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The "falling into a jar" motif along with its other changed forms is rooted in the rituals of death and rebirth festivals in the ancient Iran. Although this ceremony has vanished, its images exist in Persian poetry and folktales. In this paper the researchers have explored a number of stories, proverbs and figures of speech that contain this ceremony. The result of this research shows that literature preserves these customs and festivals. In addition, there is a strong connection between this ceremony and literary images, and sometimes the structure or themes have been changed by the poet’s feelings or social conditions.

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Proverbs as a part of colloquial literature are always nourished by religion, culture, traditions, and philosophical beliefs of a community, and thus they mirror the common beliefs of a people. The frequent repletion of a proverb pregnant with a specific thought makes that type of thought a behavioral pattern and affects the actions and behaviors of the people of a society. In the Iranian society, always two trends in theological rhetoric were dominant; i.e. the Mu'tazila's espousal of free-will and the Ash'ari's advocacy of determinism. However, because governments continually and in different ways have reinforced the Ash'ari’s determinism, these beliefs have penetrated into the mindset and language ​​of the people. This mentality is so widespread that most Persian proverbs reverberate with this deterministic overtone. A similar determinism in ancient Iran is traceable in the creed of Zorvani who knows this through the concept of "bhakht" which is reflected, for example, in belief in absolute determinism, belief in God's judgment, the will of God and the lack of independence to control one’s own destiny. It also led them to misconstrue issues such as trust in God, delegation of authority, and submission to the will of God: misunderstandings that have had damaging consequences for the Iranian culture throughout ages.

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Interdisciplinary studies of Persian literature and psychology have played an effective role in explaining and conveying concepts in these two fields. Considering the role of Persian proverbs in objectifying abstract concepts and representing the common internal needs and desires of Iranian ethnic groups, this paper intends to study the function of this part of folklore literature in the process of reality therapy. William Glasser (1925), the developer of reality therapy, explained this new psychological approach based on choice theory. Reality therapy is based on self-evaluation, relying on realism and morality, and ultimately a call for responsibility to achieve happiness and well-being. Using qualitative analysis, the present paper seeks to answer the questions of how to re-read Persian proverbs with new approaches to psychotherapy? And, is the use of Persian proverbs effective in the process of counseling and psychotherapy? Selected proverbs have been studied with regard to Glasser’s emphasis on the effectiveness and moral nature of human behavior. The findings show that proverbs which express effective behavior, while having the criterion of responsibility, lack an immoral aspect, and those which talk about avoiding general ineffective behavior do not have a moral aspect, and refer to irresponsible behavior. However, moral duality is evident in both groups of proverbs. It seems that Persian proverbs with aspects such as advice and counsel, clarity and correctness of meaning, good effect, reliance on experience, reflection of thought, etc. can be effective in conveying the concepts of reality therapy.