The first signs of spring are in the air in Greece, and Greeks will soon prepare to welcome the new season by celebrating an ancient annual custom. The tradition of ‘Martis’ requires that everyone, regardless of age or gender, wear bracelets of red and white thread, called a ‘Kroki’, from March 1 until the last day of the month on March 31.

The bracelet must be threaded on the last day of February. The white thread is meant to symbolise purity, while the red thread represents life and passion and is believed to help protect the wearer’s skin from the coming months of strong Greek sunshine!

The tradition requires that once the person wearing the bracelet sees the first blossoming tree of the spring, they tie the red and white bracelet to the flowering tree to ensure it will be fruitful and healthy.

Another tradition is that when the first swallow appears returning from migration to welcome the spring, the person wearing the bracelet should tie it around a rose bush to encourage the bird to make its nest there.

The ancient tradition of Martis (from which the month of March derives its name) dates back to the cults of Demeter and Persephone, which are believed to have arisen from religious practices performed in the Mycenean period of ancient Greece (1600-1100 BC). It was in the ancient city of Eleusis where the cult’s secret rites were performed each year. As a form of initiation into the cult, (which was one of the Eleusinian Mysteries), the faithful wore a ‘Kroki’ around both their right wrist and left ankle.

Amazingly, the ancient tradition still lives on today in modern Greece.