In BulgariaIf you want all the best for Baba Marta (in Bulgarian “Chestita Baba Marta/честита баба марта”). The centuries -old Slavic tradition of the tying of the Martenitza, which was also widespread among the Thracers and Hellenen, is connected to the ancient pagan history of the Balkans Pädinsel, especially with the cultural cultural cults. In this article, you can find out how the Bulgarians welcome this old custom, which symbolizes the Marteniza and what the legend of Baba Marta means.
March 1st is the holiday of Baba Marta. According to Bulgarian belief, she is oneSymbol of springAnd brings the desire for health and fertility at the beginning of a new cycle in nature.
Martenitsas are made from two twisted threads - red and white. In the Bulgarian tradition, white is a sign of beauty, purity, innocence and joy.Red colorgives every being vitality and symbolizes life itself, health, love, victory, courage and the light of the rising and setting sun.
The traditions have been preserved over the centuries. The Bulgarians believe that wearing Martenitsa Baba Marta soothes so that she does not send frost or storms. The martenitsa preserved are hung on the clothes or bound to the wrists. They stay there until the first sign of spring - a stork, a swallow or a flowering tree.
Martenitsas are a heir of the Thracians, the original population of today's Bulgaria. The old Bulgarians believed that there was an evil force in nature that is called “badness” and also awakened in spring. March 1st marks the beginning of spring in popular belief.
Martenitsas has been attributed to the magical force since ancient times to protect against “mischief”, especially from diseases and lessons. The white-red symbol is a kind of amulet against evil powers, and creating is a kind of magical ritual act. After a traditional tradition, Martenitsa's health, happiness and durability bring.
Who made the first Martenitsa after legend?
A legend created in the 1930s combines the appearance of the Marteniza with the proto-bulgarians. According to legend, the first Martenitza of Achinora, the wife of Khan Asparuh, was made in the second half of the 7th century when Asparuh crossed the Danube and discovered the areas around the Balkans for the Bulgarians.
Achinora was waiting for a white thread for the leg of a swallow for a long time. Then she had the bird delivered her message of health and love. The bird was on the road for a long time. The thread injured his leg, making blood red colored. Finally he found the Khan and landed with him on March 1st.
Martenitsas are worn either until March 9, the church festival of the 40 martyrs, or until March 25, the festival of proclamation.
Who is Baba Marta after the Bulgarian folk belief?
Baba Marta is a mythical figure of the Bulgarian folklore. In popular belief, which is expressed in proverbs and fairy tales, its name is connected to the name of the month “March”. There are three months that are personified in Bulgarian myths - January, February and March.
January and February are portrayed as brothers with hot temperament - large six -ko and small Sechko (голям сечко и малък сечко). Baba Marta is considered her sister, who is sometimes smiling and friendly, sometimes unpredictably evil.
There are many customs and festivals associated with Baba Marta and the month of March and dedicated to the coming spring. The most famous Slavic custom is to throw Martenitsa on people and young animals on March 1 - the day of the arrival of Baba Marta.
Snake hunting rituals are carried out throughout the month, and Baba Marta is shown in the folklore as the sister or wife of the Great Sechko (January) and Little Sechko (February). She is always dissatisfied with them - sometimes they drank their wine (if they are their brothers), sometimes they have done a great disaster. The old woman (the bride) is angry with her, and as a result, the weather becomes bad.
An old goat shirt is said to have gone into the mountains with her herd in the last March because she believed that Baba Marta would give her good weather as she was as old as she was. Baba Martha got angry, asked her brother February, to borrow for a few days, and sent her.
In the popular tradition, these days are called “busy days”. Baba Marta triggered violent snowfalls and snowstorms that made the goat's shirt and her herd freeze to death in the mountains. The frozen became a pile of stone, from the healing water flowed.
The legend of Pijo and Penda: Love on the same eye level
The traditional figures of Baba Marta are Pijo and Penda, symbols for masculinity and femininity. The legend of Pijo and Penda says that it is Thracian gods, namely God March (“Mart”), Lord of the Spring change, and Bellona, the woman who won his heart. At their wedding, the goddesses of the new Queen of Balkans presented a crown of pink roses to decorate their hair.
Instead of the crown, Bellona, who was even more arbitrarily than her husband, adorned herself with the title “goddess of war”. She threw the crown of pink roses to the foot of the old mountain on her wedding day. To this day, the most magical, divine roses bloomed with the love of Mart and Bellona are blooming. People call this area “Rosental”.
How the people greet Baba Marta in Bulgaria
On March 1st, the oldest woman in Bulgaria has to clean the house thoroughly before sunrise, a red cloth - a tablecloth, a mat or an apron - remove and spread out. It is believed that Baba Marta will like this and will cause her benevolence to the house and its residents.
Children, virgins and young brides carry Martenitsa on their arms. The boys absolutely have to go out so that Baba Marta sees her and is happy about her. The old women, in turn, have to stay in the house so as not to upset the old woman. In many places, campfires are lit on this day and loudly called into the yard to drive off snakes and lizards.
Nowadays, the holiday is still celebrated in some places in Bulgaria according to the old custom. At sunrise on March 1st, every housewife throws a red cloth on one of the fruit trees in the garden. In Trojan, the housewives bind red wool on door locks, fruit trees and cattle horns before sunrise.
In Haskovo, the grandmother, who binds the MartenitSas for the children of the family early before sunrise, dresses entirely in red outer clothing.
Where, except in Bulgaria, there is still Martenitsa
Although carrying the Martenitsa is a unique Bulgarian tradition, it is also available in Romania, albeit in a slightly modified form. There is martenitsa “Martisor”. Only women and small children wear them on the wrists. Men only have a martenitsa in a hidden place, for example in their shoes.
In GreeceYou only bind Martenitsa to the hands of children, in Bulgaria in turn to young animals and trees as well as men.
The custom is also cultivated in neighboring countries, into which the Bulgarians have immigrated over the centuries. It is celebrated in the southern parts of the Republic of Moldova, where about 90,000 ethnic Bulgarians live, and is also known in Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Serbia.
Interesting facts: More interesting facts about Baba Marta
- Originally, the white color of the Martenitsa symbolized the heavenly world - the male, light and strength - and the red thread - the earthly, material world and the female. Later, under the influence of Christian mythology, the white color became a symbol of virginity and purity - it was the color of Christ. Red, in turn, stands for femininity and health - it is a sign of blood, conception and birth. The Martenitsa represents the cycle of life from the bottom up, from the world of people to the world of gods and light.
- The symbolism of the Martenitsa has its origin in the time of the great mother goddess. One of her zoomorphic symbols is the snake. In its form, the sign of the snake is similar to the “∞”, the sign of immortality in hermeneutics, which means infinity in mathematics. You can also define them as a current spiral or as a running wave.
- According to Bulgarian custom, the brides carry their Martenitsas on the right and the girls on the left. Bachelors carry through the ends combed and mature men just cut off around the knot so that they don't dangle.
- You shouldn't throw the Martenitsa away. Legend says that the one who does this throws away his happiness.
- After the Martenitsas have been removed, they are hung on a flowering (or green) tree. In some areas of the country it is customary to put them under a large stone and look after nine days what is underneath. If ants have settled, the year will be rich in sheep. If there are other larger beetles, good luck with cattle and cattle and when there are worms, many horses are driven. In other places, they threw the Martenitsas into the river so that they go under in the water and everything flows away badly.
- Another widespread custom was to vote one day. Everyone thinks of any day on March 22, which should predict what the year will be. If the day is sunny, it will be successful, it rains and the weather is bad, the year will also be bad.
- Martenitsas can only be found in Greece in the high mountain regions, apart from the large urban and cultural centers. In the ancient mysteries of Eleusinia, the parties bought a wool braided horse on the right arm and on the left leg. To this day, the custom has hardly been preserved in the weakly populated areas of the country such as Epirus, Macedonia, Southern Thracies and parts of Thessalia.
- According to Romanian faith, the Martenitsa (“Martisor”) is an ancient symbol of an old scenario for the rebirth of nature on the threshold for spring. This old custom is associated with the moment of symbolic death and the symbolic birth of a local female deity, Baba Doxia. Martisor is also the popular name for the month of March, which marks the beginning of the agricultural year.
- On the occasion of Baba Marta on March 1, 2011, the logo of the Google search engine was provided with winding red and white threads and decorated with a red and white tassel by the Google Doodle application.
