It’s March, folks! Time to wear the ‘Martis!’

My mother, Ioanna, was a seamstress. Every March 1st, when my sister and I were little, she would call us to where she sat at her sewing machine and hand us red and white thread for us to twirl them around each other and make our ‘Martis’. She would then put this crude bracelet around our wrists, tie it up, and say, ‘Here you go! Now the sun won’t burn you this coming summer!’

I presume this happened all over Greece at the time, as I recall many kids wearing the Martis in school, and they all looked exactly the same. They are like the ones closest to my wrist in the picture. Anyway, back in the 70s, marketing wasn’t what it is today, and it was unheard of to buy a Martis. You just had to make one yourself.

These days, this old Greek custom is really hard to ignore, seeing that you see them on display in the shops everywhere, and they come in both basic and elaborate designs, many full of beads and metallic parts, and ‘eye’ beads to, to help ward off the ‘evil eye.’

According to the custom, the Martis (i.e. March, in Greek) is to be worn from March 1st until March 31, then you’re supposed to hang it on a flowering tree or bush. As I mentioned earlier, the bracelet is said to provide protection against the strong sun in the coming summer.

There are variations to the myth, though. According to one, the Martis also provides protection from disease. And, another tradition calls for taking off the bracelet as soon as you see a swallow for the first time in the spring. Having just returned from its southern refuge during winter, the swallow will be looking for somewhere to make a nest. Tradition then calls for placing the bracelet on a rose bush in your garden to encourage the swallow to make a nest nearby.

Apparently, this custom is thousands of years old, deriving from the ancient Eleusian Mysteries that were related to the worship of goddess Dimitra (goddess of agriculture) and her daughter, Persephone. No one really believes the threads will offer any kind of protection these days, obviously, but customs are important. They unite people together, create a relation, and bring back precious childhood memories, too.

For me, tradition is important, and in today’s dark world that seeks to globalize and blend everything together, I believe nations should strive harder than ever before, to protect each, their own identity. So I am wearing my Martis with pride for another year, and I am thinking of my mother.

The bracelet with the blue bead that you can see in the photograph was an impulsive buy of hers as a gift to me. She bought one for each of us when I took her to a store one day, a few years back, while she was in the thick of it, battling cancer. Now that she is gone I cherish it, and I always will.

And that is the meaning and the value of customs.

Please hold on to your traditions. Cherish them and protect them.

If you’d like to get hold of a Martis to wear every year, you’ll find them on sale online and they can be shipped worldwide. Look for ‘Marti bracelet’ on places like Amazon or ETSY.

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