Maidyozarem (redirected from Maidhyoizaremaya)

Maidyozarem (Maidhyoizaremaya; Mid-Spring Feast)

April-May, September, October; 11th-15th days of Ardwahist, the second Zoroastrian month

Maidyozarem is the first of the six great seasonal feasts, known as gahambars, of the Zoroastrian religion. It is observed from the 41st to the 45th day after Nawruz or New Year's Day. Each of the six gahambars correlates with a phase of agricultural production and honors one of the six things created by God: sky, water, earth, plants, animals, and humankind. Maidyozarem—which means "mid-spring"—is linked to the creation of the sky, and the spiritual being associated with this festival is Shahrewar, who presides over metals and minerals and is represented by the consecrated implements used to tend the sacred fire in Zoroastrian temples.
Traditionally, the gahambars were joyous festivals that lasted five days and provided farm workers with a much-needed respite from their labors. The first four days were spent in preparation for the feasting that took place on the fifth day. Today, however, so many Zoroastrians live in urban areas that the importance of the gahambars has diminished somewhat.
The Zoroastrian calendar has 12 months of 30 days each, plus five extra days at the end of the year. Because of discrepancies in the calendars used by widely separated Zoroastrian communities around the world, there are now three different calendars in use, and Maidyozarem can fall either in April-May, early September, or early October, according to the Gregorian calendar.

SOURCES:
RelHolCal-2004, p. 66