Xidir Nabi

Talysh · numen · Talysh traditional religion; continuing · numen

Xidir Nabi, the prophet Khidr, is the deathless 'Green One' of folk Islam as venerated among the Talysh and their Azerbaijani neighbours. Immortal and ever-wandering, he is the giver of plenty: on the night of his winter festival he is believed to ride unseen through the countryside on his horse, bestowing sustenance and blessing on the households of the faithful, who mark the day with roasted grain (qovurğa) and set out flour and food for his touch. Standing at the seam of late winter and coming spring, he is a bringer of renewal and abundance in whom older seasonal and vegetation associations survive beneath an Islamic name. Sources differ on the precise dating and local names of his festival, which is variously called Xıdır, Xızır and Xıdır Elyas.

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