CULTURE &ARTS
20 From Abroad
The Mărțișor
@Pixabay
8,000 Years of Celebrating Spring By Melline Galani
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www.gwangjunewsgic.com
March 2021
ărțișor is an old tradition celebrated all over Romania every year on March 1, and it represents a time of joy and revival of nature. In the Romanian language, the word mărțișor is derived from the word marț, the folkloric name for the month of March. The literal translation of Mărțișor would be “little March.” According to archaeological research, Mărțișor traces its history back more than 8,000 years ago. Some ethnologists believe that the Mărțișor celebration has Roman origins, while others support the theory that it is an old DacoThracian tradition. In ancient Rome, New Year’s Eve was celebrated on March 1 in honor of the god Mars. He was the god of war and an agricultural guardian who ensured nature’s rebirth. Therefore, the red and white colors of Mărțișor may also reference the colors of war and peace. The Dacians also celebrated the New Year on the first day of March. Ample spring celebrations were consecrated during this event. In olden times, Mărțișor talismans were made of small river pebbles, colored white and red, stringed on a thread, and worn around the neck. They were worn to bring good luck and good weather from March 1 until the first trees would bloom. When the first trees were blossoming, the Mărțișor talismans were hung on tree branches.
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Mărțișor is also connected to the legend of Baba Dochia, one of the most popular figures in Romanian mythology. Baba Dochia is a figure associated with the arrival of spring. Legend has it that Baba Dochia’s son, Dragobete (Dragobete is also the name of the Romanian Valentine’s Day and is celebrated on February 24), married against Bada Dochia’s will. Upon finding out, she sent her new daughter-in-law to a nearby river to wash some black wool until it turned white. But no matter how hard the daughter-in-law tried, the wool would not change color and the poor girl started crying, fearful that she would never see her husband again. Upon seeing this, Jesus came down to Earth and offered her a red flower to wash the wool with. When the girl returned to Baba Dochia with the wool as white as fresh snow, Bada Dochia believed that spring had arrived, so she left with her flock for Ceahlau Peak in the Carpathian Mountains wearing nine wool coats. As she advanced higher on the mountain, the weather got warmer each day and she dropped her coats one by one. But as soon as she let go of her last coat, the weather turned bad and Baba Dochia froze on the mountain together with her flock. Baba Dochia is the embodiment of time; it is the symbol of disputes between the old and the new, between the winter that must go away and the spring that must overcome it by the power of its warmth, the symbol of not
2/26/2021 12:14:17 PM
