Mărțișor - the holiday celebrating the coming of spring

background information: pre-christian tradition, practiced in some eastern european countries, related holidays: babele

this is probably one of my favorite traditions just because of how wholesome it is :) on the first of march we give each other a "mărțișor" - charms/talismans/small pieces of jewellery with a white and red bow tied on it.

the white thread intertwined with the red thread symbolises the transition from winter to spring, and the small jewellery is supposed to bring good luck for the rest of the year. in my region, after you receive one, it is recommended that you wear it for the entire month of march (though most people just wear it for a couple of weeks). other regions say that it should be worn for 12 consecutive days/until you see a stork/until trees bloom. after being worn, the string may be tied around a tree branch or near doors and windows.

the most common symbols that appear on a mărțișor can be divided into two categories:

1. ones that are heavily associated with luck: four-leaf clover, horseshoes, chimney sweepers
2. ones that are associated with nature: flowers (predominantly snowdrops, which bloom right around the time of martisor), birds (like doves), bugs (usually ladybugs and sometimes butterflies)

another tradition related to the coming of spring is babele (directly translating to "the old grandmas"). in late february, you should choose a day between 1st of march and 9th of march as your "baba", and the weather on that day is said to predict how the rest of the year will go for you!

there is controversy around the way people choose the day, some people saying that it should be calculated from your birthday and some people saying you could just choose whatever number you like the most. if you want to calculate it based on your birthday, you just need to add up the digits until you get a number from 1 to 9. for example, someone born on the 17th (of any month) will add up 1 and 7, meaning their baba would be on the 8th of every year.