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).

There once lived a poor man who used to make doll dresses, ribbons, tassels, and sold them at the market. One day he ran out of fabric and all he could find at hand was two spools of yarn: one red and the other one white. Now he was thinking what could be made out of them; soon he came up with an idea. He tore off two strands from the spools, one red and one white and braided them in a cord. He was very pleased with his work and hung a small picture on his new thread. And he said to himself: How shall I call this ? I know. Martisor because is March and today is the first day of the month. This will be a gift that men offer to women. And he made several models. Soon the word spread about his invention. And people celebrated March 1 because they wanted to preserve the memory of the day when a poor man created the symbol of spring and regeneration. So, to the present day people celebrate March 1.

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".

The Martisor is offered early morning on the first day of March; it used to be worn for days, sometimes until the first tree would bloom when it was hung on a flowering branch to bring good luck to its bearer.