I wrote about Martisor, a lovely Romanian spring tradition, in two 2013 and 2014
posts. Mărțișor, marț and mărțiguș are all names for the red and white string
from which a small decoration is tied, and which is offered on the 1st day of March.
Giving this talisman to people is an old custom, and it is believed that the one who wears the red and white string will be happy and healthy for the year to come. Today I will tell you the legend of Martisor and some of the customs linked to it in various areas of Romania.
Giving this talisman to people is an old custom, and it is believed that the one who wears the red and white string will be happy and healthy for the year to come. Today I will tell you the legend of Martisor and some of the customs linked to it in various areas of Romania.
Once upon a
time, the Sun came down to Earth. The Sun reached a village where many young people
were dancing a hora (traditional dance). To be able to enjoy the fun, the Sun turned into a pretty
young maiden and joined the hora. A
dragon kidnapped the young woman and closed her in a cave. The whole world was devastated. The birds
no longer sang, river no longer flew to the sea, mankind was threatened by
famine. Nobody dared fight with the dragon. At last, a young man decided to try
his luck and save the Sun. Several men gave him their powers to make him invincible. His journey lasted for
three seasons: summer, autumn and winter.
The brave young man found the dragon
and they fought for days on end. Weakened and wounded, he managed to defeat the
dragon and release the sun. This rose high above on the sky, and all the world
rejoiced. Unfortunately the valiant young man died. The blood oozed from his
wounds on the snow covering the earth. And while life ebbed away from his body, white snowdrops, flowers heralding spring, appeared.
Ever since that day, young men offer the girls
they love, either two tassels, one
white, the other red, or a white and red thread. Red means love for everything that is
beautiful in our life, reminding us of the brave young man’s blood, white symbolizes health and purity, reminding us
of snowdrops, the first spring flowers that appeared at his death.
The white and read thread – Martisor – is put around the wrist of
small children to protect them from bad spells and bring them luck. In some areas, children wear the thread around
their neck for twelve days and then tie it to a
young tree branch. If that year the tree goes well, it means that the child will go well in life too.
In Moldova and a large part of
Romania’s villages there’s the belief that hanging the Martisor thread on a
tree branch will bring wealth and health into people's homes. There's also the belief that if someone thinks of a wish while hanging the red-white
thread on a branch, the wish will come true. A funny thing in Moldova is that girls and women offer martisoare to boys and men, while in the rest of Romania there's the belief that if a man receives a Martisor he will cry that year.
In Transylvania, Martisor is hung on doors, windows
and horns of farming animals as this will frighten evil spirits.
Nowadays, on March 1,
Romanians buy silky red-white threads tied into a bow to which a small trinket
is attached and offer them to the (female) family members, friends and
colleagues to show friendship, respect or admiration.
What a pity other people don't borrow this tradition from us, the same we did with Valentine Day or Halloween.
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