Mărțișor

March The 1st: “Mărțișor”

The tradition has it that the spring and summer weather will be just like the one from this day. March the 1st is related to the custom of “martisor” (diminutive form of martie = March). Folk beliefs say that who wears the “martisor” will be lucky and healthy.

The Little March Amulet

Mărţişor is the symbol of spring and also a celebration on the first of March. Its beginnings are still a mystery. The first evidence of a similar custom come from 8000 years ago. The archeologist have discovered small river rocks painted in red and white that were probably string on a rope and wear as a necklace. Also in ancient Rome, New Year's Eve was celebrated on the 1st of March (Martius), the month of the war god Mars. He had a double role: both protector of agriculture and of war, so the celebration signified the rebirth of nature. The duality of symbols is kept in the colours of the Mărţişor: white and red, meaning peace and war (it might also symbolize winter and spring)

In the old times, the “martisor” was made of two woolen threads, a white one and a red or black one, symbolizing the two main seasons , winter and summer. Women used to make this braid, which they tied on the wrist and neck of their children.

The “martisor” was also worn by young men and adults. Moreover, the braid which announced the spring was tied on the horns of the cows or on the gate of the stable, in order to protect the household. In the old times, March the 1st was the beginning of a new year, moment in which people needed to protect themselves from the evil spirits.

Later, a silver or golden coin, or even a medallion was hanged of the braid, having a protective function. The coins of that braid were kept until St. George (April 23rd) and the girls were buying themselves fresh cheese and red wine, in order to blush as the wine and to be as white as the cheese.

The  “martisor” is worn until the roses or the cherries bloom. Then, the braid is tied on one of the branches of that tree. In other regions, the “martisor” is worn during the ”Old Woman’s days” (March 1st - March 9th), after this being tied on a tree. It is believed that, if the tree gives fruits, the man who has worn the “martisor” will be lucky. If the “martisor” is thrown after a bird, the man will be as easy as that bird.

The Story of the Little March

Once upon a time, there was an old woman. She had a son, March, who had just got married. The old woman didn't like her daughter-in-low maybe because she was too beautiful. That is why she was trying to find a flaw in her son's wife ordering her the most difficult jobs. 

One day the old woman commanded the girl to go to the river and to wash some black wool until it would become white. Without a word the young woman went to the river. There a young man appeared miraculously. He immediately turned the black wool into white one. When he wanted to thank him he disappeared leaving no trace behind him.

Another time, at the end of the winter, in February, the bad old woman asked her daughter-in-low to bring her some wild strawberries. The girl had no choice but to go find the wild fruits. March was desperate because his own mother was torturing his wife. That is why he left his home.
Crying, the girl wandered throws the forest and suddenly the same handsome young boy appeared and filled up her basket with wild strawberries.

The young lady hung at her neck a white coin for the wool and a red one for the wild strawberries.  In her husband's memory whom she is still looking for, she called the coins "Little March". From that day all the "Romanian girl and women wear Little Marches". They believe that the Little Marches bring them luck in love and good health.  

The Legend of the March Amulet

Once upon a time, the Sun embodying a handsome young man, got down from the sky to dance a Romanian round dance (hora) in a village. A dragon lay in wait for him and kidnapped him from among the people and threw him into a jail. The world got sad. The birds wouldn’t flow and the children wouldn’t laugh.  No one dared to challenge the bad dragon. But one day a brave young man decided to go and save the Sun. Lots of people saw him off and shared their strength with him. So they helped him defeat the dragon and save the Sun. His journey lasted for three seasons: summer, autumn and winter. He found the dragon’s castle and they started to fight. They fought for days and finally the dragon was killed.

                             
Powerless and wounded, the young man set the Sun free. The Sun rose in the sky cheering up all the people and filling them with joy. The nature revived, the people got happy, but the young man couldn’t live to see spring coming. The warm blood from his wounds dropped on the snow. While the snow was melting white flowers, called snowdrops, messengers of the spring, were appearing out of the snow. Even his last drop of blood dripped out in the immaculate snow. And he died. Since then the young people have been knitting two little tassels: a white one and a red one. At the beginning of March, they offer this amulet to the girls they love… Red means love for everything that is beautiful. It reminds us of the color of the brave young man’s blood. White symbolizes the pureness and health of the snowdrops, the first flowers that appear in spring.

Dracula Myth vs. Legend, Story vs. Reality

Romania – the land of vampires

When referring to Romania the first thing that comes to mind is Transylvania. Home to some of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe, most relating to the legend of Dracula. This is the reason why, for many foreigners, Romania is the land of Dracula. Although,  not as popular at home us he is abroad, Dracula has become a tourist attraction. Many people come to Transylvania seeking his trail, and many go away again disappointed.


Where does Dracula come from?

Did you ever wonder how the legend of Dracula came to be known and why it belongs to Romania? Besides the impressive story of Vlad the Impaler there are other important elements that build the legend. Perhaps one of the main reasons Romania is considered the homeland of vampires ist hat there are several legends that are centered on vampires.

One of the most important is the myth of Nosferatu- the illegitimate child of illegitimate parents. It is said that his name comes from the Greek nosophoros which means plague bearer of from the old Slavic word nosifor-atu or nesuferitu (obnoxious).

But Nosferatu didn’t feed with human blood. Its main feature was its libido, he being able to be intimate with the living. However, he made his victims-mistresses sick. Their fatigue evolved soon into a disease with symptoms similar to those of tuberculosis.

Nosferati, for there wasn’t only one, could also conceive this is why they were considered dangerous to young married couples; their hatred for those legally married making them to leave the young wife pregnant with their offspring.

Nostefati’s portrait is totally different from what we know today about vampires. The inhabitants of the Carpathians considered them to be highly sexual creatures that had nothing of the following features:  blood-drinking, fang-wielding, daylight and crucifix-fearing. This portrait has, unfortunately, no relation with the original Romanian legends, but in part with Bram Stocker’s novel.

dracula1Other very important legends are those of Moroii and Strigoii. These two are seen in close connection. The essential difference between them being the fact that Moroii are living vampires while Strigoii retourn from the dead. Moroii can also be both women and men and have all the characteristics that Strigoii have. Among the ways a person can become a Strigoi there is suicide or the fact that the dead person is the seventh son in the family. There is also the theory that if a pregnant woman drinks impure water or gets out of the house at night with nothing to cover her head the Evil One will appear and will put a red chitie on the head of the baby. This should be removed as soon as possible in order to prevent the transformation of the child. Although there are several versions of the origins of these mythological creatures: Strigoii and Moroii both have one common characteristic: they hurt their victims. However, only in some areas they are assimilated to the notion of vampires.

Varcolacii are other fantastic figures and they are considered to be the strongest type of undead. They are so strong they can eat the Moon and the Sun, making them disappear. They too appear when an unbaptised child dies. Their name seems to come from Bulgarian and Serbian vylx + dlaka meaning wolf hair. However these creatures don’t attack people directly so they are loosely connected with the vampires.

Morii, Varcolacii,Strigoii and the Nosferatu have contributed to the development of the vampire legends on the Romanian territory, influencing creativity all around the world and generating more and more new legends and interpretations, like the most recent Twilight saga.


The Fictional Count Dracula

Vlad the Impaler

Who is Dracula and what connexion  does it have with Transylvania? - this is the main question when somebody wants to discover the real story of legendary character.  

When one hears the name Dracula, most are inclined to think of a Hollywood fairytale with blood sucking vampires and a fictitious Count Dracula. This is true in one sense and completely false in another.

The figure most people associate to Dracula is a fairytale, written from the pen of Irish Novelist Bram Stoker. Many believe Stoker based his novel on the real life figure, Vlad Tepes III. Vlad was a prince of Walachia, located in central Romania. This is where the similarities end, as Stoker never actually visited Transylvania, or Walachia, and merely drew images from the stories written in European papers at the time.

Vlad Tepes was born in or around 1431, in the Transylvanian town of Sighisoara. Today you can visit the house in which Vlad was born, which has been restored to its original condition, and enjoy one of the best preserved medieval citadels in Europe. Prince Vlad III was named Drăculea by his contemporaries. This was because his father, Vlad II was invested by the Emperor Sigismund in Nuremberg on 8th February 1431 with the Order of the Dragon. This chivalric order was a military and religious society whose aims was to stop the expansion of the Ottoman Empire. The arms of the Order depicted a dragon (symbol of the Ottomans) and a cross (symbol of Christianity) in Romanian the word for “Dragon” (“Drahe” in German) is “Drac” (“Devil” in Romanian language) and so Vlad added the epithet “Dracul” (“The Dragon”) this name and his descendents  were named “Drăculești” : Vlad III was “Drăculea” (i.e. “Son of Dracul”).

At the time Vlad was in power, Walachia was a main trading route, and a strategic Vlad Tepes (The Real Dracula) point in the battle between the Turkish, Invaders from the East and the Hungarian throne situated in Budapest. This caused a very turbulent situation, as the battle of religions with these powerful neighbours was often fought on these lands. Vlad was known for many things, most of which being his cruel and ruthless torture methods.

Impalement was Vlad's favourite form of punishment, and he held no favourites, whether it be local thieves, foreign nobleman, or the sick and poor. As stories vary from one person to the next, the true life of Vlad Tepes will never be known. The printing press releases from Germany and Russia have similarities to the stories and life of Vlad, and local folklore is probably the best way to find out more on Vlad's life.

Certainly, it was only the exaggeration of Prince Vlad – The Impaler’s cruelty by malicious chroniclers that led, over time, to the creation of the Dracula myth. A series of chronicles inspired by the life of Vlad The Impaler paint a macabre picture of the prince, who was wont to punish treachery, dishonesty, stupidity, laziness, lying, thievery,  corruption and flattery by impalement, bunging, flying, decapitation, boiling alive, blinding, crucifixion, stabbing and strangulation. Likewise, victims were buried alive, burned, roasted, maimed, or bad their nose, ears, tongues or genitals amputated.

The figure of The Impaler has remained emblematic for Romanians, in spite of the exaggerations  regarding his limitless cruelty. Legends have grown up around him: strange as it might seem, during his reign a golden cup stood at the edge of a fountain in the centre of Târgoviște, without ever beeing stolen.  Many things can be said of Vlad The Impaler: that he was cruel, and merciless, although just and courageous; that he knew no pity, although he was a  “voevod  concerned with people and nation”. The chronicles mention nothing of the monasteries and churches founded by Vlad The Impaler:  Comana (1461), the Churches of Strejnicu and Târgușoru Vechi (1461).  Although inexplicable his identification with a vampire-count, a personage inspired by horror films, has brought Vlad The Impaler an unexpected tourist celebrity. The bloody Drăculea has become a product perfect for “frightening” and “attracting” the tourists.

Vlad Tepes was the Romanian character that is the most famous in Europe and not only. He was the main character in the literary production from the second period of the XVth century in the Eastern Europe and Western Europe. Unfortunately this fame is a negative one and it shows the great leader as the symbol of the evil. How did such a complex personality end up to be such known when he was still alive?

The origins of his image are being pointed out by the nickname he was given “Tepes”, as he is known in the Romanian history. The nickname appears first in the Turkish chronicles of the XVth century and XVIth century. He is named as Kaziklu bey (the prince that impales). Vlad was given this nickname because of the cruel method he had chosen to execute the war prisoners, the convicts and the adversaries. Vlad Tepes was a descendent from the Dragon Order, known as The Draculestilor Order. In German language the Dragon Order is called Drachenorden and in Latin is called Societatis draconistrarum. It was a like any other knightly orders of the time, having as a role model the “Order of St.George” built in 1318. Like his father, Vlad Tepes was a member of the Dragon Order. A proof of this is the signature he used to sign on official documents of the time: Dracula. Along the centuries this signature gained unexpected meanings.

The name Dracula was rapidly spread in all Europe of that time. In the Turkish language it was known under the name of Kazîclî; the Pec Bishop called it Dracole; Dan a knight who wanted the Romanian throne called him Dracul (Devil); in the Serbian annals before 1462 appears as Dracula; in the German story until 1462 appeared as Dracal or Dracao; the bishop Nicolae de Madrussa called him Dracul; the Venice Senat – Dragulia sau Draculia; the Hungarian king Matei. On purpose or not, the name of Vlad Tepes together with his behaviour brought him a great fame. His special skills and qualities along with his actions brought him a special place in the Romanian tradition not as a bad character but as a Robin Hood character. He was unmerciful with the rich people that broke the law and a good friend to the poor people.

For the Romanian land peasants he was the national hero that served their cause. He became famous because of the so called German stories that tried to denigrate the great leader. He is presented here as an antichrist, a criminal, a cannibal (an engraved stone shows him in the middle of the a spike forest waiting for his subjects to serve him human organs). This campaign was coordinated by the Hungarian king Sigismund de Luxemburg, who had to justify the desertion of the crusade against the Ottoman Empire, as he was given important help from the Roman Pope.

Illustration from German chronicles of the time.

This is a scene of the impalement. Vlad Tepes aka Vlad the Impaler  is watching the operation from a table, having his lunch and drinking wine. The picture is not necessary relevant to the image of Romanian prince, because the Germanic sources was affected by the myths and political interests.

As Vlad Tepes had organized himself a campaign against the Ottoman Empire, well seen by the Pope, Sigismund’s action was received very well. He paid for some false writings against the Wallachian leader.This falses include: The manuscript from Viena, incorporated in the Chronichle of Thomas Ebendorfer, the comments of Enea Silvio Piccolomini, the next to be Pope under the name of Pius the II (1458-1464), the verses of MichaelBeheim. From all the documents, the verses of Michael Beheim from 1462 – 1463: “About a tiran under the name of Dracula from the Romanian land” seem to be the most complex with 1070 verses. It is a synthesis of the German stories about Vlad Tepes, having a very powerful and eloquent ending. 950 of the verses describe the cruelties of him and in the other verses the horrible betrayal that led rightfully to his arrest. Being at the wrong time in the wrong moment Vlad Tepes was transformed from a great political and military personality of his time into a criminal of the history. The concept of “vampire” has the meaning taken from prehistoric times when the man being a hunter discoveredthat when an animal is killed and his blood drains’ from his veins, his life ends. The blood became in the mind of the hunter the source of life That is why some tribal members used to drink the blood of the animals killed, in order to claim their vitality. This practice was extended until the middle ages, where the prejudices of the Christian church turned this ritual practice from the life to the dead, and so the vampires appeared. As one of the most frequent phenomenon of the world history, the vampires had left their “fingerprint” on history since antiquity. From the Egyptian culture, from the Greek culture (the first wife of Zeus, Lilith, was considered to be a vampire), and from the Jewish culture until the far East to the Japanese (where are the vampire animals), the vampires have fascinated and intrigued the human society.

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