The Reflection of Meteorological Knowledge in the Beliefs, Proverbs, and Sayings of the People in Birjand

Because weather forecasting is directly related to peoplechr('39')s lives, it is widely reflected in proverbs and it is often in full accordance with scientific facts. The signs related to the falling or not falling of rain in Ghohestan culture are very deep, diverse and wide, and show that the people of this region have paid special attention to the meteorological knowledge from the distant past, highlighting their great genius in discovering the signs. They have been able to predict the amount of precipitation and mitigate the adverse effects of the dry period that occurs periodically in this region. Folk proverbs and sayings, which are one of the most prominent manifestations of folklore, contain beliefs and customs that are passed down from generation to generation, and originate from the culture of the masses. Based on the astronomical beliefs of the past and the villagerschr('39') relationship with nature, proverbs about weather forecasting have been formed and become popular. Since the study of popular culture plays an important role in strengthening national and cultural identity, in this study, we have tried to explore the issue by using the proverbs, beliefs and sayings that are common among the people of the region. Using a descriptive-analytical method, we deal with some of the most important popular beliefs about meteorological knowledge in Birjand region.

Oral literature has been in line with human history since the past, and without its knowledge, it is not possible to know the history of nations, but unfortunately it has not been considered as it should be. Research in proverbs and popular culture gives us access to the most basic concepts of the political, social, economic, and educational culture of the people, and informs us on the social and individual way of life, the degree of education and civilization, the basis of progress and degradation, customs, beliefs and ideas of a nation. One of the main branches of folklore knowledge is traditional meteorology, which used to be critical for farmers, ranchers, and travelers. Based on the astronomical beliefs and the villagers’ connection with the nature, sky, stars, and animals, some Birjandi proverbs have been formed and popularized about weather forecasting. Here, we have tried to study and analyze cases of weather forecasting in the proverbs and beliefs of the people of Birjand.

Background research

Hedayat (1999) and Zolfaghari (2015) have dealt with the beliefs of the Iranian people about meteorology. On the beliefs of the people of Birjand about meteorology, Rezaei (2002), Farjadzadeh (1374), Shateri et al. (2013), and Zamanipour (2012) have collected some instances, but we have not found any work dedicated to a specific comprehensive study of the traditional meteorology in this region.

The data collection method here is both in the form of field research, and interviews the author has done with the informants, besides some library methods. Here, the people’s meteorological knowledge has been studied in a descriptive-analytical way by using popular beliefs, astronomical sources, and traditional meteorology.

Because climate plays an essential role in human life and can determine how people work and live, it has been widely reflected in proverbs. The people, due to their ancient civilization, have had deeply-rooted meteorological knowledge and had different methods for the raining forecast: they predicted climate change, rainy, and wet or dry years by signs such as: the state of cloud and fog at the top of the mountains, the lightning and the time when it occurs, the type and the blowing of winds such as Farah-baad, chelleh-baad, siyah-baad, kiblah-baad, and shomal-baad (northern wind); the state, the halo of the moon, and the redness around it; the position of rain-making stars such as Canopus, Sirius, Pleiades, the star of ewes and lambs, and the forecast of rain by the stars’ movement or luminosity; the conjunction between the moon and the Pleiades in winter and spring which causes storms and rain; the state of the sun, solar eclipses and spots around the sun, and the yellow-red circles surrounding it; the prediction of raining on certain days and months of the year, such as the Shisheh days, the Sagittarius month, the chelleh-e bozorg and chelleh-e kuchak, and the battle period between them at the end of the chelleh-e bozorg and in the beginning of the chelleh-e kuchak; raining forecast according to the condition of certain plants; the raining forecast through divination on the night of the Sadeh festival, and also by taking into consideration the sheep’s intestines, slaughtered on the night of parwarkoshan (slaughtering of fattened animals); the raining forecast based on the animals’ strange and meaningful behaviors before the onset of raining, and the birds’ movement and migration; the raining forecast according to popular beliefs and their trust in witchcraft to prevent raining or drought due to raindrops falling into graves and becoming gurband.

According to the above-mentioned evidence, Birjandi people were using different methods to forecast the weather, rainfall, cold weather, storms, wet and dry years, taking into consideration the birds’ song and movement, the state of clouds and fog, wind, thunderstorms, plants, divination, animal behaviors, raining on certain days of the spring called "shisheh", the position of the moon and sun, the movement of rain-making stars such as Canopus and Sirius, and the conjunction of the moon and Pleiades, which caused certain climate changes. Such predictions have been reflected in the beliefs and proverbs of the people of Birjand, which indicate the deep connection of human with nature concerning popular culture, and the people’s knowledge of astronomy, which they used to predict the weather. Traditional meteorology in low-precipitation areas of the region has always been of interest to the people leading them to gain a lot of knowledge which they can use to succeed in setting up their cultivation plan, and producing and storing food. Therefore, the benefit of the studying proverbs in folklore culture is to achieve the most basic concepts of social, economic and educational culture of people, and the anthropological, sociological and historical study of proverbs for researchers in these areas. As sociologists use common proverbs in each locale to study the spirits and morals of the ancients, metaphorical proverbs have an educational function representing the relationship among humans, the environment where they live, and their knowledge of the nature and celestial bodies.