5 Things to Know about Martisor

March 1st is considered the beginning of spring in many cultures (in the Northern Hemisphere, of course). In my country, the custom is to offer the mărțișor [muhr-tsee-shor] on the first day of spring to the women in your life (in some regions, it is women who give this token to men), as a celebration of spring and rebirth. But what is this martisor exactly?

I took this in April, but still, it's a great image of spring.

It's usually a string made of two threads twisted together, a red one and a white one, with hanging tassels. There may or may not be a small talisman hanging from it, which also has some special meaning. As of 2017, the custom is part of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Part of the ones I received from my fans. Yeah.

1. Geography This custom is specific to Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and some parts of FYROM and Greece and can be traced back to the Roman empire (according to some) or to the Daco-Thracians (according to others). In Bulgaria it's called martenitsa and it's offered on March 1st as well, which is Baba Marta Day (Grandma March). In Romania, the beginning of spring is also associated with the metaphor of an old woman, Baba Dochia, and she governs the first 9 days of March, when the weather is really...uum, moody.

Somehow, the Indian elephant is now part of Romanian culture.

2. Etymology It's easy to guess, the words martisor or martenitsa come from the word for March. In Latin, the month itself (Martius) got the name from Mars, the god of war. And if we really want to translate martisor, the closest would have to be "little March". March in a nutshell.

3. The colors The entwined woven threads are red and white (but apparently back in the past it was black and white). In some interpretations, they are the colors of war and peace, which makes sense if we think of Mars. For others, white means masculinity and wisdom, while red means femininity and life. The twisting signifies the union and creation of life. In the more agrarian stories, it's about winter and spring, more specifically snow and blood (or life). As a whole, the martisor is a symbol of rebirth, of passing from winter to spring through eternal cycles of nature.

How do you like my metaphor?

4. The tokens used

A typical Bulgarian martenitsa will have the woven thread and two anthropomorphic figures: Pizho and Penda, a white male doll and a red female doll made of yarn. In Romania, we traditionally do handmade symbols of spring and fertility (flowers, lady bugs, butterflies) or good luck (chimney sweeps or four leaf clovers). These can be made of anything from clay to glass, paper, silver. (Traditionally speaking. The more modern, made-in-China ones hang anything on this thread, from plastic emojis to cartoon characters that have little to do with tradition or symbolism.)

5. How to wear it

I myself really like to wear the martisor, wherever I go. It is generally pinned to a jacket or a shirt, close to the heart. Sometimes women will wear it until they see the first blooming tree and then they'll take it off and hang it on one of the blossoming branches. Others wear it for the first 9 or 12 days of March, other even until the last day of the month.

I went to Bulgaria in May and this was still there. But let's not think of it as littering.

However it is, women seem to wear it less and less these days. I must admit it though, whenever I see someone wearing it proudly, or when I wear one, I feel warm inside. Like spring has really arrived.

Even if it's in Iceland and it really doesn't feel like spring

PS: There's a point to this photo (thanks @alinaswonders for the pic). If you look closely, you'll see I'm wearing the martisor. There.