Happy spring and more importantly Happy Mărţişor everyone! What, you mean you don't know what that is??? Relax, unless you are from Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania or Italy, you wouldn't know.
Martisor is a beautiful tradition in celebration of spring. The name Mărţişor is the diminutive of the name for March (Martie, in Romanian), and thus literally means "little" or "dear March". It is also the folk name for this month.
Mărţişor is a name for a red and white entertwined string that usually is attached to a small pendant and worn by women during the first 12 days of spring. In today's world the Mărţişor is a sign of friendship and love, while in the past it carried the meaning of a talisman: whoever wears one will be healthy and happy for the year to come.
I am wearing a Mărţişor today - and will wear a different one for the next 12 days - thanks to my mom, who brought a shoebox full of martisoare two years ago. I have about 100 of them - some dating back to my early school years when it was VERY fun and exciting to receive a martisor from the boy you liked in class! I had so much fun going through all of them last night, it brought back a lot of dear memories from home.
So here's to long and beautiful spring and a healthy and happy year to come! Happy Mărţişor !
