March 1 is a very special day for Bulgarians, and therefore its festive agenda is quite rich and colorful. Some rites have survived to the present day, others have been forgotten. Stay with us for more about Bulgaria’s unique day in this feature written by Rumyana Panayotova.
Today few of us are aware that in the past 1 March was preceded by ritual cleaning of the house. Cleaning and tidying had to take place either on the night before 1 March or early before dawn on the following day, Before Martha comes, as people said, that is, before the month of March started. According to the traditional community ritual cleaning on the eve of March was crucial for the future harvest. Too much cleaning and beating bed covers and rugs throughout March would beat away the grain from wheatears and the crops would turn out poor, so everybody was keen to clean up at the tail-end of February. People believed that on 1 March corn germinated. This idea was also at the heart of other 1 March rituals. For example, while cleaning the house the housewife should move from the eastern to the western rooms and from the northern to the southern ones thus shaping an invisible cross. This symbol had a dual meaning. In the Christian context it was meant to protect the house from the powers of evil. In pre-Christian beliefs, however, the cross symbolized the sun. In this way Martha was the bringer of summer sun. To celebrate this, women would take out in the yards red covers and rugs, as red would be perceived as the color of the hot summer sun. When Martha saw the lovely red rugs and covers, she would smile and make the sun warmer. So, the community believed that this bunch of rituals would make the spring warmer and more benevolent to the crops.
On 1 March the winter departs and the summer is ushered in – that’s according to the ancient popular calendar dividing the year into two basic seasons. No wonder then that 1 March was called letnik, from liato (summer). Having spent a frosty winter at home, on 1 March people would open up their houses and hearts to the outside world – to the sun, the fields and the forests. When looking at them the farmer of old time saw much more than just a scenic spring vista. In those times people and their wellbeing were very strongly dependent on nature. So the community employed a whole range of magic patterns in a bid to make nature more benign and generous. Apart from red covers and rugs displayed in the yards, people welcomed the summer sun with many March fires in the open. With them they hoped to warm Martha up. In return they pleaded the sun not to be too scorching in summer months when farmers would be working hard in the fields.
The totality of those rites and rituals is concisely expressed in the popular tradition of the martenitsa, the red-and-white tassels. Symbolically speaking the martenitsa is made from a sunray transformed into a red thread and from the last snow shown the white thread. Twisted together the white and red tassels are the symbol of spring – of the warmer spring sun and of nature cleansed after the winter. The magic tassels would protect both humans and livestock from the evil forces of the dying winter. Most of the old meanings of martenitsas have been forgotten today. However, by wearing the white and red tassels we feel warmed up by oncoming spring.
In the past martenitsa tassels were made either on the eve of March 1, or just before dawn. The oldest woman in the house was responsible for them. Twisting the white and red tassels she would recite incantations to add to them magic power. Early on 1 March mothers tied red and white tassels on the hands of children so that the family would be white and red, meaning, happy and healthy throughout the year. Girls would use white and red threads to make bracelets or necklaces. They wore such simple adornments for the sake of happy love, as the red is also the symbol of love. Tassels were tied on livestock and on orchard trees.
In this way everybody wore martenitsas on 1 March. The tradition has happily survived to the present day. Some people are in a hurry to take the red-and-white amulet off on 2 March. Others however wear them as required by tradition – until they see a stork or a blossomed orchard tree. In this way the martenitsa is Bulgaria’s most fascinating sign of oncoming spring.
Translated by Daniela Konstantinova
