The Novruz system is built upon four main elements – water, fire, wind, and earth. This sequence is not accidental. First comes water, because life begins with water. Then comes fire (energy), wind (movement), and earth (establishment).
In the ancient calendar tradition of the Azerbaijani people, the arrival of spring is understood not only as a change of season but also as a renewal of cosmic order. This renewal ceremony is most vividly embodied in the four Tuesdays celebrated before the Novruz holiday. The first of these Tuesdays – Su Çərşənbəsi (Water Tuesday) – expresses the idea of the beginning of existence, the essence of life, and the purification of the soul in the popular consciousness. Su Çərşənbəsi, with its mythological roots, ethnographic nuances, and the spiritual values it holds for contemporary society, constitutes one of the important layers of Azerbaijani national-cultural identity.
The mythological foundations, historical-ethnographic essence, folklore motifs, rituals, symbolism, and functional role of Su Çərşənbəsi in the modern era have been extensively researched.
Water was accepted as the primordial beginning in the worldview of ancient man: «At a time when neither the heavens above us nor the earth below existed, there was a water-filled abyss, the first of the textures, the mistress of the depths, the mother of the world. Waters covered everything, perhaps there was no sign of life even without seeds being sown, no, even the gods had not yet appeared...»
When the world was created, everything was water, there was no human, only water; as water receded and the solar system became active, land was formed, and living beings appeared on the land. Even humans who had not yet received a drop of science understood that life could not exist in a chaotic world surrounded by water. They understood that the Creator had given the world they lived in as a unity of four elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Air). Our early ancestors did not look at this world superficially; they made observations, and based on thousands of years of observations, the thoughts of great sages emerged, they spoke, and their sayings permeated memories, passed down from generation to generation. People prayed to the forces they believed in, then, just as they emerged from caves and built houses, they also built temples for the Gods they appealed to, gathered in temples from time to time to commemorate them, and taught divine knowledge to intelligent, strong-memoried youths as explained by the great priests. Zoroaster also had sages from whom he received religious teachings. Those sages are the children of Turk-Azeri. Each of us has a poet, a writer within us. If we pay attention, we will see many things. For example, shepherds whose lives are spent in fields, green forests, in the lowlands in winter, and in pastures in summer, become walking encyclopedias, able to gather mute, unintelligent animals around them with the melancholic sound of a flute made from a reed. What have we not been capable of with words, with sounds? The songs of Sayaçıs, Holavars, Təkəçis, the tales and songs composed by grandmothers and grandfathers. In all of them, humans praise the world they live in, the beings they see around them, love, and consider sacred. How many bayatıs, ağıs, lullabies, endearments, proverbs, and sayings do we have? In all of them, there is the life, joy, sorrow, longing, occupation, and sincerity of our ancestors towards the beings they cherished. Zoroaster possessed a higher intellect and thought; with the knowledge and wisdom he received from his sages, he ascended to great heights and immortalized the magnificent religious-philosophical teaching of Oghuz-Turk, and generally Azeri thought, which is fundamental in a book like «Avesta», reflecting his people's religious worldview. This book was created precisely in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan, known as the Land of Fires, is Zoroaster's homeland.
Thus, both water and plants possess the power to help humans as sacred forces; the cult of water, spirit, and earth manifests itself here. Therefore, from the moment humans began to comprehend the world, they saw the power of Water and understood that there can be no life without water, no living being without water, no human without water. Water is life, water is a blessing, water is sacred, water possesses divine power, water can revive the dead. Water is gentle, water is wrathful, water demands respect and obedience. Water can both create and destroy what it has created. Even if instinctively, humans, since sensing the power of Water, have created, maintained, and sanctified a system of beliefs related to water as they understood it, worshipped it as a sacred force, and as one of the four elements of life and existence, they joyfully celebrate one day of each year, one of the last Tuesdays of the year – Su Çərşənbəsi – with abundant blessings on their tables, with respect and obedience, and continue to live out their faith through various rituals to this day.
In the modern era, Su Çərşənbəsi is not merely a folklore event, but also a symbolic platform for the formation of ecological consciousness. The protection of water resources, the preservation of clean rivers, and the development of a water-saving culture can be presented as a contemporary interpretation of this holiday.
Azerbaijan's Kura and Aras rivers live on in the people's memory as sacred flowing waters. Kura and Aras are not just geographical objects, but flowing symbols of national memory.
In various regions of Azerbaijan, Su Çərşənbəsi is celebrated with different nuances. In the Karabakh region, people would go to the spring, pray there, and make wishes with water. In the Shaki-Zagatala zone, there was a tradition called “su payı” (water share): water would be sprinkled on houses, and blessings would be given.
In Nakhchivan, the custom of bringing spring water early in the morning and sprinkling it on the corners of the house is widespread. This ritual aimed to bring abundance and prosperity to the home.
Su Çərşənbəsi is a ritual that unites the collective memory of the people. Through this ceremony, people return to their roots, enter into harmony with nature, and relive their sense of national identity.
Gulkhani Panah
Doctor of Philological Sciences
