ROMANIAN CUSTOM

 

Every year the festive day of March 1 brings back to us renewed hopes, confidence, faith in good fortune and a prosperous life. It is life, spring and the shining sun which win the battle against chilly weather, overcast skies and the nasty days of the Babe (the first 9 days in March). This triumph of rebirth and regeneration could not be better embodied but in the Martisor ( a trinket, March amulet) offered to loved ones in early spring.
The white and red thread of this amulet (a coin, money cowrie) which parents customarily tied around their children's wrist, young men offered to young women, and young women used to exchange among themselves was believed to bring good luck, good health, "like pure silver, like the river stone, like the seashell". So this is our custom- on the 1st March every girl or woman receives such an amulet with the best wishes for health and happiness!

 

ITALIAN CUSTOM

The symbol of the day is the yellow mimosa and expression of female solidarity. The origin of the custom is lost, but it is said to have started in Rome after World War II. Men began giving the mimosa to their partners, friends, co-workers, and family give to their significant others, colleagues, mothers and sisters blossoming branches of this tree. On March 8th you will find Mimosa sellers at any corner in Italy! The particularly of this flower is that it blossoms prior to any other, flourishing in the very first days of March, as a herald of the spring to come.