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asthfghlIt's this day of the year again. "Baba Marta" (grandma Marta), the ancient tradition (probably Thracian, or Old-Bulgar) of exchanging red-and-white woolen, silk or cotton threads (Martenitsa) and tying them to the wrists of your dear ones or pinning them to their lapels, and wishing health and success to everybody. People wear these threads on their wrists and lapels until they see a stork or a blossoming tree. Then they remove the Martenitsi and either put them on a tree branch (many trees stay piled with Martenitsi throughout the year), or under a stone, and if there are ants under that stone after 1 month, there will be a good harvest throughout the year.
There are many legends about the origin of this tradition. One says that it originates from the time when the Old Bulgars arrived around the Pontic steppes (north and east of the Black Sea), and they had a tough battle with the Khazars; after a difficult victory, the Khan sent a pigeon home with a message about the victory, tied with a white woolen thread. But the pigeon was shot by a Khazar arrow. Still, it was able to deliver the message, and then died. The blood, mixed with the white thread, gave the white-and-red color of the Martenitsa.
Being an old lady, Baba Marta is the symbol of March, the trickiest month of the year, weather-wise. You can expect anything from Baba Marta: frost and sunshine, and quickly changing moods. It's the month of pink-cheeked giggling kids playing in the late winter snow, and of snowdrops and crocus flowers popping up from the ice and heralding the coming spring and the rebirth of nature for a new life; it's the time when the ancient Kukeri ritual is played out throughout towns big and small, people pulling on their traditional fur costumes and going on a carnival, making noise to the heavens to scare off the bad spirits of winter. It's a time of joy and festivity (as if we don't have enough of it throughout the whole year!), lots of dances, lots of food and lots of good drinks around the fireplace.
It's a pagan tradition that has endured for millennia. It's probably the most Bulgarian holiday of all. So I'm tying a virtual Martenitsa to each of you and wishing you all good health and lots of luck through the year!
There are many legends about the origin of this tradition. One says that it originates from the time when the Old Bulgars arrived around the Pontic steppes (north and east of the Black Sea), and they had a tough battle with the Khazars; after a difficult victory, the Khan sent a pigeon home with a message about the victory, tied with a white woolen thread. But the pigeon was shot by a Khazar arrow. Still, it was able to deliver the message, and then died. The blood, mixed with the white thread, gave the white-and-red color of the Martenitsa.
Being an old lady, Baba Marta is the symbol of March, the trickiest month of the year, weather-wise. You can expect anything from Baba Marta: frost and sunshine, and quickly changing moods. It's the month of pink-cheeked giggling kids playing in the late winter snow, and of snowdrops and crocus flowers popping up from the ice and heralding the coming spring and the rebirth of nature for a new life; it's the time when the ancient Kukeri ritual is played out throughout towns big and small, people pulling on their traditional fur costumes and going on a carnival, making noise to the heavens to scare off the bad spirits of winter. It's a time of joy and festivity (as if we don't have enough of it throughout the whole year!), lots of dances, lots of food and lots of good drinks around the fireplace.
It's a pagan tradition that has endured for millennia. It's probably the most Bulgarian holiday of all. So I'm tying a virtual Martenitsa to each of you and wishing you all good health and lots of luck through the year!
