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Martisor

Martisor is a Romanian spring festival celebrated on March 1st that symbolizes the coming of spring and women's fertility. It involves the giving of a small talisman made of red and white string or wool that people wear until the end of March for strength and health in the coming year. The talisman is then tied to a fruit tree. In modern times, the Martisor has become more of a symbol of friendship, love, and appreciation rather than a talisman, though some areas still make the amulets with black and white colors to ward off evil.

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Stefana Boban
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94 views

Martisor

Martisor is a Romanian spring festival celebrated on March 1st that symbolizes the coming of spring and women's fertility. It involves the giving of a small talisman made of red and white string or wool that people wear until the end of March for strength and health in the coming year. The talisman is then tied to a fruit tree. In modern times, the Martisor has become more of a symbol of friendship, love, and appreciation rather than a talisman, though some areas still make the amulets with black and white colors to ward off evil.

Uploaded by

Stefana Boban
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Martisor

Name of the festival: MARTISOR Place: everywhwere in Romania and all territories inhabited ST Date: 1 of March n!oyable activities: "ivin# $martisoare%and celebrtate the comin# S&rin#
Mr'i(or (Romanian pronunciation: )m*rtsi+or,) is an old Romanian celebration at the beginning of spring, on March the 1st, which according to old calendar was also considered as the beginning of the new year. Symbolically, it is correlated to women and to fertility as a means of life and continuity. he tradition is authentic in Romania, Moldo!a, and all territories inhabited by Romanians and "romanians. "li#e though not identical customs can be found in $ulgaria, while similar ones &'( &*(&not in citation e%ist in "lbania, )reece given( &,( and +taly. he name Mrior is the diminuti!e of mar, the old fol# name for &-( March (Martie, in modern Romanian), and thus literally means .little March.. +t is also the fol# name for this month. Mrior, mar and mrigu are all names for the red and white string from which a small decoration is tied, and which is offered by people on the 1st day of March. The string can also be black and white, or blue and white. Giving this talisman to people is an old custom, and it is believed that the one who wears the red and white string will be strong and healthy for the year to come. It is also a symbol of the coming spring. Usually, both women and men wear it pinned to their clothes, close to the heart, until the last day of March, when they tie it to the branches of a fruit tree. In some regions, a gold or silver coin hangs on the string, which is worn around the neck. !fter wearing it for a certain period of time, they buy red wine and sweet cheese with the coin, according to a belief that their faces would remain beautiful and white as cheese, and rubicund as the red wine, for the entire year."#$

In modern times, and especially in urban areas, the M%r ior lost most of its talisman properties and became more of a symbol of friendship or love, appreciation and respect. The black threads were replaced with red, but the delicate wool ropes are still a &cottage industry' among people in the countryside, who comb out the wool, dye the floss, and twist it into thousands of tassels. In some areas the amulets are still made with black and white ropes, for warding off evil.

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