image found here Every year on March 1st Greek children from all over the world begin wearing their maptia. This is not to be confused with “matia” which means eyes or evil eyes, which we as Orthodox Christians do not believe in. Maptia is derived from the Greek word Maptios, which is the month of March.
Maptia are basically friendship bracelets tied from embroidery floss. Depending on which part of Greece you are from, there are several variations of this tradition.
In our tradition, we made the bracelets on March 1st out of any color string we wanted. When we were younger, our bracelets were fairly simple, usually just a braid. As we got older, they became more complex, usually looking something like this or this (photo below).
Then we tied them around our wrist and wore them until Holy Saturday. Before Divine Liturgy that night, my great-grandmother would cut them off of our wrists and tie them to the pan that the lamb would be cooked in. She would always tell us, “See, your bracelets will burn up and disappear just like our sins do because of Christ’s Resurrection.”
I’ve heard of some places in Greece where the children make their bracelets using only red and white, to symbolize the blood of Christ’s crucifixion and His Resurrection.
Other areas of Greece do not tie their bracelets to a pan but leave them outside for the swallows, or helidonia, to come and take them.
Before Ace started school we would sometimes pack a picnic lunch and go fly kites at the park and make our bracelets there. It was a lot of fun and it made it feel like a sort of celebration. Any way you celebrate it, it is a fun tradition that children look forward to.
Here are some links on how to tie different kind of maptia and other ways to celebrate March 1st:
Greek School USA–The Swallows are Coming!
Variation 1
Several Different Styles
I’ll post pictures of the ones we make today later this week! If your family celebrates this March 1st tradition I’d love to hear how you celebrate!
Have a great day! Kalo Mina!!
Wow, i used to make these in high school…I didn't even know that they use them in Greece. I plan to show them to my teen soon!Thanks for the post!
I love this! I'm not familiar with this tradition, but it was great to learn about it. Thanks as always.
Actually, this tradition is more a superstition with pagan roots. Many such things people attempt to convert to be within the church. It is a "Yiayiasma", an old village tradition passed on by well meaning grandmothers."On March 1st, it is customary for mothers to braid bracelets for their children. These bracelets are called ‘Martis’. They are made of red and white string and are tied onto the wrists of the children.The superstition is that the children wear these bracelets so that the sun of early spring doesn’t burn their cheeks. The bracelet is red and white, symbolic of rosy cheeks yet a white complexion.The bracelets are worn until the Midnight Mass of the Greek Orthodox Easter. When the traditional bonfires are lit, the bracelets are removed and thrown into the fires."http://www.faliraki-info.com/susie/superstitions/tranditions.htm
How neat! I read this yesterday, then my girls came home from Greek School this afternoon telling me about the red and white strings tied around their wrists ;o) Of course, the funniest thing is that their Greek School teacher hadn't ever heard of Kyra Sarakosti lololol! Being a boring white person, I always tend to assume that ALL Greek traditions are done by ALL Greeks – silly I know, but I love learning about so many different traditions, even ones that aren't popular in this communtiy =)
My yiayia, who lives with us part time now, told me about how I March 1 they would make a little ring out of red and white string and wear it for a while. When I asked her why, she said basically to not get burned by the sun. I had never heard of that tradition before — I am glad to learn about the truth of her experience! I agree that there are many things which start out as non-Christian traditions/folklore, which can be "coverted" so to speak. I personally think this is a wonderful way for us to live "in the world" and participate in our culture without being "of the world". Aren't Christmas trees a wonderful example of this as well?
We make ours in red and white and they are quite basic, white and red floss twisted around each other. In my maternal family we used to burn them after the Christos Anesti. In my husband's family they didn't have the custom. In the town we live in, custom has it to leave the Martitsi for the swallows to build their nests. I am so glad you gave me a Christian explanation as to why we burn them: what a great meaning!