Moldavian Spring Festival. What does the symbol of Martisor mean? So where did the holiday of Martisor and Martenitsa come from?

When is this holiday held? Martisor holiday in Moldova and Romania is celebrated on March 1, in 2020 the date falls on Friday.

It is dedicated to the meeting of spring. It is believed that the holiday appeared in the days of the Roman Empire, when on March 1 people met New Year.

Nowadays, in Moldova, at the beginning of spring, the music festival "Martisor" is held.

The history of the holiday - the legend of Martisor

Many legends about Martisor have survived to our days. According to one of them, on this day the beautiful Spring came to the forest glade. She saw a primrose breaking out from under the snow in the thickets of thorns and decided to clear the ground in order to free it from thorny branches.

But Winter caused a cold wind with snow to destroy the flower. He drooped, and Spring covered him with her arms. She was hurt by a thorn, and a drop of her blood fell on the flower, which came to life. So Spring conquered Winter.

According to another ancient legend about Martisor, one day the Sun descended to earth in the form of a beautiful girl. She had fun and danced, and nature flourished with her. But the evil Serpent stole the girl and closed it in his palace, after which the whole world plunged into despondency.

A brave young man decided to save the girl, who challenged the Serpent to a fight. Their battle lasted several days and nights. The young man won and freed the Sun. It shone again in the sky, and nature came to life. But the young man died of his wounds.

Where drops of his blood fell on the snow, snowdrops appeared - heralds of spring - and flowers, the white petals of which were strewn with scarlet, like blood, specks ...

In Moldova, on the holiday of Martisor, people give each other small amulets, which are also called martisors. Usually such souvenirs are balls, circles or flower buds. They combine white and red.

Such amulets are worn on clothes, sewn to it or fastened on the left side of the chest near the heart, for a month, and on March 31 they are hung on flowering fruit trees.

People are sure that thanks to this they will be lucky throughout the year. According to legend, hanging on such an amulet on a tree, you need to make a cherished desire, and it will certainly come true.

It is known that such souvenirs have been made since time immemorial. In the old days, they were made from small stones, painted white and red, and worn around the neck.

Many of the customs are still followed today. And today, meeting spring, people tell each other the legend of Martisor, lay a festive table and give each other beautiful souvenirs.

In Romania, Moldova and some other countries, there is one beautiful spring custom that arose on the basis of a legend from the time of the Dacians (the ancestors of the Romanian people who lived before the Roman Empire conquered the territory of modern southern Romania). On the first of March, all people give their loved ones or relatives and friends a small gift - Martisor. These are two silk cords with tassels at the ends, woven together (one should be white and the other red) and some kind of decoration: a flower (most often it is a snowdrop), a heart or something else. Thus, people celebrate the arrival of spring, considering the first of March a kind of holiday of spring and love.
And the legend about Martisor itself sounds as follows.
One day the Sun descended in a village in the form of a young man to have some fun at the dance. The Evil Serpent guarded him for a long time, and then stole it from among the people and closed it in his palace. The world is sad. The birds stopped singing, the springs stopped flowing and ringing, and the children forgot what fun and laughter are. The world plunged into sadness and despondency. And none of the inhabitants dared to fight the terrible Serpent.
But there was one brave young man who volunteered to go and save the Sun. Many people equipped him on the road and gave him their strength so that he could overcome the Serpent and free the Sun. The journey lasted three seasons - all summer, all autumn and all winter. The guy found the palace of the Serpent, and the battle began.
They fought for days on end until the young man defeated the Serpent. Exhausted and wounded, the young man freed the Sun. It rose to heaven, cheering the whole world. Nature came to life, people were delighted, but the brave young man did not have time to see spring. His warm blood dripped from the wound and flowed onto the snow. Where the snow melted, white flowers grew - snowdrops, heralds of spring. The last drop of blood fell on the white snow. A brave young man has died.
Since then, in honor of the liberator of the world from darkness and sadness, young people have been weaving two thin cords with tassels: one white and one red. They give them to the girls they love, or to relatives and friends. The red color denotes love for everything beautiful, reminiscent of the color of the blood of a young man. The white color symbolizes the health and purity of the snowdrop, the first spring flower.

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According to one legend, on the first day of March, the beautiful Spring came to the edge of the forest, looked around and saw a snowdrop breaking out from under the snow in a clearing in the thickets of blackthorn. She decided to help him and began to clear the ground around, freeing him from thorny branches. Winter saw this and was furious. She waved her hands, summoned a cold wind with snow to destroy the primrose. A weak flower drooped under the cruel wind. But Spring covered the sprout with her hands and pricked herself with a blackthorn. A drop of hot blood fell from her wounded hand, and the flower came to life. So Spring conquered Winter. The colors of the Martisor symbolize her red blood on the white snow.

The history of Martisor remains a mystery. The holiday is said to have originated during Roman times, when the New Year was celebrated on March 1st, the month of Mars. He was not only the god of war, but also the god of agriculture, contributing to the revival of nature. This duality is reflected in Martisor, where white and red can be understood as symbols of peace and war.

Archaeological excavations in Romania prove that amulets, like the modern Martisor, existed almost 8 thousand years ago. Then small stones, painted in white and red, were worn around the neck. Folklorist Simon Florea Marian wrote that in Moldova and Bukovina, Martisor consisted of a gold or silver coin on a red and white thread. This decoration was loved by children, and girls wore it for the first 12 days of spring, and then weaved it into their hair until the storks arrived or until the first trees bloomed. Then a red-white thread was tied to a tree, and they bought fresh sheep's cheese with a coin.

The traditions of national holidays of the peoples of the world, as usual, are rooted in the deep past and have been formed over many centuries.

Some of them are based on historical events, others are legends passed from mouth to mouth. In the Moldavian national holiday Martisor (martisor), history is intertwined with several legends that arose in ancient times, when people personified the forces of nature.

According to one of them, Martisor symbolizes renewal - the victory of Spring over fierce Winter. Beauty - Spring on the first day of her reign came to the edge of the forest, saw Giochel (snowdrop) breaking through the snow in the bushes of thorns and decided to free him from winter fetters. But Winter, not wanting to give up her possessions, sent evil frosts with the intention of destroying the delicate flower. When Spring bent down to warm him with her warmth and save him, she pricked herself on the thorns of the thorn. A drop of hot blood touched the snowdrop, he gained strength, came to life, and Spring came into its own.

Another legend tells that the Serpent stole the Sun, which descended to earth in the form of a beautiful girl, after which darkness, despondency and cold came. The brave young man released the Sun, which illuminated the world and warmed the earth, giving people joy. But in the battle with the Serpent, the young man was wounded. In the place where drops of his blood fell on the snow, white flowers grew - snowdrops, harbingers of spring. In gratitude for the rescue, the red-and-white Martisor became the talisman of his memory.

History interprets the origins of the holiday in its own way, but confirms its ancient origin from the time of the Roman Empire. Archaeologists during excavations discovered pebbles of red and white color, which were worn around the neck 8 thousand years ago.

Modern martisors are two red and white threads woven together, with flowers at the ends. They are made by skilful craftswomen all over the country in various shapes and sizes exactly by March 1 and represent the arrival of spring. People give each other martisors as a sign of gratitude with wishes for the fulfillment of desires and wear them attached to clothes on the right side of the chest throughout March. At the end of the month, according to tradition, a martisor is hung on a flowering tree, while making a wish, which, according to legend, will surely come true.

The national holiday Martisor gave rise to another good tradition to hold in the country in the first days of March a music festival of the same name, which today has acquired international status. A large number of guests from many countries come to Moldova. From March 1 to March 10, as part of the festival, concerts are held in all halls and theaters of Chisinau with performances by artists of various genres and musical directions.

Residents of Moldova hospitably welcome everyone who wants to touch the national Moldovan traditions and participate in the "Martisor" holiday, contributing to the development of friendship between the peoples of the world.

There is a wonderful holiday in Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria to celebrate Spring, giving the symbol of Martisor: red and white pompoms, or flowers and other patterns.

They hang them on the clothes of another friend with wishes of happiness, people make wishes and wear martisors throughout March, and with the advent of April they hang them on a branch of a flowering tree. And then the wish will certainly come true!

Romanians and Moldovans celebrate Martisor, and among the Bulgarians this holiday is called Martenitsa(or Baba Marta). On these holidays, national cuisine is prepared and everyone pins a red-and-white decoration to their clothes, which is called the holiday of the same name - martisor, or martenitsa.

Here's how it is with the Bulgarians:

It is customary to wear martenitsa until you see a stork, a swallow or a flowering fruit tree. Seeing a stork, a swallow or a flowering tree, everyone took off his martenitsa. Some put it under a stone, and nine days later they looked at what appeared under it. If ants settled there, then the year will be rich in sheep, but if there were other, larger insects, in cows and other cattle. Therefore, in some places martenitsa received the name "fortune teller". Others tied martenitsa to a blossoming plum, apple tree, or rose bush to be white, red, beautiful and healthy in a year. Still others threw martenitsa into the water so that their life would go on the water and all bad things would disappear. In other places, martenitsa was thrown up to the sun, saying: “Here is red for you, give me white.”
The first martenitsa were only made of two threads: red and white. But later, the people's sense of beauty created an original work called martenitsa. They began to add beads, depict various figures from threads, and various additions to them appeared: the unique Pijot and Penda dolls.

The white color of the amulet symbolizes the masculine principle, strength, the sun, then rethought as the color of virginity and purity; red is the color of blood, femininity, health, birth.

But as for Moldovans and Romanians:

The historical roots of Martisor remain a mystery, but it is generally believed that this holiday originated during the Roman Empire, when the New Year was celebrated on March 1, the month of the god Mars. Mars was not only the god of war, but also the god of agriculture, contributing to the revival of nature. This duality is reflected in Martisor, where white and red can be understood as symbols of peace and war.
Archaeological excavations in Romania prove that amulets, like the modern martisor, existed about 8 thousand years ago. Then they were made in the form of small stones, painted in white and red, worn around the neck. Martisor was first mentioned by Iordache Golescu. Folklorist Simon Florea Marian wrote that in Moldova and Bukovina, a martisor consisted of a gold or silver coin on a red and white thread that children wore around their necks. The girls also wore a martisor around their necks for the first 12 days of spring, and then weaved it into their hair until the storks arrived or until the first trees bloomed. Then a red-white thread was tied to a tree, and porridge (a type of sheep cheese) was bought with a coin.

Martisors are worn on clothes for the whole month, and on March 31 they are removed and hung on flowering fruit trees. It is believed that thanks to this, people will be successful throughout the coming year. According to legend, if you make a wish by hanging a martisor on a tree, it will surely come true. In early April, in many cities and villages of Moldova, you can see trees hung with martisors.
In Moldova, on March 1 of each year, the music festival "Martisor" begins. This festival was first held in 1967.
In some parts of Romania, martisors are not worn throughout March, but only for the first two weeks. It is believed to bring health and well-being. In Transylvanian villages, martisors are tied to doors, windows, horns of domestic animals, as it is believed that they drive away evil spirits and give vitality. There is a belief in Bihor County that one should wash oneself with rainwater collected on March 1st in order to become more beautiful and healthier. In Banat, girls collect water or snow from strawberry leaves and wash themselves to be loved. In Dobruja, the martisor is worn until the storks arrive, and then they throw it into the sky so that happiness is “big and winged”

In Moldova, on March 1 of each year, the music festival "Martisor" begins. This festival was first held in 1967 .

I remember at school every year we drew a wall newspaper with a story about the legend of Martisor. There are several variations. The actual variations are that white means either a snowflake, or Giochel - a snowdrop. And red is the scarlet blood of Spring, which winter, not wanting to leave, hurts with a shard of ice from annoyance.

According to one legend, on the first day of March, the beautiful Spring came to the edge of the forest, looked around and saw a snowdrop breaking out from under the snow on a thawed patch of thorn bushes. She decided to help him and began to clear the ground around, freeing him from thorny branches. Winter saw this and was furious. She waved her hands, summoned a cold wind with snow to destroy the primrose. A weak flower drooped under the cruel wind. But Spring covered the sprout with her hands and pricked herself with a blackthorn. A drop of hot blood fell from her wounded hand, and the flower came to life. So Spring conquered Winter. The colors of the Martisor symbolize her red blood on the white snow.

According to another legend, the Sun descended to earth in the form of a beautiful girl. But the evil Serpent stole it and locked it in his palace. After that, the birds stopped singing, the children forgot what fun and laughter are, and the whole world plunged into sadness. One brave young man decided to save the Sun. For a whole year he was looking for the palace of the Serpent, and when he found it, he challenged him to battle. They fought for a long time, and in the end the young man defeated the Serpent. He released the beautiful Sun. It rose to heaven and lit up the whole world. Spring came, nature came to life, people remembered what joy is, but the brave young man did not have time to see spring. His warm blood dripped onto the snow. The last drop of blood fell, he died of his wounds. Where the snow melted, white flowers grew - snowdrops, heralds of spring. Since then, in honor of the liberator of the world from darkness and sadness, people have been weaving two cords with white and red flowers. The red color symbolizes the love of beauty and the memory of the blood of the deceased young man, and the white color symbolizes the health and purity of the snowdrop, the first spring flower.

Beautiful legends...I still love them!

Pentru Tine!!! (For you)