The Legend of the Martisor and What Can We Learn From It

THE LEGEND OF THE MARTISOR

On the edge of a village, in a shabby looking hut, there lived a woman and her daughter. To earn money for feeding themselves, the monther was spinning wool for the other people in the village. But whatever she made in a day, she had to spend on medicine for her very ill daughter.

One day, while she was spinning all that wool and crying about her misfortune, the woman saw a firy carriage racing from the forrest to the village. The Spring Princess was passing by and, as she heard her, stopped and asked why she was so upset.

Finding out about the child’s illness, the Princess said: “Hold this firy spindle and spin a thin thread out of it, then tie a small bow and pin it to the child’d chest. Her strenght will come back to life, as does the whole nature after I pass through it.”

The woman thanked her and started working on the new thread. But the spindle burned her fingers and she was unable to spin even the smallest of threads. She once more started crying and almost didn’t realise when another snowy carriage stopped right in front of her hut.

The Snow Queen was rushing from the village to the forest and couldn’t help hearing her cry. Coming near the woman, she said: “Here, take this icy spindle. Its coolness will calm the burning of the firy one you already have. Spin them together, at the same time, maybe that will serve you well.”

The woman thanked the Snow Queen and got back to her spinning. The red, firy thread was mixing with the icy, snow-white one and in no time, she finished spinning the two spindles.

Then, she tied a small bow and pinned it to her daughter’s chest. The little one instantly got better, her cheeckbones were all rosy. She jumped right out of bed and tighlty hugged her mother.

From that day onwards, every spring, the woman spinned little red-white bows and was gifting them to all the people in the village, with the hope of bringing them joy, health and happiness.


WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM IT

This was a time of legends, where everything was possible, even our wildest dreams. But the story has a hidden message, as all old tales do. No matter the hardships we face in life, if we manage to balance our blessings and our missfortunes, pain with comfort and hope with real actions, there’s no telling what we can fullfill.

There’s no trick here. Just hard work, sacrifice, humbleness and acceptance. With time, it will all get better, even spectacularly better, but we must keep going, no matter how long it takes or what hardship we may face throughout our journey.

This is a message of hope, of renewal, of starting again fresh. It’s a time to welcome spring into our lives. In Romania, this day is called Martisor. Custom says that every boy or man has to gift small red and white ribbons to the girls and women in their lives, as a symbol of renewal, affection and consideration.

Purely by coincidence, SMart Choice’s brand colors are red and white. So that made me think about gifting you this short story, seamed with red and white threads, as a means to bring a smile to your face and some warmth in your heart.

It’s all going to be OK in the end. All things are a wave. Let them go, open your heart to happiness and renewal.

Happy Martisor Day!

Sincerely,

Alexandra