Spring, the meteorological spring that is, came upon us with a beautiful dawn and a sunny morning which lasted until almost exactly noon. Also came symbols of one of the loveliest of Romanian traditions, mărțișor (see re my problems with Romanian grammar below).
Differing accounts
You will find many differing accounts of the tradition on the internet but in the part of the Romanian Bucovina where I say I was ‘brought up’ I learned that it is the males who receive symbols of spring from the females on this day, 1st March. The ladies have to wait until 8th March, long celebrated as ‘women’s day’ in Romania but in more recent years marked as International Women’s Day worldwide, to receive their tokens from the men. It was on 8th March that I first arrived in Romania, appropriate for me I think.
In its simplest form the symbol is just white and red silk threads twisted together which can be tied on the wrist, as one of mine received today (thank you Nectara) is shown here. However, now it is more usually tied in a bow and pinned on the breast, often with a small ‘talisman’ attached, as is the one received from my wife Petronela, pictured on the spoon above, which depicts another lovely tradition, dragobete (this year on 24th February) – I think the loveliest summary of this is ‘the day the birds fall in love’.
Basically they are given to bring the recipient prosperity and happiness for the coming year. They are worn (or should be) until the end of the month then tied in a fruit tree breaking into blossom.
I said in my immediately previous post that although speaking and reading Romanian is little problem for me, writing it is quite another matter so after several attempts I settled for the mix you see in the title. Just one of the problems is the Romanian ‘mărțișor’ is not just the name for the symbol but also for the tradition itself. On line translators, it seemed to me, were of little help. Is it:
Au venit mărțișoare/mărțișoarele/mărțișorii/mărțișoarelor, mărțișoare/mărțișoarele/mărțișorii/mărțișoarelor au venit, or none of those?
If you see this Corina, forgive me 
.
March 1, 2018 at 10:42 am
Hello. I am lucky enough to have both a couple of Silver Birches, a few Damson Trees and old as old Apple trees. Your Silver Birch can be an honorary fruit tree for the duration. It’s sap is a priceless gift anyway. We inherited them when we bought the house. Built in the 1850s. One of the oldest apple trees has mistletoe too. The granddaughter of the lady that put the mistletoe seed in place, visited Wales from her homeland in Canada. She made a sabbatical visit to see the mistletoe in person. Tradition is a wonderful thing.
March 1, 2018 at 9:16 am
[…] in our village). Nevertheless we will celebrate the arrival of Spring in the Romanian way (see last year’s post, when it was a bright sunny […]
March 2, 2017 at 7:48 am
Yes, a fruit tree is nice but we don’t have one close so I tie mine in the silver birch seen from our kitchen window in which a variety of birds congregate on and around the bird feeders.
March 2, 2017 at 6:01 am
A lovely tradition, I like the idea of hanging them on a fruit tree.