Pages

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The calendaristic spring is here

In Romania there is the tradition that all women should receive on the 1st day of March a Martisor (basically a symbol, a decoration tied with a red and white string) to celebrate the coming of spring, but also as a sign of love or appreciation.

4 comments:

Andreea Stanescu said...

In vechime, pe data de 1 martie, martisorul se daruia inainte de rasaritul soarelui, copiilor si tinerilor - fete si baieti deopotriva. Snurul de martisor, alcatuit din doua fire de lana rasucite, colorate in alb si rosu, sau in alb si negru, reprezinta unitatea contrariilor: vara-iarna, caldura-frig, fertilitate-sterilitate, lumina-intuneric. Snurul era fie legat la mana, fie purtat in piept. El se purta de la 1 martie pana cand se aratau semnele de biruinta ale primaverii: se aude cucul cantand, infloresc ciresii, vin berzele sau randunelele. Atunci, martisorul fie se lega de un trandafir sau de un pom inflorit, ca sa ne aduca noroc, fie era aruncat in directia de unde veneau pasarile calatoare, rostindu-se: "Ia-mi negretele si da-mi albetele".
Unele legende populare spun ca martisorul ar fi fost tors de Baba Dochia in timp ce urca cu oile la munte.
Cu timpul, la acest snur s-a adaugat o moneda de argint. Moneda era asociata soarelui. Martisorul ajunge sa fie un simbol al focului si al luminii, deci si al soarelui.

The Expatresse said...

Chestita Baba Marta!

Carmencita y Juanito said...

The greeting mentioned above appears to be Bulgarian. However, we do not have that saying in Romania. What happens in Romania nowadays is the exchange of Martisor (these symbolic objects) and also usually women receive spring flowers. In the first comment above, our friend Andreea showed the history of this tradition and its syimbolistic. Google Translate can translate from Romanian to English

James the Giant Leach said...

lucky for spring, it is still mighty cold here

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails