Kouseh-vah-vi is one of the oldest Iranian festivals, which was held in the ancient days of Iran at the same time as Nowruz and the arrival of the green spring. This celebration and ceremony are now preserved in Kurdistan under the name of “Kouseh-vah-vi,” It has roots tied to the religion of Mithraism, but it is performed in winter. Kouseh-vah-vi is a special ceremony for shepherds. In the cold of winter, the Kurds see themselves committed to perform this ceremony. Sometimes they do it at the wedding ceremony so that the bride’s wedding ceremony will be more attractive. But how is this ceremony performed?
In the past, shepherds would take the herds to graze in the summer and would take care of them. Shepherding was a job and a profession for half of the year, and they were unemployed in the other half. The villagers had found a way to keep the shepherds from being deserted in the winter. Every household paid as much as it could afford, to the village’s shepherds so that they could manage their lives in winter. The number of shepherds in each village depended on the livestock. The food collected was distributed among them. A shepherd was also called kouseh. Why did they give him this name? It needs more explanation.
In the Kouseh-vah-vi ceremony, a scraggly (thin-bearded) man was made to ride a mule and he was the one who had the main role in this ceremony. For this reason this celebration is called kouseh barneshin (meaning a scraggly man riding a mule). In Kurdistan, for this ceremony, the shepherds wear loose and disproportionate clothes to look scary, wear goat horns on their head and put on beard and mustaches from sheep’s wool! They even cover their faces with charcoal and hold a stick in their hands. With such a scary figure they pour the offerings of the villagers into the bags they carry. The villagers also sing a song. At this time, Kouseh-vah-vi hangs’ strands of his fake beard at the house’s front door as a sign of the owner’s prosperity. This ceremony is accompanied by singing, joy, and dancing, creating a heartwarming atmosphere.
Among the things done to add more joy to this celebration is joking and playing with the kouseh. The villagers pull his loose and funny clothes, push him here and there with their hands; Or they steal one of the kousehs, which is dressed as a woman, and tell the other kousehs with her that they will not release her until he pays them. In order not to pay, the kouseh pretends to be dead so that the villagers will leave him and free the stolen woman! All these activities make the villagers happy and spend a pleasant and memorable day. In 1397, Kurdistan’s Kouseh-vah-vi ceremony was registered in Iran’s intangible heritage list.
