Mărțișor, symbol of Spring

Today, 1 March, I will be wearing a Romanian symbol of spring, the Mărțișor (pronouced mer-tsi-shor, literally 'little March', from Martie - March - with the diminutive -șor). The tradition varies in different parts of Romania so I will describe it as I learned it in the north east part of Romania where I 'grew up', the Bucovina. 
On this day, women give men a symbol of Spring, in its simplest and most traditional form just red and white threads of wool tied in a bow, pinned on clothing or it can be worn around the wrist. Nowadays, it often has some small 'talisman' attached, this thought to derive from a tradition of having a gold coin tied to it (you can see that we have a common good luck symbol)
There is not agreement on what the red and white threads symbolise but together they are certainly a wish that a healthy, happy start in Spring will continue throughout the coming year. Tradition dictates that it is worn until the 31 March, then tied to the branch of a tree (or when the buds and blossoms of Spring begin to appear).
Though this year I will be wearing just one, when I was teaching in Romania every pupil would bring one for each teacher - half a dozen classes with around 30 pupils in each; you can imagine what I looked like at the end of the day! 
There is another tradition on this day too, linked to a legend about Baba Dochia (old woman Dochia). We choose a day from 1st to 9th of March; the weather through that day signifies how our year will be in terms of health and happiness. I haven't chosen mine yet.
Don't worry, the women do not lose out. The men give them a Mărțișor on the 8th of March, celebrated in a big way as 'Women's Day' throughout Romania (though in many parts of Romania women have also received their Mărțișoare on 1 March). Of course 8 March is International Women's Day but when I was in Romania almost no one knew that, this being a far newer designation than the Romanian tradition. It was a special day for me personally as it was the day I first arrived in Romania, in 1993, and I was immediately immersed in this tradition.
I will no doubt return to this theme on 8 March and probably take the opportunity to remind blipcentral again that it would be a good idea to appoint not just one new director as stated but two, both women, and so redress the current gender imbalance.