
Iranians can be a bit superstitious, especially when it comes to being jinxed. So in order to avoid it, they burn
espand (wild rue seeds) until they start to crackle and then wave the smoke over the heads of their loved ones while sending three
salavât. You’ll sometimes see people waving around
espand on the street. I even saw it once at a hair salon which I thought was funny. Because
espand is said to have purification properties, Iranians burn it from time to time in their homes or any time they move into a new house. (More on
espand and superstitions in this post