March 1 is the day Romanians celebrate ‘Martisor’, an old tradition related to spring arrival and fine weather, also symbolizing love, respect and frienship.
The word Martisor is the diminutive of martie, the old folk name for March (Martie, in modern Romanian), and thus literally means “little March”. It is also the folk name for the first month of spring.
Martisor is also the name of the trinket with the red and white string with hanging tassel customarily given on the 1st day of March.
Traditionally boys give to girls, as gifts, the ‘Martisor’ symbol; nevertheless, there are several regions in Romania where the girls are the ones to offer the gifts.
Offering this trinket or talisman is an old custom, symbol of the coming spring and it is believed that his or her bearer will be strong and healthy for the rest of the year.
Initially, the “Martisor” string was called the Year’s Rope, made by black and white wool threads, representing the 365 days of the year. The Year’s Rope was the link between summer and winter, black and white representing the opposition and the unity of opposites: light and dark, warm and cold, life and death.
Traditionally, both women and men used to wear Martisor pinned to their jackets and blouses, close to the heart, until the last day of March, when they would hang it to a fruit-tree twig. There is also the tradition that, after wearing it for a certain period of time, people would buy red wine and sweet cheese with the coin, according to a belief that their faces would remain beautiful and white as cheese and rubicund as the wine, all year long.
In modern times, and especially in urban areas, the “Martisor” lost most of its talisman properties and became more a symbol of friendship, love, appreciation and respect, but also a real marketing industry, with people queuing to buy the lovely talismans to offer to the dear ones. Wide fairs are held throughout the country on Martisor, with craftsmen, designers and freelance artists competing to lure customers to buy their original Martisor pieces, some of them handmade talismans or original jewels.
The snowdrop is also related to Martisor and also symbol for spring in Romania.
The traditional ‘Martisor’ is thought to be a silver coin with a red/white cord, made by girls and tied by the hand, dating back to 1905. Others say that the oldest ‘Martisor’ dates back in 1879 and was made as a silver heart another one depicts a flying swallow.
Legend of the red-white string: blood onto the snow
A legend of ‘Martisor’ says the Sun, transformed into a young man, came down to the village, but was taken away and locked by an evil dragon. Everything went sad: birds did not sing anymore, springs were not flowing, children did not laugh anymore. Nobody dared to confront the dragon, until one day when a young man went to the dragon’s castle and fought him. After defeating the dragon, the Sun was released and everyone was happy, as nature revived. However, the brave young man did not live to see the spring. Blood poured out of his wounds onto the snow. That is why young people started weaving two threads, red and white, and to offer them to the loved ones.
How much are Romanians willing to spend on Martisor?
A recent study quoted by Digi 24 revealed on Tuesday that almost 90% of the Romanians intend to buy flowers and gifts on Martisor, March 1 and on March 8 when the international women day is celebrated. According to the survey, 36.8% of the respondents said they would spend from RON 100 to RON 199 on these gifts, 60% say they are willing to pay even more, up to RON 299, while 22% think of offering gifts worth RON 200 to RON 299. On the average, Romanians will buy presents of RON 180.
More than three-quarter of them confessed they would buy a gift to their mother.
The main venues to buy Martisor talismans, flowers or other gifts are on the street from the hawkers, from the traditional Martisor fairs, from the malls and flower shops. However, the online websites are also a reliable shopping resource.