March 1st is a special holiday in Romanian communities: It's the official start of spring, celebrated with the tradition of Mărțișor! As an ancient cultural practice with roots in Roman times, it's celebrated throughout Romania, throughout ethnically Romanian-Moldovan communities in Moldova, Macedonia, and Albania. The Roman god Mars was Marte in Latin; the Romanian word for March, martie, is from this. In ancient Rome, Mars was a symbol of revival, green fields, flocks, and love (among other things), thus he was celebrated on the first day of spring. The symbol of the Mărțișor celebration is also called mărțișor - small red & white items that often have a charm on them. Below is a slideshow of different mărțișori (plural form of the item): A description of the tradition of giving mărțișori to each other from a recent ”LIC [Language & Intercultural Competence] Newsletter" from Peace Corps Moldova:
"At the beginning of 19th century the beautiful Amulet was found in all Romanian regions. Especially children and women wore around their necks or on their left hands two woolen yarns (one red, one white) knitted together and a small silver or golden coin hung on them. The belief was that those who wore that Amulet were protected and would have good luck in the next year. It was written in books that young Moldavian girls wore Mărţişor from March 1st till March 12th. After two weeks, they used to tie their hair with that special red-white yarn waiting to see the first spring birds coming to their village. Only after that event, the young girls took out the Amulet and hang it to the first tree they saw in blossom." On the first of March (and occasionally on the 2nd or 3rd if we didn't see the person before then), my students, colleagues, fellow Volunteers, and I exchanged mărțișori with well-wishes for the spring. We will wear our red & white charms daily for at least ten days, some of us for the whole month. We also display red & white items in the rooms of our house, also for good luck. At the end of the month, we'll hang them on the trees for success in the future.
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Rebecca LehmanHealth Education volunteer serving at Boris Dînga Middle & High School in Criuleni, Moldova. Archives
May 2017
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