"Lale-Shish-Zan" and the Myth of Ārash the Archer

Subject Areas : Mytho

احمد ابومحبوب ¹ (استادیار زبان و ادبیات فارسی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی ـ واحد تهران جنوب)

Received: 2015-05-25 Accepted : 2015-05-25 Published : 2009-09-23

Keywords: prosperity, Beating with Stick, Lale - Shish, The Bow of Ārash, Fettility,

Abstract :

    In the north of Iran, the province of Mazandaran, there is a rite called  "Lale-Shish-zan". In this rite, in the middle of summer, a person in the role of a dumb (lal), enters the houses and beats barrens, girls of marriageable age and fruitless trees with a wood (shish). Some mythologists believe that it is rooted in old Persian myths and the wood is a symbol of bow of Ārash-e Kamāngīr, Arash the Archer. The present article is to analyze this rite with respect to the mentioned Persian mythology.