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March and its three plagues

March and its first day carry magical power because it was believed that then “the resurrection of nature” takes place.
Before the designation of  January 1st, March 1st was the beginning of the year.
That is why it was also described as the “great hour of the year“. 

At 1st March it was said that “the charcoal falls from the sky in order to warm the frozen earth and  from that moment the warm period of the year starts“.  That’s why the sun of March burns like charcoal. The only protection was the “magic circle“: White and red threads, and sometimes also a gold one, twisted in a circle was the most effective amulet.

People wore it, tied it to the handle of a pitcher in order to keep the water cold, the engaged girls used to give it to their fiancée….

If the sun of March was one of the problems that come with March, it was not considered the worst problem. The biggest problem were the Drimes. The people believed that they were demonic spirits of the water, who made their appearance in the first six days of the month and they harmed people, wood and clothes. That’s why they didn’t wash their hair,  didn’t wash their clothes and didn’t cut wood. And it was even better if they threw a horseshoe in the water because they believed that metal chased evil spirits away.

 

The third and last evil that was brought on March 1st was that it was not just the heat, but everything that went along with it. Since together with the heat all the bugs come along: fleas, mosquitoes, …
In order to drive them out, the day before, children were going from home to home (just like with Christmas today), beating cans against each other to make noise and singing.
Housewives cleaned the house and never forgot to break a clay pot on the doorstep. With all this noise they believed that they chase the evil spirits away.

March is said to be named by the god of the Romans, Mars, who was the god of war. However, this god had also a good side because before he was connected with war, he had the power to make the year go well. That is why he breathed a new breath of life flowed into plants and trees and made the earth re-grow.

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