“Mărțișor 2024” with the Romanian Consulate

     On March 1^st, 2024, I was invited by the new Consul General of Romania in Vancouver & by his lovely wife (who is Deputy Consul General of Romania in Vancouver) at their residence to spend an evening together with several Romanian ladies, honoring “Mărțișor” – a beautiful tradition most of us are very fond of. 

     Needless to say that good cheer was in our midst! Each lady attending the event received a beautiful “Mărțișor” handed by Consul Gabriel Rotaru, nicely prepared by the consular team in Vancouver.

     I was truly pleased to have interesting conversations with both Romanian Consuls, learning about their vision as they begin a new mandate here (Rotaru family arrived to Vancouver 2 months ago).

     This posting is marking the beginning of a more ample collaboration between Alice & Friends Circle™ and the Consulate General of Romania in Vancouver. Without any doubt, uniting our efforts in order to further promote our Romanian culture, as well as our ancient traditions, and the timeless wisdom of our ancestors, is something we all are very proud of.

Until our paths will meet again, from me, only the best!

Alice

NOTE 1: For quick reference, here is the media coverage for “Mărțișor” 2024

– The press release issued by the Consulate General of Romania in Vancouver (also published on the Consulate’s website)

– In comments section is published the message received from Consul Ştefana Rotaru

– Here is the relating face-book post of the Consulate General of Romania in Vancouver (and here is the Consulate’s face-book page)

– Here is an article about this, published by “Observatorul” from Toronto, Canada (and here the website of “Observatorul”)

NOTE 2: For the time being, the comments section of this posting was left open, so the willing guests of the evening could directly express their thoughts. 

March 1, 2024: “Mărțișor”

 MARCH 1^st of 2024 has arrived, and to all my friends who celebrate “MĂRȚIȘOR” (a beautiful Romanian tradition) I’m wishing them only the best!

March well into spring, dear ones!  

● The legend of “Mărțișor”

As a courtesy, published here in Romanian language; if you wish to translate this "Legend" into any other language, please use the automated translator installed below. Thank you!

Legenda MĂRȚIŞORULUI

La marginea unui sat trăiau într-o coliba sărăcăcioasă o femeie cu fiica ei. Ca să câștige pâinea de zi cu zi și câțiva bănuți, femeia se îndeletnicea cu torsul lânii pentru oamenii din sat. Dar tot ce câștiga dădea pe doctorii pentru fata ei care era tare bolnavă. Într-o zi, pe când torcea și plângea de mila fiicei sale, femeia văzu o caleasca de foc trecând cu iuțieală dinspre pădure spre sat. Era Crăiasa Primăvara care, auzind-o, s-a oprit și a întrebat-o de ce este așa de necăjită. Aflând de boala copilei, Crăiasa a zis...

- "Ține caierul acesta de foc și toarce-l firicel subțire, apoi leagă o fundiță și prinde-o de pieptul copilei. Puterile mele o vor trezi la viață, așa cum se trezește la viață întreaga natură după trecerea mea."

Femeia mulțumi și se apuca de lucru. Dar caierul îi ardea degetele și-i era cu neputință să rasucească un firicel cât de mic. Începu să plângă cu lacrimi grele și aproape că nu bagă de seama când o altă caleașcă de zăpadă se opri în dreptul colibei. Era Crăiasa Iarna, care dispărea cu iuțieală dinspre sat spre pădure și care, auzind necazul femeii, zise...

- "Ține caierul acesta de zăpadă... Răcoarea lui va potoli fierbițeala celui de foc. Răsucește-le laolaltă, poate așa îți pot fi de folos și eu."

Femeia mulțumi din tot sufletul și se puse pe tors. Torcea laolalta fir roșu de foc cu fir alb de zăpadă și astfel ispravi de tors cele doua caiere. Iar după ce duse la capat lucrul, legă o fundiță de pieptul fetiței. Aceasta îndată prinse putere și culoare în obrajori, sări din pat și-și îmbrățișă cu drag mama.
De atunci, în fiecare prag de primăvară, femeia împletea fundițe alb-roșii, împărțindu-le oamenilor din sat, să le aducă sanatate și bucurii.

● Reminder: a brief historical background info about “Mărțișor” (March 1)

The name “Mărțișor” (mərt͡siˈʃor) is the diminutive of “Marț”, the old folk name for March (“martie”, in modern Romanian language), & literally means "the little March". The actual “Mărțișor” is made of a small decorative object, tied to a white & red string, with two hanging tassels, which is offered customarily on the 1st day of March to girls, women & men (in some parts of the country) as it is believed that the wearer will stay strong & healthy throughout the entire year ahead. In the old times “Mărțișor” was regarded more as a protective talisman, but in modern days, &especially in the urban areas, most of its talisman properties got lost and “Mărțișor” became more of a symbol of friendship, love, appreciation & respect, as well as a symbol of the coming spring in addition to the snowdrop flowers.

● Few relaxing moments: 
“E primăvară, iarăşi primăvară!” (Interpreter: Tudor Gheorghe) – audio   |  “Rapsodii de primăvară” (Interpreter: Tudor Gheorghe) – audio   

● Previous events I organized featuring “Mărțișor”– 2024, 2023, 2022,  2021, 2020, 2019

● My previous greetings on the same theme: “MĂRȚIȘOR” – 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019

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). 

Asking QUESTIONS

I truly believe that one of life's most treacherous races is to live without any questions, to live without any curiosity, to live without any novelty – in other words to live a “flat” life….

Without any doubt, nobody would desire hardship or suffering, but if life is lived without any horizon, flooded only with inner laziness (“blasé” style), or indifference, easily it could become quite dull and depressing.

Further pondering upon these concepts, here are some additional thoughts:

- When you no longer have questions, you no longer look "up", but "down" and you might be tempted to believe that this is enough

- When you run out of questions, you end up believing that you don't have any questions because you have all the answers, which is a big error

- When you run out of questions, nothing can convince you of anything else; most of the time the obvious could be in front of you and you might not be able to see it (which is often the case)

- When you no longer have questions, you lose your candor and humility

- When you let go of candor and humility, you automatically adopt sufficiency, and you become enough

- When you become enough, you become arrogant…and arrogance manifests right before decay.

In order to avoid sliding on this down spiral, scholars believe that doing the following might be helpful to correct yourself:

- Cultivate an inquiring and humble spirit

- Understand that no one can have all the answers, but at least keep your sense of wonder, which would keep you “alive”, and more than anything, would make you loop up more often…

“The ability to ask questions is the greatest resource in learning the truth.” (C. Jung)