March 1st is a special day in Romania as the country celebrates the arrival of the spring season. We celebrate it with snowdrop flowers and traditional gifts. It is a very old celebration, that dates back to our ancestors, In ancient Rome, the New Year’s was celebrated on the 1st of March. March (‘Martius’) was named in the honor of the god Mars. In Romania, according to archaeological research, this celebration traces its history more than 8,000 years ago, which some ethnologists believing that it has Roman origins, while others say that it is an old Dacian tradition.
We call Martisor a little talisman with red and white strings that is offered to women during this holiday. It is believed that the person who wears the red and white string would enjoy a prosperous and healthy year.
Between March 1 – 9, the Romanians also celebrate „babele” (in translation: the old women): everyone has to pick a day in this time frame. You can pick your day randomly, but some use their birthday to choose their “baba”. SO, for example if you’re born on the 14 of June, your “baba” is going to be 1+4= 5 =March 5th. The weather on the day you chose will show your luck in the upcoming year. Warm weather means that you will have happiness and wealth, whereas cold, rainy weather brings adversities. The weather during this time is very unstable, so you’ll never know what you get:).
Romanians are generally very superstitious, perhaps the new generations less than the older ones, but many people will pay attention to these signs.
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