لال شيش؛ چوب بلا گردان ، تيرآرش

"Lale-Shish-Zan" and the Myth of Arash the Archer

In the north of Iran, the province of Mazandaran, there is a rite called "Lale- Shish-zan". In this rite, in the middle of summer, a person in the role of a dumb (lal), enters the houses and beats barrens, girls of marriageable age and fruitless trees with a wood (shish). Some mythologists believe that it is rooted in old Persian myths and the wood is a symbol of bow of Arash-e Kamanglr, Arash the Archer. The present article is to analyze this rite with respect to the mentioned Persian mythology.