Learn all about Baba Marta Day
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| Hello, and welcome to the Culture Class- Holidays in Bulgaria Series at BulgarianPod101.com. In this series, we’re exploring the traditions behind Bulgarian holidays and observances. I’m Eric, and you're listening to Season 1, Lesson 13- Baba Marta Day. |
| Bulgarians celebrate a typically Bulgarian holiday every year on March 1. It’s Baba Marta, or “Granny March”—a feast associated with the coming of spring and the mythical figure of Baba Marta. |
| In this lesson you’ll learn what customs are associated with this day. |
| Now, before we get into more detail, I've got a question for you- |
| Do you know when the name-day of people bearing the names Marta, Martin, and their derivatives is celebrated? |
| If you don't already know, you’ll find out a bit later, so keep listening! |
| Baba Marta is a folklore character. She is represented as the sister of two other “characters,” or geroi: Big Sechko and Little Sechko, or respectively the months January and February. Thus, Baba Marta is a “symbol,” or simvol, of the month of March, where her name also comes from. The holiday of Baba Marta is associated with the coming of spring, because the “weather,” or vremeto, in March gradually starts warming and the spring starts slowly coming. |
| Therefore the holiday of Baba Marta is associated with the “beginning,” or nachaloto, of a new cycle in nature and with wishes for health and fertility. The most typical custom for this day is the martenitsa—tying or hanging, or in Bulgarian da se zavarzva ili zakachva, decorations made of white and red yarn, braided or twisted in different forms. It’s thought that the two colors symbolize different things. The red is blood or life, and the white is purity and happiness. |
| The custom of tying martenitsi also exists in other “neighboring,” or sasedni, countries such as Romania, Moldova, Macedonia, Greece, and Albania. There are two kinds, one for tying on the wrist and one for attaching to clothes, usually on the left or right lapel. The martenitsi are worn almost through the whole month of March. They are usually taken off when the person wearing it sees a blossoming tree or a migratory bird, hopefully a stork, or shtarkel in Bulgarian. |
| According to popular belief, Baba Marta’s “mood,” or nastroenie, often changes and she is often displeased with her brothers. When she’s angry the weather breaks, which serves as an explanation for the changeable weather in March. |
| Now it's time to answer our quiz question- |
| Do you know when the name-day of the people bearing the names Marta, Martin and their derivatives is celebrated? |
| Although the name Marta is associated with Baba Marta, the celebration of the name-day of the people with similar names is on a different day—St. Martin’s feast, which according to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is celebrated on April 14. |
| How was this lesson? Did you learn something interesting? |
| Do you celebrate a day to welcome spring? |
| Leave a comment telling us at BulgarianPod101.com, and we'll see you in the next lesson! |
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