It’s March!
Are you wearing red and white? I certainly hope so.
Otherwise, you’ll make Baba Marta angry.
Baba Marta is the Bulgarian spirit of the month of March. She is a mean old lady who’ll rain on you, and freeze you, if she doesn’t like you. February is her brother; he’s a drunkard, and lazy. He depends on Baba Marta so much that she made him give her some of her days (which is why he has twenty-eight, and she has thirty-one).
Here’s more information:
In folklore Baba Marta is presented as the wife or sister of Big Sechko (January) and Little Sechko (February). She is constantly unhappy with them; in different tales they drink her wine or do different mischiefs. She gets really angry and as a result the weather breaks.
One of the most popular tales tells us about an old lady, who took her goats out in the mountain. It was the end of March, the very last days of the month. The old lady was counting on Baba Marta for blessing her with good weather – she is as ancient as I am, the old lady thought to herself, she will have mercy. Baba Marta did anything but. She got so mad, asked her brother April to land her a few days and got them. These days are what we call “borrowed days”. Baba Marta set free all the blizzards and snowstorms and the old lady and her goats were frozen. They then became a pile of stones, from which healing water started running.
This version neglects to tell you that the old lady was frozen sitting down, and that the “healing water” was flowing from her crotch.
Happy March, everybody! And don’t forget to wear red and white. You do not want to piss off Baba Marta.
No comments:
Post a Comment