The Old Bulgarian Tradition
The legends are as birds for the Bulgarians, preserved in the long 1300-year history - they will fly to you when you feel merry or sad, will perch near you when your sorrow has come to feed your faith. The folk customs are like the birds – they fly always wit the Bulgarians, because they are the spirit of our ancestors.
If you are fortunate enough to visit Bulgaria in the beginning of March you are certain to notice almost every person decorated with small tokens made from red and white woollen threads. Then from late March to mid-April, you will notice many fruit trees and shrubs decorated with these same tokens. March 1 is the Baba Marta (Grandma Marta) day in Bulgaria - on the first of March, and the days following, all people give each other red-and-white strips or small woollen dolls called Pizho (the male character) and Penda (the female one), also known as Martenitsi. They are named thus because they bring the name of March, or in Bulgarian - Mart. According to the tradition, Marta (the female variation of the word Mart) is an angry old lady who rapidly changes her mood from bad to good and back again. She is popular all around as Grandmother Marta (in Bulgarian Baba Marta). The colours of the martenitsa, whose symbolism comes from an old Bulgarian tale, represent blood and snow. Bulgarians are supposed to attach the martenitsa to their persons or clothing. Traditionally, the martenitsa were not removed until the first stork returned from migration to ensure prosperity and good health.
It is a symbol of the peace, love, good health and happiness. The white colour stands for cleanness and sincerity, the red is love, friendship and affection.
Old Bulgarians used to believe that children and little animals are threatened by evil forces. That’s why they make martenitsi and the children have them pinned on their lapels until they see a stork, a swallow or a bloomed tree. Then they put them under a rock. They lift the rock on the other day. If there is a worm or an insect near the martenitsa, it means that the child will be fit and healthy during the whole year.
“With beauty against the evil” the Bulgarian nation says!
Old Bulgarians used to believe that children and little animals are threatened by evil forces. That’s why they make martenitsi and the children have them pinned on their lapels until they see a stork, a swallow or a bloomed tree. Then they put them under a rock. They lift the rock on the other day. If there is a worm or an insect near the martenitsa, it means that the child will be fit and healthy during the whole year.
“With beauty against the evil” the Bulgarian nation says!
The story of the Martenitsa
There are many beliefs and stories regarding the meaning of the red-and-white symbols of the Martenitsas – the most popular being the following one:
More than a dozen centuries ago, the proto-Bulgarian ruler Khan Asparukh left his home in the distant Asia in search of fertile land for his people to live on. He passed through many rivers and mountains until he finally reached the lands of the Slavs, who greeted him and his people as dear guests. Slav women, wearing white outfits brought drinks, while the tables were full of foods – everything that grows on that blessed land. But the Khan was sad and homesick and he missed his mother and his dear sister Kalina, also called Huba (Kalina means beautiful). He sat by the huge river and tears ran down hid sunburnt face, while he prayed to gods and the sun for a miracle to happen. And it did happen! A swallow landed on his shoulder and the Khan shared all his sorrow to her. Then the swallow flew away, back to the lands the proto-Bulgarians came from, and with a human voice it told Kalina, the Khan’s sister, that her brother found a new land for his kingdom but he is misses her so much and sends his best feelings.
Kalina was so happy to hear that – and she decided to send her brother a token that she had got the news. She made a small bunch from some green bush, she bound it with a white woollen thread, and made knots at the end of the thread as a greeting sign – and she sent the swallow to take that bunch back to her brother. The swallow flew fast as lightning and very soon it landed on the Khan’s shoulder again. But due to the long flight his wing was hurt and some blood drops dyed the white woollen thread. The Khan was so happy to see the green bunch, he got his sister’s greeting by the knots she had made, and so he pinned the bunch on his chest. The Khan ordered his men each to put a small bunch of twisted red-and-white thread on that day each year – for health and heavenly blessing. That happened on the first of March and remained as a tradition ever since. As the Bulgarian tradition goes, each morning on the first of March the mistress of the house decorates the young kids and the newborn animals with Martenitsas she prepared herself from woollen or cotton threads.
More than a dozen centuries ago, the proto-Bulgarian ruler Khan Asparukh left his home in the distant Asia in search of fertile land for his people to live on. He passed through many rivers and mountains until he finally reached the lands of the Slavs, who greeted him and his people as dear guests. Slav women, wearing white outfits brought drinks, while the tables were full of foods – everything that grows on that blessed land. But the Khan was sad and homesick and he missed his mother and his dear sister Kalina, also called Huba (Kalina means beautiful). He sat by the huge river and tears ran down hid sunburnt face, while he prayed to gods and the sun for a miracle to happen. And it did happen! A swallow landed on his shoulder and the Khan shared all his sorrow to her. Then the swallow flew away, back to the lands the proto-Bulgarians came from, and with a human voice it told Kalina, the Khan’s sister, that her brother found a new land for his kingdom but he is misses her so much and sends his best feelings.
Kalina was so happy to hear that – and she decided to send her brother a token that she had got the news. She made a small bunch from some green bush, she bound it with a white woollen thread, and made knots at the end of the thread as a greeting sign – and she sent the swallow to take that bunch back to her brother. The swallow flew fast as lightning and very soon it landed on the Khan’s shoulder again. But due to the long flight his wing was hurt and some blood drops dyed the white woollen thread. The Khan was so happy to see the green bunch, he got his sister’s greeting by the knots she had made, and so he pinned the bunch on his chest. The Khan ordered his men each to put a small bunch of twisted red-and-white thread on that day each year – for health and heavenly blessing. That happened on the first of March and remained as a tradition ever since. As the Bulgarian tradition goes, each morning on the first of March the mistress of the house decorates the young kids and the newborn animals with Martenitsas she prepared herself from woollen or cotton threads.
Grandma Marta and her brothers Big Sechko and Little Sechko
Grandma Marta had two brothers - Big Sechko and Little Sechko. They grew a vineyard together and made three oak barrels of wine. Big Sechko (the folklore name of January) wandered all the day, made snow and cold. So did Little Sechko (February). In the evenings they drank wine to warm up. Day after day their wine finished. They didn’t have even a drop. What should they do? It was still too freezing! They were ashamed but felt like drinking so much. One day they looked at Grandma Marta’s barrel. It was completely full. She hadn’t even opened it. So, the two brothers drank their sister’s wine and left the barrel totally dry.
On the other day soon after Marta had finished her housework, she went to the cellar and saw the empty barrel. Oh, how furious she was! She was green with anger. She made the wind blow and the rain and snow fall on the ground. But then she calmed down, since it was her own brothers who drank the wine. She smiled and looked at them with affection and love. Then, when she remembered their lie she got angry again. Thus March, her month, is both smiling sunnily and coldly furious – the same as Grandma Marta.
Grandma Marta had two brothers - Big Sechko and Little Sechko. They grew a vineyard together and made three oak barrels of wine. Big Sechko (the folklore name of January) wandered all the day, made snow and cold. So did Little Sechko (February). In the evenings they drank wine to warm up. Day after day their wine finished. They didn’t have even a drop. What should they do? It was still too freezing! They were ashamed but felt like drinking so much. One day they looked at Grandma Marta’s barrel. It was completely full. She hadn’t even opened it. So, the two brothers drank their sister’s wine and left the barrel totally dry.
On the other day soon after Marta had finished her housework, she went to the cellar and saw the empty barrel. Oh, how furious she was! She was green with anger. She made the wind blow and the rain and snow fall on the ground. But then she calmed down, since it was her own brothers who drank the wine. She smiled and looked at them with affection and love. Then, when she remembered their lie she got angry again. Thus March, her month, is both smiling sunnily and coldly furious – the same as Grandma Marta.
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