The legend of the Mărțișor

Do you know what his story is? The legend of the Mărțișor. Whether it is in the form of a flower, butterfly, penny or smiling faces, the martyr is a joy to any lady. The small object caught in a white and red string that is placed on the chest by women at the beginning of March and bears the name of a martyr is the symbol of the coming of spring. Here are the two legends of Martisor.

The tradition associates the legend with Baba Dochia, a woman who lived many years ago. It is said that she had a stepdaughter whom he did not love. One cold winter day, Baba Dochia sent her daughter to the river to wash very dirty clothes, the old woman hoping that the young woman would not be able to face her. Because she couldn't wash it, the young woman began to cry with bitter tears. And as she tried to rub her dirty clothes, a handsome young man appeared, named Martişor, who asked her why she was crying. The girl told the young man what was happening to her, and Martişor told her that she possessed a magical power and offered her a flower with red-white petals and urged her to wash the garment again and then to go home. When the girl came home the dress was as white as snow. The old Dochia didn't believe the coat was clean. But when she saw the flower in the girl's hair, Baba Dochia asked her: „Where do you get the flower, because it's still winter?” Seeing that the young woman did not respond, the baba herself went to the mountain to be convinced that spring was coming. Baba Dochia did not forget to take her sheep with her, but also the endless 12 bucks. According to the legend, walking with the sheep through the woods, the baba torch wool from the fork and finding a para (old ban, of Turkish origin) made a belly, tying it with a woollen thread ... Since then the habit of the martyr appeared. Giving up one-on-one, one-on-one, over Dochia and her sheep came in winter, even when the baba thought it was spring. A frosty freeze caused the old woman and her sheep to freeze, turning, according to legend, into stone sheeting. The rocks can be seen today on Mount Ceahlau and are a living testimony of this Romanian myth.

Legend of the Martisor – the fight with the kite. Another legend of the Mărțișor is that the Sun went down to Earth. It is said that one day the Sun wanted to dance in an hour too, so he came to Earth taking the appearance of a young man. What the Sun didn't know was that the Sun was no longer in heaven, took advantage of it and abducted the sun and closed it away from the eyes of the world. Because there was no heat from the sun and its rays were no longer eating, the world changed and not even the children laughed. A young man named Martisor, however, dared to face the kite to release the Sun.

After crossing a long road of three seasons (summer, autumn and winter), the brave young man came to the kite and fought with it for days and nights in a row, until he defeated him. The sun was released and brought the world back to life, but the young man did not enjoy it because of the wounds during the fight. All his blood was spilt on the immaculate snow, and this is why the Mărțișor's cord is red with white.

The cord is, at is given by Martisor, according to the popular tradition. The boys are the ones who should receive it, but the tradition has changed over time and the women are the ones who receive martyrdom today. The red symbolizes the blood of the valiant, the love and the power of sacrifice, and the white is associated with the purity of the snow, but also of the snowshoes, which, according to the legend, have blossomed in very large numbers exactly where the hero's blood has spilt.

The source: libertatea.ro