It's the first day of March today, meaning spring has just begun (hooray!) and I wanted to share a greek custom with you...

Every year on 1st March my grandma or my mum would make my sister and me bracelets with red and white thread. We were supposed to wear them for the whole month so we wouldn't get... burnt by the sun. Yes, you heard it right, we don't need sunblocks because we have our Μάρτη (martie) bracelets to protect our skin from the spring sun (a method scientifically approved and accepted by all dermatologists). You can also wear it as a ring (although I prefer the bracelets). At the end of the month, you cut it off and leave it on a rose or any other tree so that the swallows will take them to build their nests.

Why red and white? Because these colors are believed to fight negative energy from others against us, what we call μάτι (eye).

This custom with some variations can be found in other countries of the Balkan peninsula like Albania, Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria. The Romanian legend is really beautiful, allow me to share it with you:

The Sun had turned into a man and came down to earth, but a dragon kidnapped him and the world was left in darkness. The world was withering until a brave young man decided to confront the beast. The man beat the dragon and the Sun was set free, but he lost his life. His blood was poured onto the white winter snow and as an honor to his sacrifice people make a talisman from red and white thread to offer as a gift. The gift is worn from the 1st to the 31st March when it is hanged on a fruit-tree and is meant to bring good health and luck. [source]

If you want to learn more, you can check out wikipedia's article.

Do you want to make some with me and my trolls? Come on!

First, we take some red and white yarn or thread. You take measures of your wrist and cut the thread accordingly (you don't want it to be too tight).

Then, tie the one ending of the threads...

and start twirling them together to get this spiraling result.

Wrap around your wrist, tie and cut the edges.

Your protection against the sun's harmful UV rays is ready!

Here we made a Steemit Μάρτη! Do you like it?

*All images above by @ruth-girl

If you want, you can take it a step further and turn those simple bracelets into real pieces of jewelry just like my artist cousin does:

Images from my cousin's facebook page (I won't provide a link, because she asked me not to)

Question! Question Miss, why are there little eyes hanging?

In Greece people believe in what we call μάτι (matie = Eye). As I told you before, it is the negative energy from a person against you, it usually comes from envy. It can get you all sorts of bad things, from a headache to losing your job. Those little eyes hanging fromthe bracelets are supposed to keep the Bad Eye away. So is the blue bead you can sea (Βάλε χάντρα θαλασσιά - Put on a blue bead, a song says). Don't forget, a Μάρτης bracelet does not protect you only against the sun, but also against other people's bad feelings towards you.

To fight it off we have a procedure called ξεμάτιασμα (ksematiasma - basically means undoing the bad things the Eye does). The procedure involves for the ξεματιάστρα (ksematiastra - the person who knows how to perform it) saying a prayer, spilling some drops of olive oil over a small glass of water. As the drops fall on the water they may accumulate to form a great dot (that's when we say the person the prayer was meant for had the Eye on them). This person must then take three sips from this glass to break the bad energy's effect and the rest of the liquid is disposed off in a place where no ones steps (usually a flower pot).

Pretty cool, huh?

Of course what I just described is what my mother used to do (mock it or not, she did that to me back in the days when I was a cute, chubby kid and she thought I was so beautiful that people envied me and gave me a headache, I don't remember if it worked btw). And although it might sound contradictory, the Church has accepted the Eye and there are prayers for protection against it.

If you have made it to the end of this not so ruth-girl-like post, I'd like to listen to your views on my country's traditions.

Thank you so much for your time!

Until my next post,
Steem on and keep smiling, people!