The weather is starting to warm up and the excitement of spring is slowly starting to envelop us. We are coming out of our shells and starting to feel more involved in life. Along with the cold, rain and snow are not only making our lives harder, but we are also not enjoying life. The days of dressing like cabbage are coming to an end, we are getting rid of our undergarments that we feel anxious about whether something different will happen at any moment… As the weather starts to make us feel the arrival of spring, a question comes to mind among the people: “When does the first cemre fall?” Now, we will try to answer this question and explain what cemre means and how it is used.
Let’s get started!
Cemre is a term used to describe the temperature increase that is thought to occur first in the air, then in the water and finally in the soil at the beginning of spring, at seven-day intervals.
As a meteorological event, it is defined as the heating power or temperature increase believed to fall on the air, water and land at intervals of one week before spring in calendars.
It is known among the public as the harbinger of spring and is considered as an event of increasing temperature.
From a religious perspective, the piles of stones thrown by pilgrims coming from Arafat in the Mina Valley are also called “cemre”.
Cemre is a word of Arabic origin and means “ember, fire”
It refers to the warming of air, water and soil by a burning fire – which is the stronger reflection of the sun’s rays on the earth with the spring.
The verb “to fall” is used for the effect of heat on air, water and soil.
In the traditional folk calendar widely used in Anatolia, the year is divided into winter and summer as “Kasım days” and “Hızır days”.
The days of November begin on November 8th according to the Gregorian calendar and end 179 days later on May 5th.
The days of Kasım are 180 days when February is 29 every 4 years, and the days of Hızır last 186 days starting from May 6th to November 7th.
The falling of the Cemre is shown as the symbols of the transition from the days of Kasım to the days of Hızır, in other words, from winter to spring.
Hıdırellez and Nevruz celebrations begin among the people with the fall of the cemre.
A research was conducted on Cemre in Istanbul for a period of 60 years.
According to the research, the beginning of the period when the average temperature curves start to rise is determined in the transition from winter to spring, and this period coincides with a more or less temperature increase above seasonal norms.
According to the research, there is a slight drop in temperatures between each jamra.
In this case, the cemre means that the air is heated from top to bottom, rather than from bottom to top.
According to the same research, when all three jamras are taken into account, there is a 42% probability of a significant warming on these dates with a difference of 1-2 days, and when two jamras are taken into account, there is a 74% probability.
We think that we now know and understand something better about the traditional expression “cemre”. When we say “cemre is falling”, we know that this is a harbinger of spring. So let’s ask: “Are you ready for the chirping of birds, colorful flowers and trees, lush green fields and most importantly, for your heart strings to relax?”
