Loading ...March the 1st is a festive day in Romania, considered to bring back renewed hopes, confidence, faith in good fortune and a prosperous life. It is life, spring and the shining sun which win the battle against chilly weather and overcast skies. This triumph of rebirth and regeneration could not be better embodied but in the Martisor (a trinket, March amulet) offered to loved ones in early spring (literally Martisor means 'little March': a small trinket pinned on the lapel by which winter is parted and spring is welcomed).
Towards the end of the 19th century, the Martisor was a present that Romanians sent to each other on the first day of March, traditionally a gold coin attached to a white-and-red braided thread with a silk tassel, for the recipient to wear around the neck until he/she would see a blooming rose; the present was then placed on its branch, in a poetical welcome to spring. The coin symbolized prosperity, the white-and-red thread was a metaphor of a person's face white as a lily and rosy as a rose.
Parents customarily tied a white and red thread with such a tiny amulet around their children's wrist, young men offered them to young women, and young women used to exchange among themselves, in the belief that this was to bode well on the bearer. In Dobrogea (eastern Romania), the Martisor was worn until the arrival of the white storks, when it was thrown high up in the sky to bring "great and winged fortune" to its bearer.
In the villages of Transylvania (center Romania), the red-and-white wool yarn Martisor was pinned on gates, windows, sheepfold, tied around the horns of cattle, around the handle of buckets to protect from the evil eye and evil spirits; it was believed that the red "color of life" could instill vitality to the bearer.
Speaking of the anecdotal rendering of the token's history, the legend goes that there was a time when the Sun used to take the shape of a young man and descend on Earth to dance among folk people. A dragon learned about this and followed the Sun on Earth, captured him and confined him in a dungeon in his castle. Suddenly the birds stopped singing and there was no more children's laughter, but no one dared to confront the dragon. One day, a brave young man set out to find the dungeon and free the Sun.
Many people joined in and gave him strength and courage to challenge the mighty dragon. The journey lasted three seasons: summer, autumn and winter. At the end of the third season the brave young man could finally reach the castle of the dragon where the Sun was imprisoned. The fight lasted several days until the dragon was defeated. Weakened by his wounds the brave young man however managed to set the Sun free to the joy of his followers. Nature was alive again, people got back their smile, but the young hero could not make it through spring.
His warm blood was draining from his wounds in the snow. With the snow melting, white flowers, called snowdrops, harbingers of spring, sprouted from the thawing soil. When the last drop of the brave young man's blood fell on the pure white snow he died with pride that his life served a noble purpose. Since then, people braid two tassels: one white and one red. Another legend says there once lived a poor man who used to make doll dresses, ribbons, tassels, and sell them at the market.
One day he ran out of fabric and all he could find at hand were two spools of yarn: one red and the other one white. Scrambling to make the best of such scarce resources, an idea came to him: he tore off two strands from the spools, one red and one white and braided them in a cord. He was very pleased with his work and hung a small picture on his new thread, telling himself: 'How shall I call this? I know. ‘Martisor', because it is now the first day of March. This will be a gift that men offer to women.'
And he made several models. Soon, the word spread about his invention. And to the present day people celebrate March 1 because they wanted to preserve the memory of the day when a poor man created the symbol of spring and regeneration. The tradition of Martisor is documented back to old times, only in the territories inhabited by Romanians and Aromanians, which certifies its origin. Later on, Martisor was borrowed by other people from Central and South-Eastern Europe, but less as a nature rejuvenation symbol and rather as a fashion trend.
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