I was looking on the internet for symbols of spring and I discovered that in Eastern Europe the 1st of March is a very important day. The 1st of March, not only symbolize the beginning of spring, but it also symbolize the day when you show your friends that they are important to you.
On 1st of March people in Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Greece and Italy give a martisor amulet to those in their life they care about. In some regions men are the ones to give the martisor to the women in their lives, but in other regions women are the ones to give martisors to the men in their lives.
Martisors are small tokens of friendship or love given on the Martisor holiday. It consists of small decoration tied on a red and white string. In the past the string used to be black and white, and symbolized good and evil, but in the modern days, the string is red and white, as a symbol of love and peace.
1 March in Romania
The decoration tied on the string has also its history. In the past the main talismans were: four-leaf clover as symbol of good luck, chimney sweepers as symbol of union and family, snowdrops as symbol of a new beginning, horseshoes as symbol of wealth and good luck. But in modern times things have considerably changed and people don’t give just the small amulet anymore. Men buy perfumes, or flowers, or jewelery, or clothes, or make-up or candies, or any other thing they can think about, and tie them with the red and white string and offer them to their loved ones. And women buy, also perfumes, or wallets, or watches, or champagne and tie them with the traditional string and give them to the men in their lives.
1 March in Romania
Tradition says that people receiving the martisors should wear them pinned to their blouses during the whole month of March. Nowadays people don’t wear the martisor as they used to, they pin just the string to their blouses and wear it for a few days, not for the whole month. As we all know it would be a little difficult to wear a perfume pinned to our blouses. Also, there are people who choose to wear the martisors as wristbands.
1 March in Romania
