Morgenlandfahrt

 

On the eve of my upcoming morgenlandfahrt, I called Aria hotel in Qum today for reservation. I will arrive 1:30 am on Tuesday next week. The receptionist was very polite, spoke English very well and asked me whether I need a taxi from Imam Khomenei Airport. I told him that I don’t know when I will have passed the immigration, so there is no need for a taxi driver to wait. I will arrive around 4 am. They will receive me, he told me. Motashakaram, khodahafez! Nice call with Iran today.

69˚40’N 18˚56’E

 

One of the numerous peculiarities of the Arctic is, of course, the midnight sun and the phenomenon that, north to the Arctic Circle, sun does not rise in the winter, at least on the 21^st of December. Living 400 km north of the Arctic Circle, the dark period here in North-Norway lasts almost two months. Fortunately, spectacular dawn/dusk colors can be seen around noon in the far south, and sometimes, northern lights are illuminating the sky.

 

Another phenomenon is not so well-known. During the two months when the sun is never rising, there are usually two full moons. And if the changeable weather allows it, it can be noticed that it circulates in huge waves around the sky, in fact, never setting. Thus, similarly to the common, or solar, Arctic Circle which marks the latitude when the sun is not setting for one day in June (and not rising for one day in December) there is also a lunar Arctic Circle, which is not fixed like the solar analog. Due to the moon’s precession (i.e., the change in the direction of its axis), there is an 18.6-year cycle when the moon is sometimes higher in the sky and sometimes lower.

 

Tromsø lies way north to that band and a non-setting moon might be observed each winter twice, provided the skies are clear.

 

 

The DIFFERENCE

Being fascinated by the DIFFERENCE in culture of Western and Muslim societies, I find the study of differences as much as important as the study of similarities in understanding what separates us. These days see, once again, an almost coincidence of the holiest Muslim and Christian holidays. Only a couple of days ago, two to three million pilgrims assembled in Makkah to perform hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, which every Muslim is supposed to perform at least once in his or her lifetime if physically able and can afford to do so. Only ten days later, Shi’a Muslims commemorate the designation of his cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, as the Prophet Muhammad’s successor. In Iran, Eid-e Ghadeer is even more important than Eid-e Ghorban, the Festival of Sacrifice.

 

Christians, on the other hand, celebrate and count right now the weeks until Christmas by lighting candles on an advent wreath. It should be a quiet time of contemplation, some spirituality, and with a thorough and thoughtful review of the past year. Impatient kids would perceive these four weeks usually as too long. But the hunt for Christmas gifts may result for adults in more stress than usual as well. The same procedures as every year, I suppose.

 

What I experience right now in my self-imposed arctic solitude is Christmas overkill. This is a winter-wonder-Christmas country with all houses over and over decorated and illuminated. A true Christmas Disney World with Santa Claus, reindeers, jingle bells, blinking and twinkling tinsel town. People get crazy about Christmas here. The rather depressing darkness for more than two months may be one explanation.

 

Legend holds it that Santa Claus, or Father Christmas as he is called here (are they really the same?) is living at the North Pole, I was told. The 4^th century bishop of Myrna in modern-day Turkey, well-known for his secret support for the poor, namely Saint Nicholas (d. 346 CE), has been transformed into sort of a dwarf with a red suit and a pointed cap. One has to remember that Norwegians, if religious at all, are mainly belonging to the Lutheran Church. The great reformator Martin Luther had invented another peculiarity in the 16^th century. Since Catholics distributed their gifts on the anniversary of St. Nicholas’ death on the 6^th of December, he had created an equivalent for Protestants, the Christkind, whose actual role and function has always been difficult if impossible to understand. It doesn’t play a big role here.

 

Christmas has been completely trivialized when commerce hijacked it especially after World War II. For so many years the whole country’s economy now more or less depends on business on the four Saturdays before the Holy Night. Christmas is celebrated in Japan and China. Santa you may find even in the Sultan Center in Salmiya in Kuwait, and Arab children are keen sitting on his lap.

 

I suppose that this is exactly the way how to make one of the more strict Monotheisms with a, sad to say, bad history of crusades and manslaughter (not really better than Islam) in fact harmless. In reducing its main holidays to kitschy and childish symbols in a secular society, its teeth are altogether pulled out at once. Jesus’ message (love, peace) has vanished, too. And, a majority of people living, for example, in Germany do not really know what is celebrated on Easter, not to mention Pentecost.

 

Yesterday someone told me a joke. We should not forget that Christmas is not only gifts and presents, Christmas tree and tinsel, goose, cookies and chocolate. It is also the Birth of Santa.

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Not Embedded

When I recently wrote about the scandal of embedded journalism in war regions, I unintentionally missed to mention a man whose consistently informative reports from Tehran on his blog I read with increasing interest, especially when planning and organizing my next trip to Iran. Martin Ebbing has died two days ago after a massive heart attack and an emergency evacuation to a hospital in Berlin. I can only offer my sincerest condolences to his wife, the photographer Zoreh Soleimani, and his two sons who I have never met.

 

Mr. Ebbing’s appraisal of Iran’s controversial nuclear program, his careful analyses of difficult to perceive day-by-day politics in Iran, his reportages about provincial life in Iran, and his continuous fight for human rights in a country where freedom of expression is not at all safeguarded I always saluted. He really loved the people in this enigmatic country with its millennia-old history and that makes the difference.

 

Thank you, Martin Ebbing, for your commitment, your dedication, and service for us who are interested in the people of Iran and other countries in the Middle East.