March 1st is when we Romanians used to send cards to women in our family and group of friends. The front of the card included images of spring: snowdrops, crocuses, that kind of thing. And inside the card, we sent a token of spring, the so-called mărţişor. The name mărţişor for these amulets is also the diminutive of the Romanian word for March.
The spring token is a symbolic object meant to express joy at the arrival of spring and wish good luck. It can be a snowdrop or some other (spring) flower, a four-leaf clover, a horseshoe, a heart, a butterfly, etc., or even a chimney sweep with a top hat.
These days we don’t send cards but we continue the tradition of giving these spring tokens to women (and girls) at the workplace and in the family or friends group.
Writing this piece, I looked up “chimney sweep good luck” and here’s what I learned: the symbolism dates back to the 18th century—in England, at least. One story goes that King George III was riding in a horse-drawn carriage in London when a dog appeared in the street and spooked the horses. A chimney sweep then appeared and calmed them down. The King then essentially turned chimney sweeps into symbols of good luck, whereupon they became present in community fests wearing a top hat and tails.
But then chimney sweeps brought good luck because a properly ventilated chimney is a really good thing and an improperly cleaned one, a very dangerous thing.
Back to our symbolic mărţişoare, these objects come with a white and red braided cord, ending in one white and one red tassel, symbolizing purity and winter (white) and vitality and summer (red), among other things, including death and rebirth. Red is also a color that in many traditions is thought to ward off evil.
Mărţişoarele are worn pinned to one’s chest or as bracelets—or as pendants. The latter is not really traditional but is apposite for a silver or gold-plated mărţişor if it has a loop that allows it to be strung on a necklace.
Here are some spring tokens I received in recent years. The ones in the first image are made in 925 silver and, respectively, plated with 24K gold. I received them as gifts from my family, since women also receive various gifts on March 1st and March 8th (International Women’s Day) as well as flowers. Among the latter, hyacinths are often preferred, but freesias and tulips are also very popular.
As for silver and gold-plated mărţişoare, while these are nice, March 1st is also an opportunity for craftspeople to create various designs, such as the flower in needlepoint below, created by a woman in her seventies and offered as a gift to various people gratis.
Young people, too, take advantage of March 1st to sell various such spring tokens, and I was one of them when I was younger. It gave me enormous joy when people bought my hearts, which I created in pieces of limewood using pines from a Christmas tree and red spray paint. They weren’t exactly flowers, but hearts have become more popular, too, in recent years.
That said, many of these trinkets are also mass-produced, which does make more commercial sense—if not always aesthetic sense—since people are used to paying very little for these spring tokens. One example is the butterfly in the image below, which I received from a kid. The bracelet is unusual, though, since in the vast majority of mărţişoare the white and red threads are entwined.
Enjoy the day and the arrival of spring!
To a happier, healthier life,
Mira
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