The Yazidi New Year "Çarşema Sor" (Red Wednesday) has taken a different course in Shengal this year due to the Corona pandemic. People have spent the holiday at home.

According to Yazidi faith, God sends an angel to earth every year to remove the evil between people. On this day, boiled eggs are coloured as a symbol for the renewal of nature. So that the universe can take shape, the eggs are boiled. The yolk is symbolic of the sun.

On Red Wednesday, people get up early and pray facing the sun for all living beings. Later, sweets are distributed and eggs are coloured. In the morning hours people go out into nature and pick red flowers, which are hung on the front door together with the egg shells. This decoration on the door is meant to protect against attacks.

Red Wednesday

"Çarşema Sor" in Kurdish means "Red Wednesday". "Çarşem" consists of the Kurdish words "çar" for four and "şem" for week, meaning the "fourth day of the week", which is Wednesday. "Sor" means red. The day is also called "Sersal" (Kurdish "ser": up, head and/or top; and "sal": year), meaning "New Year".

New Year time

The Yazidi New Year is celebrated on the first Wednesday in April, which according to the Yazidi calendar is always the first day of April and the New Year. Since the Yazidi calendar follows the Gregorian calendar by 13 days, the New Year is celebrated on the first Wednesday in April, which falls on or after April 14th in the Gregorian calendar. In Kurdish, the month of April is called "Nîsan". The first day of the month "Nîsan" is the "Çarşema Sor".

Mythology

According to Yazidi mythology, the "red Wednesday" is the day on which the creation of the earth was completed: The sun's rays reached the earth for the first time, turning the firmament red. The name "red Wednesday" comes from this. Furthermore, it was the day on which the head of the Yazidi archangels, Tawisî Melek (God's angel), first came to earth. Tawisî Melek is the center of the seven archangels, so he represents Wednesday, the middle of the week or the center of the seven archangels. Wednesday is the rest day of the Yazidis, similar to Sunday for Christians.