A glimpse into our “mărţişor” tradition
I decided to write about one of Romania's unique traditions, celebrated at the beginning of the spring in every year on
the first March. It’s called “mărţişor” (it’s pronounced like this: [mərtsiʃor]. It’s a very interesting tradition; I loved it when I was little, because I
had the opportunity to receive some “mărţişor” from the people and to give myself some to my mother and to the teachers from school. I
want to describe this tradition and to explain some things that are done on
this special occasion.
So, the “mărţişor” is the diminutive of „martie”, in English that means March, something like „dear/little March”. On this day men/ boys give
significant objects to women/ girls. These objects are consisting of a jewel or
a small decoration for example a flower, an animal, a clover, a heart, a
chimney sweeper or other such things. This object is tied to a red
and white string. It’s a nice decoration and it’s a true symbol of the coming
spring. Every woman or girl who got a “mărţişor” from a man or boy has to wear
it on her blouse or even on her jacket. Every woman wants to wear it, because
they do it with pride and honor. In all areas where Romanians live this
tradition can be found. The “mărţişor” is considered to bring good luck and
wealth, but for me it's just a decoration. Some consider the red string the symbol of the spring, and the white
one as the symbol for the winter, because the tradition is taking place right
between the two seasons. Its beginnings are still unknown, but it is said that
it originated in ancient Rome
There are various myths about the “mărţişor”, I chose one for you so that you can imagine what's said about it. It is about a brave man, who rescued the sun. The myth tells
that the sun came down to the earth disguised in a young beautiful girl, but a
dragon kidnapped her and locked her in his castle. At that moment the birds
ceased to sing, the children forgot to play and have fun, and the whole world
fell into a deep sadness. Seeing what’s happening without having the sun, a
young courageous man set forth to the castle to save the beautiful girl. He
searched for the castle a whole year, but when he found it, he called the dragon
to fight him. The young man defeated the dragon and rescued the girl. She rose
to the sky and started lightening the world. The spring came and the people regained their happiness, but the
brave man lay injured in the dragon’s castle after the hard fight he had. His warm
blood flew into the snow till the boy died. Snowdrops
(forerunners of the spring) sprang from the place where the snow melted. It is
told that the people kept the memory of the brave young man tying a red and
white string around their neck. The red color represents the love towards
beauty and it reminds the man’s courage, and the white represents the
snowdrops, the first flowers in spring. This is one of the myths of the “mărţişor”.
The “mărţişor” received in the early morning of
the first March had to be worn 9-12 days, sometimes until the person saw a
flowery tree and hung it to its branches. In some regions this custom is different: for instance in the region of
Dobrogea the “mărţişor” has to be worn till the coming of the storks and
afterwards it has to be thrown up in the air as high as possible, meaning with
this that the person’s luck will be „high and numerous”. Another example: in
the villages of Transylvania the “mărţişor”
had to be hung over the doors, the windows and the horns of the animals to
remove all evil spirits and to conjure life and power. But nowadays these aren't done anymore.
I enjoy this custom and I have great
memories about it. For instance, I remember that I had a teacher who wore on
her blouse ALL the “mărţişor” we (the class) gave her. We were very happy and
proud that we saw our “mărţişor” on her blouse. I never heard about the myths and the believes of the people regarding the
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