Old Women's Days

A legend tells that once, long time ago, lived a bad-hearted woman named Dochia. In one of the last days of winter, he sent hers daughter-in-law on mountain to collect strawberries, even if outside was still very cold and high snow. With the wonders of God, the girl could could fulfill the commandment of hers mother-in-law and and returned home unharmed by the cold of the harsh winter. Believing that spring has come, old Dochia climbed the mountain with the sheep, and took nine sheepskin, waistcoats. March began with a few warm days, and she gradually dropped a waistcoat every day. But after she lost the last waistcoat, cold days returned; naked, Dochia has frozen along with her sheep and turned into rocks. In Bucegi Mountains, there are some rough assemblies which local legend says that are a representative of the old Dochia with hers sheep.


In the popular mentality, the first nine days of March are called Zilele Babelor (Old Women's Days), the transition period from winter to spring. Everyone must choose a day (his Old Woman), and if the chosen day is warm and sunny, the year to come will be a good one, else if the day is bleak and rainy the year will be full of trouble and disagreeable. In this period, the weather is unstable as the old women nature.