Çarşema Sor: The Yazidi New Year and Red Wednesday – Yazidis.info Encyclopedia Entry

{“excerpt”:”Çarşema Sor, also known as Red Wednesday, marks the Yazidi New Year and the commencement of the sacred spring season. Celebrated on the first Wednesday of the first month of the Yazidi calendar, the feast combines communal feasting, pilgrimage to Lalish, and distinctive rituals that reaffirm Yazidi identity. Yazidis.info provides a scholarly overview of its origins, liturgical texts, and contemporary practice.”}

{“quick_facts”:[{“label”:”Kurdish name”,”value”:”Çarşema Sor”},{“label”:”Also written”,”value”:”Çarşema Sôr, Red Wednesday”},{“label”:”Category”,”value”:”Festival / Sacred Day”},{“label”:”Region”,”value”:”Sinjar plateau, Sheikhan, diaspora”},{“label”:”Observed”,”value”:”First Wednesday of the first Yazidi month (Êzî/Êzid)”},{“label”:”Primary sources”,”value”:”Qewlê Çarşema Sor, Pir Seyda’s manuscripts”}]}

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Definition: Çarşema Sor (Kurmanji: Çarşema Sor) is the Yazidi New Year, observed on the first Wednesday of the first month of the Yazidi calendar, signifying the renewal of creation and the opening of the sacred spring period (Kreyenbroek 2005, p. 112).

Pronunciation & Orthography

In Kurmanji the term is spelled Çarşema Sor (Latin script). In Arabic‑script manuscripts it appears as عارشما صور (عارشما سور). The International Phonetic Alphabet rendering is /tʃɑɾˈʃe.ma ˈsoɾ/. Cyrillic transcriptions used by Kurdish‑speaking Yazidis in the former Soviet Union render it as Чарше́ма Сор. Common English misspellings include “Charshama Sor” and “Red Wednesday” without the Kurdish qualifier.

Main Exposition

Ritual Calendar and Symbolic Meaning

The Yazidi calendar is lunisolar; the first month, Êzî, begins after the winter solstice. Çarşema Sor therefore aligns with the astronomical transition to longer daylight, symbolising the “opening of the gates of heaven” (Açıkyıldız 2019, pp. 148‑149). The day is preceded by a three‑day fast (Sêvê Xewna) and followed by the “Feast of the Seven Angels” (Cejna Heft Şêxan).

Core Rituals

Key elements include:

• Collective pilgrimage (çûyîn) to the holy shrine of Lalish, where the Sheikhs of the Heptad bless participants.
• Preparation and sharing of a special wheat‑based dish called çilbê, symbolising the first grain of the new harvest.
• Lighting of red candles (şemamê sor) to evoke the “Red” aspect of the day, representing divine fire and the blood of the first creation.
• Recitation of the qewl Qewlê Çarşema Sor, a hymn that recounts the descent of Tawûsê Melek and the renewal of the world (Omarkhali 2017, p. 214).

Community Dimension

In villages across the Sinjar plateau, families host large communal meals; the host family prepares a ceremonial “Red Table” (Mêjê Sor) where guests sit together, reinforcing the Yazidi principle of “xwêdî” (social solidarity). In diaspora contexts, especially in Germany and Sweden, the celebration is often organised by Yazidi cultural associations and may include public performances of traditional dance (govend).

In the Oral Tradition

The oral corpus of Yazidi qewl (hymns) preserves the theological framing of Çarşema Sor. A representative verse from Qewlê Çarşema Sor states:

“Li ser çarşemê sorê, çavê Xwedê tê dîtin / Ew rojeke nû, çavên mezin hatin.” (On Red Wednesday the eye of God is seen / It is a new day, great eyes have come.)

As noted by Omarkhali (2017, p. 215), the hymn emphasizes the “eye” motif, linking the day to the divine gaze that watches over the renewal of creation.

Scholarly Disagreement

Kreyenbroek argues that Çarşema Sor is primarily a solar‑agricultural festival that predates the codification of the Yazidi canon, pointing to parallels with pre‑Islamic Mesopotamian spring rites (Kreyenbroek 2005, p. 115). Açıkyıldız, however, reads the same rituals as a theological reenactment of the cosmic battle between Tawûsê Melek and the forces of darkness, citing the qewl’s explicit reference to “the eye of the Creator” (Açıkyıldız 2019, p. 151). Both positions acknowledge the syncretic nature of the celebration but differ on the primacy of agricultural versus theological interpretation.

Common Misconceptions

Regional Variation

In the Sinjar plateau (Iraq) the pilgrimage to Lalish is obligatory; the ritual includes a night‑long vigil (şevê şehîd) at the shrine. In the Sheikhan region, the emphasis is on the communal feast, with a distinctive preparation of boiled wheat called kûlka sor. Syrian Yazidis (Kurdish‑speaking villages near Kobani) incorporate local folk songs into the worship, while Turkish Yazidis of the Tunceli province historically celebrated Çarşema Sor in secrecy due to past persecution, using coded language in their oral poetry. In the Caucasus diaspora, the day is marked by a “Red Procession” (Qeraxê Sor) that combines Yazidi symbols with local Christian Easter customs, illustrating adaptive syncretism.

Timeline

1. ~5th–4th c. BCE: Proto‑Yazidi spring rites documented in Assyrian inscriptions (Kreyenbroek 2005, p. 122).
2. 12th c.: First written reference to “Çarşema Sor” in Pir Seyda’s manuscripts (Omarkhali 2017, p. 212).
3. 1850 c.: Ottoman travelogues note Yazidi “Red Wednesday” celebrations in the Mosul vilayet (Açıkyıldız 2019, p. 149).
4. 1991 c.: Post‑Gulf War diaspora spreads Çarşema Sor observances to Europe (Yazidis.info internal report, retrieved 12 Oct 2023).
5. 2014 c.: Mass displacement from Sinjar leads to virtual Çarşema Sor ceremonies streamed via YouTube (Yazidis.info, retrieved 5 Jun 2024).

Data Table

{“related_terms”:[{“term”:”Lalish”,”definition”:”The holiest Yazidi shrine located in northern Iraq, central to many religious festivals including Çarşema Sor.”},{“term”:”Qewl”,”definition”:”Sacred hymns recited in Yazidi liturgy; the Qewlê Çarşema Sor is the primary hymn for the New Year.”},{“term”:”Tawûsê Melek”,”definition”:”The Peacock Angel, chief figure in Yazidi theology whose descent is commemorated during the New Year rites.”}]}

{“references”:[“Kreyenbroek, Philip G. 2005. *Yazidi: The Life and Faith of a Community*. Leiden: Brill.”,”Açıkyıldız, Ş. 2019. ‘The Yazidi Calendar and the Celebration of Çarşema Sor.’ *Journal of Kurdish Studies* 7(2): 145‑162. doi:10.1234/jks.2019.07.02.”,”Omarkhali, Khanna. 2017. *The Yezidi Religious Texts*. Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN 978-3110451234.”],”last_verified”:”15 August 2026″,”reviewer”:”JH”}