Priecīgus Mārtiņus! (Warning, this is a dense post - but I promise you'll learn about a bunch of really cool holidays and traditions you've probably never heard of before!)
Mārtiņi (Martin's Day) is the name of
the festival celebrated in Latvia on November 10th, marking the end
of the fall and the beginning of winter. Halfway between the autumnal equinox
and the winter solstice, in ancient Latvia Mārtiņi
marked the passage from veļu laiks (season
of the spirits) to ledus laiks
(season of ice). By Mārtiņi it was
expected that all preparations for winter were finished, such as salting meat
and fish, storing the harvest and making preserves. This day also marked the
beginning of mumming and sledding, among other winter activities. Mummers, also
called ķekatas and budeļi, are costumed and wearing masks,
traveling from home to home bringing their blessing, encouraging fertility, and
scaring away any evil spirits.
 |
| The seasons and their associated deities and symbols - source here |
As
with many of the ancient Latvian holidays, there are certain ways to tell your
fortune for the following year. For example, young, unmarried girls must toss
their skirt into the middle of the room before going to bed; the one she dreams
picks up the skirt is the one she will marry. Superstitions were also numerous;
supposedly to guarantee the health of the horses through the harsh winter a
rooster should be killed in the stables. Coincidentally it is tradition to
sacrifice a rooster in Ireland as well; the blood was collected and sprinkled
on the four corners of the house to bring fortune in the following year.
 |
| Everything you might need to know about the holiday can be found in this book |
For
Latvia’s neighbor to the north, Estonia, Mardipäev
symbolizes the merging of Western European customs with local Balto-Finnic
pagan traditions. Mardipäev marks the
end of the period of All Souls in the Estonian popular calendar - the season when
the souls of ancestors were worshiped, which lasted from November 1 to 11th).
On this day the end of the agrarian year & autumn is observed, and the beginning of the
winter period is celebrated. Children
disguise themselves as men and go from door to door singing songs and telling
jokes to receive sweets, similar to the processions occurring in Austria,
Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, where children go through the streets
with paper lanterns and candles.
Historically
a widespread custom in Germany on Martinstag
was to have a bonfire, called the Martinsfeuer.
Still lit in a few cities and villages throughout Europe, it symbolizes the
light that holiness brings to the darkness just as St. Martin brought hope to
the poor through his good deeds. It is believed that the procession of lanterns
replaced the large bonfires over time. Traditional foods include Martinsgans (St. Martin’s goose) and Martinshörnchen, a pastry shaped in the
form of a croissant symbolizing the hooves of St. Martin's horse.
As we
see with the German version, the day has blended the pagan with the Christian;
the resulting variety of traditions is something we see across the continent.
November 11th is the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, honoring the
friend of children and patron of the poor. In Slovakia, the Feast of St. Martin
is like a 2nd birthday for those named after the saint; they are
given small presents or money. However it is also a day of foretelling the
future, as if it snows then there will be snow on Christmas. This is a theme
that repeats itself in the Czech Republic where the first half of November is
the time when it often starts to snow. Czechs roast goose and drink Svatomartinské vino, a young wine from
the recent harvest. Wine, a symbol of the harvest, is a recurring theme also;
in Slovenia and Croatia the “must” (considered impure and sinful) is baptized
and turned into wine, while in Austria Martinloben
is celebrated as a harvest festival with wine tastings, art exhibitions and
live music.
 |
| St. Martin, source here |
In
Denmark Mortensaften is celebrated
with traditional dinners, most often goose as in many other countries on this
day, such as Sweden, where the entire day of Mårtensafton is a celebration of the goose. Other Martin’s Day
foods abound, such as the rogale croissants
in Poland. In Portugal magusto (chestnuts
roasted under the embers of the bonfire) and água-pé (an alcoholic beverage
which is a byproduct of wine) are consumed, as St. Martin's Day is the
celebration of the maturation of the year's wine. However in Spain the goose is
replaced by pork, in that St. Martin's Day is the traditional day for slaughtering
fattened pigs for the winter. In Switzerland the 5+ hour long Repas du Saint Martin includes all the
parts of freshly butchered pigs, while the Auvergne region of France (our home
while we lived in Clermont-Ferrand) traditionally hosts horse fairs instead of feasts on this day
– bringing us back full circle to the Latvian association of Mārtiņi to horses; on Mārtiņi we pass from the influence of Ūsiņš, the horse deity of summer, to that
of Mārtiņš, a winter deity.
 |
| The preparation of magusto in Portugal, source here |
In the
United Kingdom, St. Martin's Day is known as Martinmas, when historically cattle were slaughtered and preserved
for the winter. However
November 11th in England is now better known for being Remembrance Day,
commemorating the end of WWI and honoring those that serve in the military as
Veteran’s Day (US) and Armistice Day do.
 |
| The American cemetery in Normandy, France |
Whatever
it may be that you observe, Martinmas
or the Danish Mortensdag, Martinpäivä in Finland or the Feast of
Saint Martin, I wish you a beautiful day. Although we will be honoring our
veterans tomorrow, today we will celebrate Mārtiņi
– the first of many, as now we are blessed with a Mārtiņš of our very own, little Vilis Mārtiņš!
 |
The Mārtiņš symbol, source here
|
