Spring, Mărțișor, and Baba Dochia

A few weeks ago I received a mysterious envelope. It was from my father. We are in the age of emails and messages and my father is really not the old-fashioned type of person to send me letters. What was inside the envelope? A Mărțișor.

They come in many shapes and sizes. They are usually similar to brooches and you are supposed to wear them pinned to your chest, but I prefer the bracelet version. The most important element is the red or red and white twine. There is a story about the meaning of these colours, but I can’t remember it now. Anyway, when the twine is accompanied by a chimney sweep or a four-leaf clover, it is believed that the Mărțișor will bring you luck.

I know that you need to keep the Mărțisor on until the 9th of March. However, the date differs depending on who you ask.

In the meantime, another custom takes place - Babele (The Old Women). Some say you need to choose a date between the 1st and 9th of March, others say that your Babă is the day of your birth (or the sum of its digits if you were born after the 9th). I believe what „others say”, so if I was born on the 9th of August, my Babă is on the 9th of March.

When the day of your Babă comes, it is believed that the weather can help you predict how your year will go on. If it is sunny, you will have a happy year, if it rains you will be sad and so on. I believe that your mood will be prolonged throughout the year - if you are happy on that day regardless of the weather, you can be happy the entire year and if you let some rain put you down, you’ll need to work harder to be happy. So, if it rains on your Babă and it makes you sad, take it as a sign that you need to work on wellbeing. Start doing something for yourself, go to therapy, read. You choose.

Now what I especially like about this tradition is that it is linked to one of the stories that my mother used to tell me when I was little. I asked her to write it down so here it is:

Once upon a time, a very long time, at the base of a mountain, there lived a woman that everyone knew as Baba Dochia (The Old Dochia).

One day, on the last day of February, she decided to climb the mountain.

She started on the 1st of March, in the early morning, but she took on nine coats because she was afraid of the cold.

As she was climbing the mountain she was feeling warmer and warmer and, one by one, she took off all the nine coats, one each day. After the nine days have passed, a terrible frost came and Baba Dochia froze on the mountain.

Therefore, the first nine days of March are known as the days of The Old Women. If it snows in any of these days, it is believed that the Old Woman shakes her coat.

After these nine days pass, it is said that spring has finally started.

Actually, Baba Dochia’s legend is one of the four essential myths from Romanian folklore. Of course, the legend varies from one zone to the other like all Romanian stories, but I love how Dochia’s story was preserved through the years.

With all these legends surrounding Spring, I’d say that it’s the most mythical season. It feels like you can meet a fairy at any time if you take a walk through a forest. Spring is also your chance for a new beginning if your January started badly and the Universe is ready to give you some advice on how to continue your year through the weather on the day of your Babă. And on top of everything, you get to wear some pretty brooches or bracelets - the Mărțișoare!

Now go enjoy the magic of Spring! And, if you can be happy, be happy. If you can’t be happy, see what is there to be done in order for you to feel less sad at least.