MARTIS. WELCOMING MARCH WITH A GREEK TRADITION

Every year on March 1st Greek children from all over the world begin wearing their martis bracelets.

These bracelets are called ‘Martis’. The word ‘Martis’ is March, in greek.

They are made of red and white string and are tied onto the wrists. Folk superstition has that people wear these bracelets so that the sun of early spring does not burn their cheeks.

The color of these bracelets is red and white, symbolising rosy cheeks and a white complexion.

The bracelets are worn until the Midnight Mass of the Greek Orthodox Easter.

When the traditional bonfires are lit, the bracelets are removed and thrown into the fire.

The tradition of “Martis” dates back to Ancient Greece in Eleusis where secret religious rites of ancient Greece were preformed for the cult of Demeter and Persephone. In one of the Eleusinian Mysteries which served as an initiation for the cult, people wore a thread called a “kroki” around their right hand and left foot — and the ancient tradition lives on in Greece till today every March.

In ancient times, people believed that the bracelet helped protect the person who was wearing it from diseases as well as the strong rays of the spring sun in the month of March.

The tradition also entails that once the person wearing the bracelet sees the first blossoming tree of the spring, they tie the red and white bracelet to the flowering tree to yield a healthy harvest and keep the tree healthy.

Another tradition is that when the first swallow appears returning from migration to welcome the spring the person wearing the bracelet they tie it around a rose bush to encourage the bird to make its nest there.