If you follow my Facebook page, you have probably noticed that today is a very, very special day - 1st of march, celebrated as the symbolic coming of spring.
On this day, there is practically no one without a Martenitsa - the symbol of the holiday and the amulet for the forthcoming month. It is either a bracelet made of white and red thread or two anthropomorphic figurines (above) - called Pizho (the male one) and Penda (the female one) . Foreigners cannot escape having one of them on themselves. It is a ritual for health and prosperity and a celebration of spring and the birth of new life.
1st of March marks the turn of time and the beginning of spring. Also, in Bulgarian (and Slavic) folklore in general March is known as the only 'female' month. The reason is one - Baba Marta :)
According to folklore, Baba Marta is the only sister of the 11 month gods and is particularly angry with her two elder brothers - January and February - because during the winter they drank her wine supply. So, even though March is technically a spring month, the weather is heavily dependent on Baba Marta's mood swings. As a typical woman, she's not very constant in her favours - one day she's happy and the sun shines, the next day she's furious and blizzard comes around.
So here is some more info about what exactly is Martenitsa and why it is so important to us?
What is Martenitsa?
Matrenitsa is a traditional Bulgarian custom - each year on the 1st of march people wear red and white threads or figures (named Pizho - the male figure, represented by a boy often dressed as a shepherd (usually made of red threads) and Penda - the female figure, represented by a girl with ling hair, usually dressed in stylized traditional Bulgarian costume (made of white thread) to celebrate the coming of spring and wish each other health and prosperity for the upcoming year.
Basically Martenitsa is an amulet and the figurines do look a bit like Vudu dolls to the non-Bulgarians. There is another option - a bracelet made of red and white thread people tie around each other's wrists. The name of the custom is actually the name of the amulet - that string made of red and white thread that we tie around each other's wrist or the boy and girl on our chest.
The name "Martenitsa" comes from the Bulgarian name for March - which reads as 'Mart' in Bulgarian.
The Legend about Martenitsa - the old Bulgarian version.
As with anything in Bulgaria, Martenitsa is said to have emerged at the dawn of time - which for Bulgarians means - the foundation of the First Bulgarian Kingdom back in the 7th century AD.
There are a few legends about the month and only one about the custom itself.
Here is one of the verisons of where Martenitsa came from.
It is said that Matrenitsa dates back to the oldest times - when Bulgaria was created. That means that the custom dates back to the 7th century AD or even earlier. The most popular legend is connected to the first ruler of Bulgaria - khan Asparuh.
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| How Khan Asparuh probably looked like - an artist's fantasy. Truth is, no one knows how the founder of Bulgaria looked like. |
According to the legend the sister of Khan Asparuh was held captive in Byzantium. At the time the Bulgarians were an intruder in the territory of the Eastern Roman Empire and even though the emperor tried to do anything to drive them away. The Bulgars (or Proto-Bulgars as historians call them) were dead-set on getting some of the territory of the empire for themselves. So the emperor decided that only a direct military conflict would drive them away. So he summoned his entire fleet, and all the troops he could muster at the moment - numbering 65 000 people in total - and he went to the encampment of the Bulgarian khan (in the so - called Onglos region - now in the Danube delta in Romania).
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| Another painting depicting the battle of 680 when the Bulgars clashed with the Byzantine army |
So the sister (whose name is questionable) sent a letter to her brother telling that she is alive and well and she had escaped from captivity. It was just before the decisive battle in 680 AD (when the country was established). She knew that she would get killed if her brother won the battle. However, the dove she used as a messenger was attached by a hawk on the way. The dove managed to fend off the attacher but was wounded on the way. It did deliver the letter but the white thread the sister had used to tie the letter to its leg had turned red and the other half was still white.
Asparuh, the legend says, took the thread and tied it around his wrist as an amulet. He thought that if the dove had brough good news and survived, the thread from the letter of his sister would protect him as well. And so the Martenitsa was born.
This is one of the traditions that we consider to be truly Bulgarian. Not something we have gotten from abroad but something that is transfered from generation to generation through an ancient bloodline that goes back to the grasslands beyond the sea of Azov. So that is a ritual that we love and we want to include everyone in it. It doesn't matter if you are Bulgarian or not, if you are in Bulgaria, you HAVE to wear a Martenitsa on the 1st of March. Period.
Who or what is Baba Marta?
The wish we accompany the gift of a Martenitsa is 'Happy Baba Marta! Let you be healthy, white and red like a Martenitsa!'. That sounds like an magic spell or incantation to the untrained ear so we have to break it into pieces.
The white and red part is connected to health. But what or who is Baba Marta????
This is a Slavic legend (the Slavs are a very big tribe that inhabits in one form or another 2/3 of Eastern Europe and they formed a large part of the population of the early Bulgarian country so we adopted some of their legends) according to which all the months of the year are siblings. All of them are male - with a great diversity in age January being a white-bearded elder and December a dashing youth - except one - March is female and since it is month number 3 - it is an old sulky granny.
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The way Baba Marta is depicted - a nice old granny that brings health and luck to children - another artist's fantasy |
Hence the form of address Baba (the Bulgarian and I guess in most Slavonic languages word for 'granny') Marta (the word for March with a case ending). She is famous for her foul temper - one day it shines and it is warm. the next there is a blizzard. She is totally unpredictable - as any woman, by the way, so she is really feared. One even more ancient connection is to the prehistoric Mother Goddess which controlled the seasons was was particularly revered during and around harvest times.
According to a legend she is that foul-tempered because of her two elder brothers, January and February, who stole and drank all her wine in the winter. So she got furious at them and hence - the bad weather in March.
There is a really nice Slavic fairytale about Baba Marta and the twelve months - it is a beautiful tale and it would help you get to know why we respect the granny so much.
Once upon a time in a village, there was a woman who had two daughters. One of them was her own and she loved her more than anything. The other, however, was not - she was daughter of her late husband and his first wife and the stepmother made her do all chores in the house and in the garden. While her own daughter spent her days reclining in a chair or lying in bed eating cookies, the other one couldn't sit for one second - she cooked, cleaned, went to wash the family clothes in the nearby river and worked in the garden. She knew how it feels to be freezing with cold in winter and to be hot in the summer, how it feels to be soaking wet in autumn and how the wind can blow you away.
One evening in Januatry, the stepmother told her that she had to fetch snowdrops for her stepsister's name day tomorrow. It was so cold and so snowy that one couldn't even get out of the house without having to clean the knee-deep snow off the path and the trees could scarcely move when the wind was blowing.
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| The girl in the woods - a screenshot of a wonderful Czech movie based on the tale. |
The girl was terrified - was her stepmother joking or was she serious??? In such a time she could only die in the forest - there were no snowdrops at that time - whatever you did - you couldn't find them up until March. The stepmother said: 'Even if you die out there, there is no one to weep for you! Your parents are dead and if you come here with no snowdrops - I will kill you myself! Go and don't return without the snowdrops!!!' and she gave her a small basket and kicked her out of the house in the snow.
The girl went out, tears in her eyes, wrapped herself in an old scarf and the wind was tugging at her clothes, putting snow in her eyes and generally freezing her up. The snow was so deep that she could barely wade through it and it got darker and darker... It was so dark that the girl could't even see her hands. So she sat on a fallen tree and started thinking - "I would freeze anyway, what does it matter?". Then she saw a light in the distance...
She got up and started walking toward the light - climbing over fallen trees and wading through the snow - with the only hope of having that light to guide her. The light got closer and she smelled smoke. Then she stepped out on a clearing and saw a huge fire and around it - a lot of people. She counted up to twelve people sitting on stones of variable height around the fire. She looked them and wondered: "They are no wood cutters or hunters with those clothes embroidered with silver and gold and some are dressed in expensive green velvet." She counted to twelve in groups of tree - three old, three middle-aged, three young and the last three were just boys.
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| Some of the months |
Suddenly the oldest man sitting on the highest stone in the group shouted: "Where do you come from and what do you seek here?" The girl showed him her empty basket and explained about the stepmother and the task. The old man frowned: "A strange idea, snowdrops in January!"
The men started talking and the only woman spoke up: "Bother January, can't we help the poor girl? She has no fault for the wickedness of her stepmother!" She was sitting just one man to the left from him and was almost as old as he was. "You are right, sister Marta." he said and turned to a younger brother of theirs a few seats apart: "Brother April, come and take my seat for an hour!"- April nodded and took the seat on the highest rock and big staff from him and waved with it over his head. The snow around the fire started to melt and snowdrops sprang all around them.
"Go on, girl!" April urged her. "Pick as many as you want but hurry! The magic will not last long!" The girl did as she was told - and quickly filled the basket with snowdrops. When done she asked with awe: "Who are you???" The woman laughed and replied: "We are the twelve months, child. These are my brothers - the eldest is January, the youngest - December. I am Baba Marta - or March as you may know me - and their only sister. Each month we rotate around the fire and whoever sits on the highest stone that month rules the land. Now go back home, before you have frozen up!!!" A small light appeared and led her to her home.
Imagine the surprise of the stepmother and stepsister when they saw the girl with all the snowdrops. When asked how she found them, she just answered 'in the woods'. A few days after, the stepmother devised another plan of how to kill her stepdaughter. She urged her ti go to the woods at night but this time to fetch strawberries for her stepsister. The girl wept and begged her stepmother not to do it, but the woman was merciless and threw her out in the cold.
This time the girl did not wander. She went straight for the little light and soon was before the bonfire of the twelve months. On the highest stone was again the long-bearded, white-haired and foul-tempered January.
"Why are you here again?" asked January with his voice as loud as thunder. "What is it that you want now?"
"My stepmother sent me for strawberries this time." the girl explained. "If I don't find strawberries, I'd better not go back."
"Strawberries in January?!!!" January shouted, "This is madness!!!"
Baba Marta replied again "Bother January, can't we help the poor girl? She has no fault for the wickedness of her stepmother!"
January nodded and said: "Brother May, come and take my place for an hour." A young man sitting almost opposite January got up and took his seat and the great staff. He waved it above his head and soon snow started to melt around the fire and all around it the girl saw strawberries.
"Hurry up!" urged her May "We only have one hour!!!" The girl ran and filled the basket and her apron with the fruit. She even ate what she couldn't carry. Then she went back home.
This time the stepmother and sister didn't leave her alone until she told them the whole story - about the light and the twelve months sitting around a fire in the deep woods. This time, the stepmother decided to sent her own daughter out with a basket, to seek favours of the months. She dressed her in the best clothes available - warm firs and leathers - and send her on the path described by the other daughter.
The girl wandered around until she saw the light flickering though the tree trunks. "Why did I came to the woods" she wondered "I was fine by the fire at home but here I am, walking around and shivering". As she came close, she saw the large fire and the people sitting around it but she didn't take any notice of them - her first thought was to find the best and warmest spot around the fire. The months looked at each other and January - who still sat on the highest stone - asked her "Who are you? Where did you came from?"
The daughter didn't pay much respect to the old man talking to her and snapped 'From home, that's from where' and kept warming her hands on the flames. "Yesterday you gave snowdrops to my sister and I today I came here, following her instructions."
"We do know your sister" January replied "but we have no idea who you are. Why are you here?"
"I came for presents. I want June to fill my basket with strawberries, big strawberries. I want July to give me cucumbers and mushrooms. August is to give me apples and pears and September - walnuts and..."
"Wait a bit!" January lifted his hand. "Summer cannot come before Spring has walked her way and Spring cannot come before winter is over. June is far away and yet to come. Now I am the king and I rule the forest and everything is covered in snow and frost."
"You are so sulky" the girl replied "I didn't come to you. You cannot expect anything good from snow and frost."
January frowned "Look for summer when winter's over!"
He waved and a blizzard formed from the long sleeve of his robe. The girl was knocked down by a gust of wind and soon was covered by snow. After she didn't come home, the stepmother became worried and ventured out to search for her daughter. She never returned and the house remained to its rightful owner. The girl grew up, got married and har children and there was no other garden in the village like the one she tended - there and only there trees would blossom first and bear fruit before anything else has started to blossom. In the heat of summer it was pleasantly chilly, in the frost of winter it was welcoming and warm. If a storm was raging, the garden was untouched.
"The twelve months are welcome guests in her house" villagers used to say. Who knows, maybe they were right....
This one version of the tale - in the other one the stepmother's daughter argues with Baba Marta which, as the only woman from the group, is highly respected by her brothers. It is Baba Marta who is displeased with her behaviour and who urges January to punish her.
Moral from the story - do not mess with Baba Marta because messing with her, you mess with all 12 months combined. No wonder why in Bulgaria March is considered the anomaly month - you can have temperatures ranging from +25 to -25 Celsius and any kind of weather - anything from bright sun to a blizzard.
Martenitsa now
So far we've traced the myth and probable origins of the Martenitsa ritual but what happens to it today? Since the end of 2017 the joint application of Bulgaria and Romania put Martenitsa in the list of UNESCO World Intangible Heritage. The custom is said to be unique for Bulgaria BUT actually there is an equivalent of it in most of the Balkan countries though meanings, looks and usage differ. One of the explanations are that the old Bulgaria was way bigger than present-day Bulgaria so traditions were passed down through generations. The other idea is that just the Bulgarian (or whoever invented it) custom was adopted by neighbouring countries because of its jolly message -
Winter will soon be over, Spring is on its way! Baba Marta will chase away her frosty brothers and life will begin again.
Having said all that - happy 1st of March or as the well-wish for today goes:
Be healthy, white and red like a Martenitsa
