What a beautiful evening we all had on
Friday (February 28’20) when we
gather to celebrate the Romanian spring tradition, called “Mărțișor”, which is
meant to announce that spring is near. Since weather is getting milder and
flowers began blooming, we all feel that LOVE is in the air, and because of
that we just couldn’t miss the opportunity to discuss several facets of it.
While at this page, I’m glad to announce that
my circle is growing, and new friends are joining. I was truly happy to welcome
them all that evening with a fragment of classical music, featuring spring and
gift each of the invited ladies with “mărțișoare“ I personally crafted few days
before. I accompanied each “mărțișor” with the classical red
& white silk thread, which I ordered ahead of time from Romania. The
beautiful smiles my guests had on their faces when they each received my “mărțișoare“
as well as the authentic joy expressed, filled my heart with such a profound
delight!
On the other hand, even though I shared with you few times before the legend of
“Mărțișor“, at this moment I only refresh its quintessence, as published
by several ethnographic journals: according to archaeological research,
the “Mărțișor” traces its history more than 8,000 years ago, and some
ethnologists believe that the “Mărțișor” celebration is in fact an old Dacian
tradition.
On March 1st, in Dacia, the Dacians (the ancestors of Romanians nowadays) would celebrate the New Year,
as well as the 1st day of spring, dedicating ample festivals
honoring the rebirth of vegetation, as the entire nature would come back to
life after the long winter hibernation.
Since 2017, “Mărțișor“ was added to UNESCO List of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
After all “mărțișoare“ were distributed we settled
in and our group discussions began, unfolding beautifully.
Lots of poems were recited, personal memories were shared, legends were
reiterated, featuring “Mărțișor“, LOVE and the coming springtime.
Before I will give you more details about our evening together, I would like to
briefly refresh that LOVE, over centuries, has been described by many as being
one of the best feelings on earth – one that lots of people can’t live without,
and it has been extensively praised by many poets, painters, writers,
scientists, philosophers, and regular people. Nowadays, LOVE is one of the most
talked about topics, on a wide range covering media people, academics,
activists, spiritual figures, politics, and people from our everyday lives.
Specifically talking about my circle, this
Friday, our conversations on LOVE were truly interesting, with lots of stories
sharing personal experiences, scientific reports, psychological perspectives,
poems (personal creations & from
universal literature) and fragments / quotes (by Dante Aligheri, Bible, Eckhart Tolle, Hesiod, Lao Tzu, Mother Theresa, Smaranda Gheorghiu, I.Teodoreanu,
Baudelaire, Charles Dickens, Erasmus from Rotterdam, Teodor Musatescu, Cohen
& Albert Einstein).
Aside of that, since I had a number of couples as guests of the evening (being together for a respectable number of
years – some by 60, 56, 32, 30, 4 years) they each shared what is the
secret (in their opinion/s) of a happy, long and stable marriage. Practical advice, timeless insights...awesome, priceless wisdom!
On this briefing I will respect the
privacy of the personal aspects discussed, but below I will give you only few
general concepts:
- Love is a true force of life
- Love feels like security and stability
- Love is strictly linked with happiness
- Love is harmonizing relationships
- True love will stay forever in your heart
- The love of a mother is the only form of love that exists in purest, truest
and unconditional form
- There are many types of love and here are few: Eros (romantic love), Agape (unconditional love), Storge (empathy), Philia (affectionate love), Pragma (long-lasting love), etc., but the highest of all is AGAPE (ancient Greek ἀγάπη…which is a Greco-Christian
term referring to love, "the highest form of love, charity")
- The color of love is actually green, not red. Red is the color of
passion between 2 people. Green is the color of healing, the color of nature,
the color of balance and good health. We associate green with love on a global
level. Green reveals our desire to foster understanding and acceptance between
people.
- Love has been compared with the sun that gives the warmth your heart
needs. Sun it sometimes covered by clouds, but you know is there, so does love
- you can’t see it all the time, but you feel it.
Next, the love within the animal reign was discussed as well, and several
examples of inspiration were given: the swans, doves, wolfs, penguins, dogs,
eagles.
Further, one of our guests that evening nicely explain how beautiful even
flowers “speak” about love!
Additionally, our group conversations referred to the coming springtime
as well, and our dear friend Dorina read for us a beautiful childhood poem, we
all knew since young age, and after she finished reciting it, the entire group
began humming it and then it flew into really singing it….it was such a
splendid delight for us all. Materials presented by our dear friend Dorina are published (with Dorina's permission) in comments section.
Then our friend Teo recited several poems (personal compositions), which are published (with Teodor's permission) in comments section.
Spring is the season of joy, and heart knows it, that’s way at this time of the
year people are happier than usual! It is as simple as that: when spring is in
the air, heart knows it! Spring is the season of new beginnings, when many
fresh flowers began blooming, animals awaken and the entire Earth seems to come
to life again, all emphasizing the beautiful theme of rebirth and renewal.
Among other attributes, spring is truly beautiful because flowers are in bloom
displaying a symphony of radiant colors and suave, rejuvenating fragrances.
Also, scientifically speaking, there are extensive studies showing that looking
at flowers could make you happy.
For instance, the snowdrop is the first flower of the year, and when it blossoms is a
sign that spring is near, confirming that slowly the winter is fading,
transforming into lovely springtime. We all grew up with the believe that snowdrops (“Galanthus nivalis”) are spring
heralds, symbolizing hope and joy!
All my guests that evening felt the same way in their hearts, as many brought
spring flowers for our reunion as well as “Snowdrops”, which in Romania are
considered “spring messengers”. Even my husband, at home, brought me such a nice bouquet of fresh flowers,
which filled my heart with profound delight!
On the other hand, since the International Women’s Day is coming soon (being celebrated around the world on March
8th), we briefly mentioned several famous Romanian women, and
here are a few:
- Dr. Ana Aslan (please read her biography in comments section)
- Poet & novelist, Smaranda
Gheorghiu (please read her biography
in comments section)
- Olympic gymnast, Nadia Comaneci (please read
her biography in comments section)
Without any doubt, the good cheer was in our midst, and when all presentations
concluded, our dear friend, Teo Trandafir sang us all an original spring song he
personally composed. Truly beautiful!
We concluded the evening together with a very well garnished selection of light
refreshments, which again allowed for prolonged enticing conversations and
great fellowship – good food, nice people, interesting talks, positive
environment…what else to ask for!?
Yet again, my most sincere appreciation to my precious, loyal friends who
honored my invitation, and until next time, my best greetings to each!
Alice
A heart that loves is always young!
This event has been delivered in Romanian Language, featuring Romanian culture.
● A previous event I organized on the same concepts: Love, Spring &“Mărțișor”– 2019 ● Some of my additional greetings referring to VALENTINE's Day – 2020, 2019 | "Mărțișor" – 2019 |
"DRAGOBETE" – 2020 NOTE: Dear readers, please be advised that on this website each of the previous postings, pertaining to the recurrent annual themes, portray a different perspective of the subject/s presented (same theme/s, but a different outlook without duplication due to the cultural richness of the specific topic/s discussed).
