An occasion to pay tribute to women: that’s the Romanian tradition of the “martisor” (pronounced “marzziscior”), as explained by Gabriel Mateescu in an article in the illustrated magazine “Lumea credinþei” (The World of Faith), reported on the site of the Romanian Episcopal Conference (ww.w.catholica.ro). Historically, says the author, the tradition “was only found in the region of the Carpathians and neighbouring areas. It predates Christianity and is closely linked to the ritual of the agricultural year, celebrated in spring”. Originally, the “martisor” consisted of two yarns of wool combined, generally coloured white and red that represented the unity of contrasts: summer-winter, hot-cold, light-darkness, fertility-sterility. “The woollen ribbon or band explains the article was tied round the wrist or hung from the breast, and was used up till Palm Sunday or Easter. But there were also those who wore it until the fruit trees blossomed. The day on which the ‘martisor’ was taken off was marked by a festivity called ‘the drink of the martisor’. With the passage of time, silver and gold coins were tied to the two-coloured woollen ribbon. Today, the ribbon is hung from handicraft objects, representing various animals, flowers, letters, etc.”.
