First, parsley grows better if you happen to be pregnant when sowing it.

Second, a woman needs to be the one who 'wears the pants' in her household before parsley will do well.

Third, you need to keep in mind that parsley needs to travel to the devil and back 7 times before it will germinate.

Finally: Sow seed in early spring. They are slow to germinate, and may need to be scarified. (Pour boiling water over them and leave overnight before sowing.) Sow seeds 5mm deep. Germination may also be hastened by freezing seeds briefly to help break dormancy. Germination is slow and may take several weeks. When transplanting, be careful not to damage the taproot. In fact, it's best to sow parsley in situ (where you want it to end up in your garden, because it really doesn't like to be transplanted.) Initial growth of plants is slow. More mature parsley plants may bolt to seed if transplanted. Grow in sun or partial shade and keep soil moist. In the second year of growth, remove flower stalks to extend foliage life. Prefers a fertile soil, pH 5.0-7.0. Plants will send up flower stalks in the second year and will usually self-seed. One 20-30cm pot, at least 30cm deep, will accommodate one mature parsley plant, or 3 dwarf plants. Keep soil in pots moist and fertilise once a month.

Z5 right now, will not sprout any seeds of any kind. Its still just too cold. Mother Nature will let you know when, as you start seeing things like crocus emerging.

Parsley seed has natural germination inhibitors in the seed coating. Soaking in warm or hot water (I like to further rinse the seed after the soaking, then let the seed dry so it is easier to sow) will remove the inhibitor. This natural inhibitor makes parsley germinate unevenly. In nature, this ensures that if early germinating plants die then the late germinating seeds will grow and continue the species.
In the old days, before plastic pots were so omnipresent, plants were usually sold from open flats. The vendor would tear off some plants and wrap them in newspaper. Parsley, especially Italian parsley, would usually not fair well with this treatment.
We used to actually grow all our parsley this old way and were fairly successful doing so. The trick was to transplant seedlings just as the first true leaves were forming. If we waited much longer to transplant 25-30% of plants would die after a week or so.
I recently switched to sowing several seeds in small plug trays and found that even quite mature seedlings transplant into larger pots perfectly well. Rarely any loss from transplanting. I grow thousands of parsley plants this way every year.
Sowing in situ will eliminate much of the guesswork and possible headaches of starting indoors, but you get plants when mother nature will allow, not when you want them.
If you are going to sow Italian Parsley inside to put out in early spring here's a tip: Don't allow Italian parsley to experience too many days of cool temperatures (3 or 4 weeks below 40ºF)-the plants will vernalize (think they have gone through winter) and begin flowering. I made this mistake with a few plants once. Curly types don't seem to be as sensitive to early cool weather.

Daisy - Points 1 & 2 was the best laugh I've had all week. Knowing you however, something tells me that you have good reasons for them, and I'd love to hear!!! A good friend here in Israel farms huge fields of parsley and coriander, so I never have to grow it myself, I just get huge bags of what she brings over straight from the field, which we freeze. Once she brought me large jars of seeds, but, as you say, they didn't take. I really don't have the room or the sun, but I keep trying. Batya

Batya - there are lots of superstitions attached to herbs in general. Spend an enjoyable hour (or day or three!) researching 'folklore herbs' or similar. Pay a visit to some Wicca sites, which have lots of such fascinating information, as well as some more 'useful' information about herbs. Try the one linked below for starters.

Here's what I have on Parsley:

When eaten, parsley provokes lust and promotes fertility, but if you are in love, don't cut parsley - you'll cut your love as well. Though the plant has associations with death and is often regarded as evil, the Romans tucked a sprig of parsley into their togas every morning for protection. It is also placed on plates of food to guard it from contamination. Parsley is also used in purification baths, to stop all misfortune. A wreath of parsley worn on the head prevents (or delays) inebriation. The root is carried to stave off misfortunes. It is said that parsley needs to travel back and forth to Hades seven times, to ask permission for it to grow, before it will germinate. If the seeds do not germinate, the person who planted them will probably die during the next year. Parsley grows for the wicked, but not for the just. A parsley field will bring a man to his saddle and a woman to her grave. Where parsley's grown in the garden, there'll be a death before the year's out. It is reputed to grow best if the woman of the household is dominant. To dream of cutting parsley is a bad omen; the dreamer will be 'crossed in love'. In Devonshire, it's believed that transplanting parsley is bad luck and either the offender or his family will be severely punished within the year. Mix with jasmine and carry in your shoe to make you more attractive to the opposite sex. It was once believed that babies could be discovered in parsley beds and that unmarried girls could put matters to right if they chewed parsley three times a day for three weeks (this probably refers to the plantÂs abortifacient properties). In Britain, it was also once believed that to sow parsley was to encourage the conception of children. Parsley should never be given away, for with it people were thought to give away their luck. Neither should it be accepted as a gift. It can, however, be stolen without harm. It was thought bad luck to transplant parsley, unless, of course, it was stolen, for it could cause a family death.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kereena's grimoire

sla762 - still time to plant parsley inside. I just seeded mine in greenhouse last week and will have an abundant crop come summer judging by the last dozen years' records. (ksrogers seems to have assumed you are only planting outdoors.)

Too much parsley can damage weak kidneys. Z5 and sowing, seeds, it appeared from that, the the orginal poster wanted to plant seeds outdoors right now. Here, I don't start seeds indoors until the middle of April. Any sooner and they get way too big to be under plant lights. Last years tomatoes were started in mid March and were over 3 foot tall by the end of May. Very hard to seperate a 32 pot flat with 3 foot tall plants growing every which way. A few got so badly tangled that they broke off half the stems.

Parsley likes winter. I sprinkle the seeds, right where I want them to grow, in late fall or very early spring (while the ground is still mostly frozen) In fact, I haven't planted parsley in at least 5 years. The flat Italian type reseeds like mad in the veggy garden and a frilly type does well in a flower bed in front of the house. As long as I let one plant go to seed every year, it just keeps on giving.