The word ‘ethimo‘ (custom) comes from ‘ethos‘ which means ‘habit’ while on a deeper spiritual level points towards the guiding beliefs of a person, or group and customs are recurring habits over the years and include tradition, folklore, history, memory, nostalgia, and are the links between the modern life and the past. These liminal moments in time, are instructive for young and old alike, have their own stories to tell and many more to create.
The Easter season, whether one embraces its religious significance or not, consists of days devoted to customs. Customs that have travelled through the centuries, enriched by the factor of locality, adapted to the circumstances of the social situation and arrived in our days, ready to become red eggs, bright balloons or freshly baked buns.
EASTER CAROLS
In the public consciousness, the custom of carols is associated with Christmas and the hymn prologuing a good omen or announcing joyful news. However, there are also the Easter carols (Pashalina kalanta) which are sung on the Saturday of Lazarus, Good Thursday and Good Friday in various regions of Greece.
LAZARUS SATURDAY CAROLS
On Lazarus Saturday, in many regions of Greece, the customary events begin with ‘kalantises’. The ‘kalantises‘ are groups of girls wearing highly decorated traditional costumes visit homes carrying Lazarus effigies and decorated baskets to sing carols.
Families donate unpainted eggs to the young girls to be painted on Good Thursday, as well as nuts, sweets and money.
Also on this day, housewives prepare sweet, fasting pastries called ‘Lazarakia‘ or ‘Lazaroudia‘ which they give to the children who sing carols.
GOOD THURSDAY CAROLS
There are not only carols on Lazarus Saturday. On Good Thursday, children sing carols in many parts of Greece, even in Athens. These are mournful carols announcing the crucifixion of Christ, usually performed by young boys who are given unpainted eggs, nuts and money.
GOOD FRIDAY CAROLS
Good Friday carols have been sung for centuries in various parts of the country. Children go around the neighbourhoods singing the ‘Mourning of the Virgin Mary’, lamenting the aftermath of the Crucifixion of our Lord. In some areas, children bring a flower wreath with them, which they then use to decorate the epitaph, while in others they bring a reeded cross.
«Η Παναγιά η Δέσποινα καθόταν μοναχή της,
τας προσευχάς της έκανε για το Μονογενή της.
Φωνή εξήλθ’ εξ ουρανού υπ’ αρχαγγέλου στόμα
σώνουν Κυρά μου οι προσευχές, σώνουν και οι μετάνοιες
και τον Υιό Σου πιάσανε και στον φονιά τον πάνε».
“The Virgin Holy Mother was sitting alone,She prayed for her only begotten.
A voice came from heaven from the mouth of an archangel
Save my Lady, the prayers, save the penances
and they have taken thy Son and brought him to the slayer.”
THE CUSTOM OF THE HAMOCK
In some parts of the country, on Easter Sunday, the custom of the hammock is revived to this day, a custom with its roots lost in the depths of antiquity where it was associated with healing practices that today is associated with good luck and fertility.
A makeshift swing is tied to the door of the house or to a tree in front of it. The grandfather or grandmother of the family puts a wreath of flowers on young girls’ heads as a symbol of good luck, a red egg in one pocket as a symbol of life and fertility, and a stone in the other pocket as a symbol of health. All the girls in turn climb into the hammock and sway to the sound of the song sung by their grandparents, the lyrics of which wish them a good life.
BUTTING EGGS
In Northern Greece and specifically in the village of Kastanousa located in Kerkini; as well as in the community of Krinides of the municipality of Kavala; in Thrylorio of Rodopi Prefecture; in Mylopotamos of Drama; and in Ano Agios Ioannis in Pieria, the inhabitants are provided with thirty red eggs each and the annual ‘Egg Fights’ begin. The contestants start with an eggs each which they hold in their first and battle each other, moving from person to person butting eggs using both sides of the egg. The winner is the one who, at the end of the battle, is left with the least number of broken eggs.
THE RAIN DANCE
Another special custom is the ‘Dance of Rain’, in the village of Kalyvia Limenaria inThassos, which has its roots in the Dionysian mysteries. The dance is an invocation for spring rain. According to the custom, the residents perform the tradition on the third day of Easter. The ecstatic dance is followed by a communal rich meal with meat and rice cooked in huge pots.
THE ‘MAZIDIA’
One of the oldest Greek Easter customs is the ‘Mazidia’ which survives to this day in the small community of Eleftheres which belongs in the Municipality of Paggaio, in the Kavala regional unit. People carry in procession the icons from the Byzantine church of Agios Taxiarchis to the chapel of Saints Raphael, Irene and Nicholas, where they perform the ‘artoklasia’.
The Blessing of Five Loaves, or Artoklasia, is a brief service of thanksgiving through which Orthodox Christians express gratitude for all the blessings of life. Oil, wine, wheat, and the loaves of bread which are used in the service, are viewed as the most basic elements necessary for life.
The consecration of the offerings aims to secure the blessing of the cultivation season. The villagers then return the icons to the church and celebrate with traditional Greek dances and home-cooked food in the village square.
THE SACRED WASHING OF THE FEET
The ceremony of Holy Niptiras (washbasin) takes place every Holy Thursday at noon on the island of Patmos. It is a re-enactment of the act of Jesus, who humbled himself and washed the feet of his disciples before the Last Supper. Once the Divine Liturgy is over at the Monastery of St John the Theologian, a procession starts heading to the Chora (main town) of Patmos. At the top of the procession is the icon of the Nymphios (Jesus), held by two monks. It is followed by the abbot of the monastery and behind it the priests, monks and a crowd of people. The streets where the procession passes are lined with flowers. When the procession reaches the Town Hall Square, 12 priests representing the Disciples of Christ line up two by two and are led to Xanthos Square, where the ceremony of the Holy Communion takes place. The abbot, representing Christ, is the last to be led to the location.
In Xanthos Square a large platform, decorated with flowers, has been set up, on which there are 12 chairs for the priests, a throne for the abbot and a table with a silver basin containing water. A reading is given from the Holy Gospel of John, in which the events of the Last Supper are described. As the monk reads the Gospel, the priest representing Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. At the end of the ceremony, the procession returns to the Monastery of St. John the Theologian.
THE ‘TEARS OF THE VIRGIN MARY’
In Amfissa, an interesting Easter custom of Roumeli takes place. It is called ‘Tears of the Virgin Mary’. At noon on Good Friday, all of Amfissa sits in cafes, taverns and restaurants to consume Lenten food without oil and large quantities of tsipouro and ouzo, which are the tears in question.
THE CUSTOM OF ‘ROMANA’
In the village of Arkitsa, on the second day of Easter, we find the custom of ‘Romana’. Women in local costumes, singing the ‘Romana’ song, collect money and materials to make traditional pies. The same afternoon at the church of Agios Georgios, to the sound of traditional music, they offer the pies they have prepared.