In Moldova county, Suceava, the tradition is women give mărţişoare to men. It’s a two threads, white and red (see below) knitted thing, pinned with a small pin with a head in the heart area of men’s clothes. Sometimes a little sting is in place! So now I look pretty heavily decorated.
Also, recently, there are knitted braclets with the same colours lovers give each other and wear for the first 12 days of March.
There are no traditional wishing words for it, just kissing and wishing good. So here’s one for SPF!
BTW, I’ve chose my Baba Dochia’s Day for 2011 to be on the 5th March. Hopefully it will be better than today’s cold wheater and flurries!
So, before 1 March, especially women use to chose one day from the first 9; judging by how the weather is on the chosen day, they know how the new year will be for them. In some places, young men find out, in a similar way, how their wives are going to be. The days at the beginning of March are called Baba Dochia’s Days, Baba Dochia being an image of the Great Earth Goddess.
