Celebrating at school with my friends, working for days on end before March 1st to have one for each of my friends… and for the teachers.

Braveheart chased after Dragon and, eventually, much later than expected for he did not know where Dragon lived and had only the tracks left behind to read, follow only the broken flower heads streaming the way, and pay attention only to the tell-tale signs of burned bushes and destroyed structures, later, much later, he reached the Dragon’s lair. The beginnings of this tradition are still a mystery, but it is said that it originated in ancient Rome, because New Year’s Eve was celebrated on the 1st of March (Martius), the month of the war god Mars. Girls and boys were gifted with this special thread on the 1st of March, before the sun showed its face up on the sky. Some older traditions held it should be worn from the first new moon of March until next significant holiday for the local community, which could be anywhere between 9 March and 1 May, or until first tree flowers blossomed, depending on the area.The horseshoe martisor is also among the most popular in Romania, as it is also said to bring good luck and good fortune. Next in March, the Romanians celebrate Women’s Day on March 8, the tradition of Babele (old ladies) between March 1 and March 9, and 40 de Mucenici (40 Martyrs) on March 9. The daughter of Decebal, chased by Trajan’s men, turned herself into a rock, thus escaping the slavery humiliation.

Mars was not only the god of war but also the god of agriculture, which contributes to the rebirth of vegetation. The two threads twisted together, red and white or red and black, symbolized the unity of opposing forces: summer-winter, heat-cold, fertility-barrenness, light-dark, but also fierce, tumultuous life, youth, passionate love (red) twisted around purity, candid, clean, and new, virginal light (white).The custom of gifting and wearing the Mărțișor is a nationwide tradition among Romanians, Moldovans, and Aromanians. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Usually both, women and men wear it pinned to their clothes, close to the heart, until the last day of the March, when they tie it to a fruit-tree twig. Please upgrade to Enterprise plan to enjoy ten millions of resources and enterprise authorization certificate. The word Mărțișor is the diminutive of marț, the old folk name for March ( martie, in modern Romanian), and literally means "little March".