim to be very intellectual and scientific, tend to be fairly superstitious. The practice of burning esfand to ward off the evil eye can be traced to Zoroastrian times, and is still a common practice for Iranians today.

How is it used? For instance, if someone is jealous of your family, or even if they are unintentionally over-complimentary, they could be in danger of "jinxing" the family. This is called cheshm khordan, literally "struck by the eye." The antidote to cheshm khordan is to burn esfand and do a prayer — as the esfand crackles and burns, it emits a smoky incense that wards off any ill intentions. esfand can also be used as sage is used in the west to rid a place of negative energy.

esfand is also the month that I like to begin the process of khooné takoonee — literally, "shaking of the house."

Cleaning in the Persian language is called tameez kardan. However, for nowruz we don't do a simple clean. Like the name suggests, we practically turn the house upside down to get into every dark corner, every crevice, every forgotten dusty shelf. We let the light into all those neglected areas, air them out, and renew them once again.

Another important part of khooné takoonee is to get rid of anything that is old, worn (kohné), or broken. If it can be fixed — now is the time to fix it! But if not, toss or donate. This is the time to REALLY do the Marie Kondo process of ridding the house of anything that doesn't spark joy. In addition, if there are any big projects around the house that you've been delaying, now is the time to tackle these as well (think painting the walls, or replacing a faulty faucet). Just as the world is naturally in a process of renewal for spring, our houses can also be in a state of renewal during this time.

Here's a little sampling of my list this year:

• Go through clothing and donate anything that no longer fits
• Vacuum all mattresses and take them outside for sun to disinfect
• Dust above fans in all rooms
• Change air filters for AC units
• Clean every part of the refrigerator and get rid of condiments that no longer serve me
• Do a deep clean of the stove
• Paint the kids' room walls
• Clean under the sofa and under sofa cushions

This is obviously a very small sample of what I have on my list, but should give you a good idea of the level of detail we're looking for in our khooné takoonee.

And remember — khooné takoonee doesn't have to be limited to the physical world. It can also refer to internal matters. Just as you need to get rid of clutter and dusty corners in your house, you need to get rid of clutter and dusty corners in your heart and mind as well. Many of the rituals of nowruz help us do this — we'll get into those in future letters.

This year especially, I think many of us are carrying more than usual. Grief, worry, anger — these accumulate just like dust in the corners. Khooné takoonee is an invitation to acknowledge what's been sitting heavy, to air it out, and to make space for whatever comes next. Even if the world outside feels beyond our control, this — our own home, our own hearts — is something we can tend to.

I'll be posting about my khooné takoonee on my Instagram page as well, including how to say all these different tasks in Persian, so follow along there to learn while you clean.

But wait, there's more!

There's SO MUCH more to this wonderful holiday, and we'll be getting more into it next week. Specifically, next week we'll get into:

• the concept of lebāsé nō, or the new clothes you need to have prepared for nowruz
• key nowruz vocabulary and phrases you'll be hearing everywhere
• music for the holiday season

But until then… start making that list and start that khooné takoonee!

Any questions about the nowruz holiday you're dying to know about and would like for me to include in these emails? Simply hit reply and let me know.

tā bé zoodee,

ghorbāné shomā,

Leyla

P.S. — You're going to be the first to know: our next Learn Persian
Nowruz Bootcamp starts on March 23rd. This year we're studying a poem by Sohrab Sepehri together, and I think it's going to be something special. More details coming next week — but if you want to be ready, keep an eye on your inbox.