March the Skinner and bad stake burner
Why March is not the first month of the year, why is it nicknamed "the skinner" and what color thread must one wear to protect oneself.
March is Unreliable
March is the first moonth (yes, I wrote “moonth” cause months are based on moons really) of the year since it normally hosts a new moon in Aries, the cardinal sign that is the baby of the zodiac and the initiator of spring.
In Greece the month March is also called “The skinner” among other names. There are a lot of stories around March, and how he lost his place from being the first month of the year (I guess January got him drunk and took his place). For this article, I want to focus on some of the lore that is spread throughout the Balkans and the way I see pulling the story threads to braid meaning into our ancestral practices.
Firstly, March is at the point of the year in the northern hemisphere where random cold draughts and even snow share the stage with luscious sunny days. For this reason, we have a saying in Greece “March the skinner and the bad stake burner” - it’s because the month is unreliable. It could bring a cold wind that could skin you alive and drop the temps so much that you would have to cut up your wooden fence and burn the stakes in order to stay warm. The assumption is that by March you’re out of firewood and you’ll need to use whatever other resource you have laying around.
Don't let March burn you
We have this tradition in Greece (and other parts of the Balkans) where we wear hand-made red and white threaded bracelets from the 1st to the 31st of March. There could be many reasons behind this. The mainstream reason is that you wear it as a talisman so “March doesn’t burn you” during one of those intensely surprising sunny days (we’ve already established March is unreliable). At the end of March, we take these off and leave them on the trees so the swallows can take them for their nests, as they have obviously returned and kick off the official season of spring.
In Greek folk practice, mostly everything that is magic related has to do with the evil eye. It is known that you need to wear something blue to protect yourself from it and you use blue to clear it. It’s also known that blue-eyed folks give the evil eye easier than others and the blue eye serves as a talisman to ward the evil eye off.
So, why are the March bracelets red and white?
Again, very unclear as it relates to ancient folklore but this seems to be a remnant from ancient Greece. In the myth around Thesseus and the Minotaur, the hero’s journey involves Thesseus having to find the center of the maze built by Deadalus (he also built the famous wax wings of the whole “don’t fly too close to the sun” thing) on the island of Crete and slay the Minotaur. There he is assisted by Ariadne, known for the ball of thread she gave him to find his way back to her and safety. The thread has a serious Greek word -mitos- and it is red.
During the Eleusian mysteries, a ritual that occurred every year in the Fall and had to do with the Underworld, and in which every citizen of Athens participated (more on that soon), the initiates used to wrap a red string around their left ankle and their right wrist. Red again.
Next, there is a myth about the battle between the sun and mortals and trying to get the sun to be more reliable in the month of March, during which great warriors were felled spilling their red blood on the snow-covered earth. Red and white.
The thread the Moirai - the Fates - weave, spin, and cut at their leisure while observing and creating the lives of all - mortals and gods - is also red.
Lastly, in folk tales and storytelling practices, kids have a little incantation they chant before the storyteller can start weaving the story:
Twirled crimson thread Whirled on a wheel Now kick to make it spin So our tale may begin.
My suspicion is that a combination of all these have led to red being the color you call upon when it relates to magic or witchcraft, not the later evil eye hexing. This is rooted in a deeper knowing of the people of this place. The Minoan civilization on Crete was thriving during the Bronze Age. The evil eye seems to be a later addition to the folk practices of the land. The red and white thread to protect from March seems to be more ancient yet less clear on its magic.
If you want to partake in this practice make sure your bracelet is homemade so you can weave into it the protection you desire. And don’t forget to leave it on a rose bush when you see the swallows return!
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