What is the true meaning and what are the origins of the month of March? As the Accademia delle Crusca explains, the name derives from the Latin “Martius”, which in turn derives from Mars, “Mars”, a divinity originally linked to agriculture, who only later was identified with the Greek god of war Ares.
March is known as the most unpredictable and changeable month of the year and in fact a whole series of proverbs highlight this characteristic. Like the popular saying that goes:
Crazy March look at the sun and take an umbrella.
The same thing is said about those born in March, often described as people with a fickle temperament.
Month of March: curiosities
In the Julian and Gregorian calendar it corresponds to the third month of the year, while in the ancient Roman calendar it was the first month of the year, celebrated with a whole series of rituals and celebrations.
On March 1st, for example, there was a celebration in honor of the goddess Juno, mother of Mars, while March 5th was the turn of Isis, the Egyptian goddess of life and resurrection.
On March 15th the new year was celebrated with the feast of Anna Perenna, an ancient Roman goddess who presided over the perpetual renewal of the year. At the time, at the behest of Romulus, the year was divided into 10 months, whose names corresponded to those of the gods to whom they were dedicated.
March: rituals in other European countries
Baba Marta: on March 1st in Bulgaria spring is celebrated with red and white threads
While in Italy March 1st goes almost unnoticed, in Bulgaria it is one of the most awaited days of the year. We celebrate the feast of Baba Marta, an ancient tradition according to which we exchange gifts martenitsa: small weaves of red and white threads, in the shape of a bracelet or wool doll, a symbol of health, happiness and good omen for the coming season. Tradition dictates that they are worn for the whole month, until the first swallow or stork of the season is spotted. Only then are they removed and hung on a flowering tree, as a symbolic gesture to welcome spring. A simple and powerful ritual, which has its roots in the same desire for rebirth that unites cultures that are very distant from each other.
The Fallas of Valencia: burning to be reborn
From 2 to 19 March, the city of Valencia is transformed into a unique show in the world. They are the Fallas: over 700 enormous cardboard and wood sculptures, built for months by the inhabitants of the various neighborhoods with obsessive care, are set on fire in a single night in a blaze of fireworks and music. The origins of this festival are pagan — carpenters burned the wooden lamps used during the long winter months as a ritual propitiating the arrival of spring. The exact same spirit that pushed the ancient Romans to celebrate the new year in March: destroy the old to make room for the new. A tradition recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
March, the month of the spring equinox
March is also the time of the spring equinox, which usually falls between the 19th and 21st of the month, an astronomical event during which the sun’s rays are perpendicular to the Earth’s rotation axis. Since ancient times, the equinox has been celebrated with festivals and rituals because it marks the transition to spring, and is therefore considered a symbol of rebirth and fertility.
Even today in India, in this period, the famous Holi Festival is celebrated, an ancient Hindu celebration during which people take to the streets, covering their bodies with colored powders, and coloring everyone they meet. And in Mexico thousands of people reach the Pyramid of Kukulkan to admire the “serpent” that crawls along its steps.
The spring equinox and the (surprising) connection with Easter
The spring equinox has for centuries been the point of reference for calculating one of the most important religious holidays in the Christian world. The date of Easter, in fact, is not random: it is celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after March 20, the conventional day of the equinox. A direct link between astronomy and religion that few know, but which reveals how this moment of the year has been considered sacred and full of meaning in every era and culture. In 2026 the equinox falls on March 20th around 4pm, when the Sun is positioned perpendicular to the equator and day and night are almost perfectly equal – a balance that has always fascinated human beings and pushes them to stop, celebrate and start again.
March and the climate: the “crazy” gets hotter and hotter
The proverb “crazy March, look at the sun and take an umbrella” seems more relevant today than ever, but with a paradox: March is becoming structurally warmer. Recent years confirm this — 2023 was the fourth warmest March in recent history, 2024 the third, 2025 the second. The clash between the last cold air masses coming from northern Europe and the first mild subtropical currents generates that instability that our grandparents knew well, and from which even a verb was born: marchused to describe capricious and unpredictable weather. An ancient term which, paradoxically, seems to better and better describe the climate of our time.
Rituals to do in March
With the arrival of March we finally begin to breathe the air of spring and therefore of rebirth. This is why many of the rituals practiced in this period have to do with renewal.
