Today I woke up before the alarm went off. Not because I had things to do, especially since it is Sunday, but because I had expected this day for weeks. Is spring again! My wonderful spring when I can get rid of the thick clothes, the cold that makes my skin rough and the gray of the city! First thing on the agenda – go out and buy snowdrops. It may be a cliché but these little flowers always make me smile. Once they appear you know that warmer days are near and everything seems simple again. The snowdrops are anyway offered alongside the 1st March gift and there is no man that can escape this tradition, whether it gives them to the girlfriend, mother, coworker etc. 1st March officially starts the spring and the white & red thread – specific to this day is a tradition kept from the ancient times. Wrapped around the wrist it is worn the entire month so that it can protect you from harm and diseases (if you did not know it already) than put on the branches of a fruit tree to bring abundance into people’s homes. In addition it is said that if you make a wish while hanging the martisor ( red & white thread) to the tree, it will come true soon J ! So I wish for the sun to shine again and then a 3 month holiday to enjoy the spring. Do you think it will come true?
As for the origins of this holiday, they are not known exactly. Historical sources point to the Daco-Thracian heritage for the feast, prior to Romans arrival but there are also talks about the fact that the martisor appears in Roman times, when the New Year was celebrated on the first day of spring in the month of Mars – which is not only the god of war but also the god of fertility and vegetation. Hence the duality of the thread colors: white means peace, red means war. What we know for sure is that the excavations carried out in Romania, at Schela Cladovei, revealed amulets similar to today’s martisor dating back approx. 8000 years. They were made up of pebbles painted red and white and were worn around the neck. Think of it this month when you wear on your wrist a symbol that is so old.
1st March throughout Romania:
- In Bihor county is believed that the people who wash with rainwater gathered from the rain fallen on this day will become more beautiful and will be healthier.
- In Banat girls wash with snow to be loved. Here, the girls are offering trinkets to the boys (traditionally the gifts are handmade)
- In Dobrogea the red& white thread is worn until the arrival of the cranes, then thrown up into the air for the happiness to be great and make you feel like you can fly.
- In rural Transylvanian the martisor thread is hanged by the windows, doors and on the domestic animal horns to scare away evil spirits
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