Mehregan, alongside Nowruz, is one of our two great ancient festivals.

The underlying substance of Iranian culture and civilisation is light. Whether in the veneration of the sun, reverence for fire, the elevation of the deity Mithra, or the equivalence drawn between love and Mehr in our literature and cultural history, all point in one direction: light.

“Beyond all illusions and images—
light of light of light of light of light of light.” (Rumi)

Mehregan brings tidings of the victory of triumphant Mehr and the lofty sun at the beginning of the dominion of the long nights that will finally culminate in Chelleh, the longest night of the year.

For thousands of years, the festival of Mehregan has been an enduring reminder to Iranians of the promise that even if the occupation of the Iranian lands by a foreign Ahriman such as Zahhak lasts a thousand years, Iranians will ultimately reclaim their Ahurian land, as the generation of Kaveh and Fereydun did.

In this four-part video, I intend to return to the Shahnameh, recount the story of the victory of Iranians and Fereydun over the serpent-shouldered Zahhak, and interpret it from an archetypal perspective.

The myth of the serpent-shouldered Zahhak is, in my view, the most important social and historical story of Iranians: it unfolds somewhere outside the linear time of its narrative and, in every age, can be retold and yield new meanings.

In the first part of this four-part series, I begin with Jamshid’s coronation, his ego inflation and self-centredness, and how Zahhak comes to power in his time.

In the second part, we examine how Zahhak gains control over Iran, the method of his rule, the birth of Fereydun, and the archetypal interpretation of the symbols in this section of the story.

In the third part, we examine the story of Kaveh the Blacksmith and the rich semiotics of that narrative.

Finally, in the fourth part, we conclude with the battle between Fereydun and Zahhak, how Fereydun and the Iranians overcome Zahhak, and what every generation of Iranians can learn from the story.

I hope this small effort can reveal a part of the enduring greatness of this epic and its deep historical meaning.

May Mehregan be victorious and auspicious for all Iranians.

Aydin Areta

YouTube link:
https://youtu.be/7JZmye8h2ew

Instagram link:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CyYq5Oox7ok/