Ever wondered if the weather could predict your luck for the entire year? Well, in Romania, we don’t just check our horoscopes—we let Babele (The Old Women) decide!
This quirky tradition, celebrated every year between March 1st and 9th, is a mix of folklore, superstition, and pure weather-driven anxiety. It’s fun, it’s random, and it’s the closest thing we have to a personal weather-based fortune-teller.
What Are Babele and Where Do They Come From?
Babele (which literally means “The Old Women”) originates from the legend of Baba Dochia, a cranky old lady who defies the seasons. The story goes that she set out on a journey wearing nine heavy coats, thinking winter would last forever. But as the weather warmed up, she kept peeling them off—until a sudden cold snap froze her solid. Talk about bad timing!
Over time, this legend evolved into a fun yearly tradition where people choose a “Baba” (one of the nine days) to predict their year ahead.
How It Works: Pick Your Fortune Day
Here’s the game:
* Pick a day between March 1st and March 9th—this is your Baba.
* The weather on that day is supposed to predict your year.
* Sunny and warm? Congrats! A lucky and joyful year awaits.
* Cold, rainy, or snowy? Oof… buckle up for a challenging one.
You can either choose your Baba randomly or use your birth date (by adding the digits together until you get a number between 1-9). For example, if you were born on December 15 (1+5 = 6), your Baba is on March 6th.
A National Obsession (With a Side of Drama)
Every year, social media explodes with Romanians sharing their Babele results like weather-based prophecies. If your Baba is sunny, you gloat. If it’s stormy, you pretend you don’t believe in superstitions (but secretly, you worry).
Even TV stations and newspapers report on which cities had the luckiest and unluckiest Babele, turning this into a nationwide weather-forecast-meets-lottery game.
Just for Fun… Or Is It?
While Babele is mostly a fun tradition, it reflects a deeper connection between Romanians and nature’s cycles. Spring’s unpredictable weather makes the perfect metaphor for life—sometimes sunny, sometimes stormy, but always surprising.
So, have you checked your Baba yet? Was it lucky or do you need to bribe the weather gods next year?
