New Year’s in Greece

December 31, 2007 at 14:16 · Filed under Culture

A pomegranate, an onion and a Vassilopita

New Year’s Day or Protochronia in Greece is midway through the 12 Days of Greek Christmas or Dodekaimero, which started on December 25 when Christ was born and culminates January 6 on Epiphany, the day of His baptism.

Traditions are based on Greek Orthodox Christian faith, just as Christmas customs in many nations are based on religion, although modern day commercialism has watered down customs and left many without a sense of why holidays are celebrated or how they originated. This was evident to me in researching this post.

I do not claim to be an expert on New Year’s in Greece, but I have done my utmost in interviewing, poring over sources written in both Greek and English and drawing on what I was taught during my years at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese.

This article does not discuss traditions unique to certain regions or islands of Greece, but provides a general overview in hopes we might recapture to the true meaning of New Year’s and its rich customs. *A complete description of the 12 days of Christmas will be published in 2010.

Morning of New Year’s Eve

From early morning, children of the neighborhood go door to door to ask permission to sing kalanta or carols to bring good wishes, announce the coming of St. Vassilis (Ag. Vassili) and bless the house (family). Most use triangles, harmonicas or bells and are given a coin as payment or reward.

In the past, kalanta were accompanied by dancing and flute music. Children carried lanterns (many in the form of small boats), did not ask permission and were given symbolic tokens depending on the household’s personal good wishes for the children: seeds or nuts for good crops, sweets for happiness, coins for wealth.

Parties bid each other, “Kai tou Xronou”(next year again).

New Year’s Eve — Circumcision of Christ; Waiting for Ag. Vassilis

The feast of the Circumcision of Christ is typically an all-night vigil combined with waiting for Ag. Vassili. It celebrates the first time Christ spilled his blood for mankind and the day that St. Vassilios died; Ag. Vassili the Great is remembered again on January 30 as part of the Three Holy Hierarchs.

St. Nicholas — patron saint of children and secret gift giver — is typically referred to as Santa Claus in other traditions and nations, since Ag. Vassili has nothing to do with children or gift giving, being a slim, pious theologian and patron saint of education. However, in the Greek tradition, Ag. Vassili is Father Christmas, and New Year’s Day is when people exchange gifts.

Welcoming the New Year

Families typically gather on New Year’s Eve to renew ties, welcome the new year together and partake in a number of traditions all having to do with good fortune, health/longevity and prosperity for a new stage of life.

In addition to a dinner of lamb or roast pork with an extra place set for Ag. Vassili at the table, everyone plays cards or other games of chance to not only pass the time until midnight, but also because it is considered a lucky night whether you win or lose. Many use euro cents to keep the game friendly.

The onion

An onion is typically hung on the front door on New Year’s Eve. With its many layers and ability to sprout new life even after it has been removed from the Earth, it is a symbol of rebirth and growth. Some wrap it in foil to deflect bad spirits and facilitate easier hanging.

On New Year’s morning, it is removed from the door by the mother or father and used to bonk the heads of children to wake them up for Ag. Vassili’s liturgy. The onion is then left inside to bring everyone good health and longevity.

*See Olga’s comment about the skeletoura or squill bulb.

‘Round midnight

Before the stroke of midnight, the lights are turned off to cast darkness on “the old” and all family members exit the home. A person considered lucky is selected and handed the pomegranate that had been hanging either on or above the door since Christmas.

When the new year turns, the pomegranate is smashed on the floor in front of the door or on the door itself to break it open and reveal an abundance of seeds symbolizing good fortune and prosperity (the more seeds, the more luck), the lights are turned on to cast light on “the new,” and everyone wishes each other “Kali Chronia” or “Chronia Polla.”

*Many wrap the pomegranate in foil or a plastic bag to minimize the splattering of juice, and some take the fruit to divine liturgy to be blessed before breaking it on the threshold on New Year’s Day.

Kalo Podariko – Getting off on the right foot

The same person, or another considered good or lucky — usually a child because their hearts are innocent and without malice — then steps into the home using the right foot (Καλό ποδαρικό or good foot), thus giving the family an omen of good luck for the new year. All other family members then follow, also entering with the right foot.

Why a pomegranate?

The pomegranate is a fruit with a history going back to ancient times and figures prominently in mythology. It is widely revered as a symbol of regeneration, fertility, prosperity and the inseparable marriage of life and death.

Duality of the pomegranate is best illustrated in the myth about Persephone, who was both daughter of Demeter (goddess of grain, harvest, seasons and fertility) and Demeter’s younger self. Hades, god of the underworld, abducted Persephone and would not let her return to Earth, thus leaving it barren and infertile in Demeter’s depression. When Zeus sent Hermes to retrieve Persephone, she had already eaten six pomegranate seeds, which committed her to return to the underworld for six months each year. The seasons of spring, summer and fall represent the six months when Persephone is happily reunited with Demeter on Earth.

Cutting of the Vassilopita

Cutting of the Vassilopita is a solemn ceremony taking place shortly after the new year has been welcomed. Filled with sweet or savory ingredients, traditionally decorated with the year written in almonds or walnuts (now frosting) on top, and sometimes accompanied by ‘Χ’ and ‘Π’ standing for Xronia Polla, it has a gold coin (now substituted with a euro coin or button wrapped in gold or silver foil) baked into the pita crust or filling, depending on the region of Greece.

The eldest person of the house cuts symbolic pieces for Christ, the Virgin Mary, Ag. Vassili, the church, the house, the poor and then a slice for each family member by age from eldest to youngest. Some also cut two additional slices for animals and Sparta, and some say there’s a slice for the business. Whoever gets the coin is said to have extra good luck all year.

The slices for Christ, the Virgin Mary, Ag. Vassili and the church are usually given to visitors to the home or the poor, in order to share good fortune with others.

*The order of slices varied by source, so I followed the order given to me by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese and the Archbishop.

Story of the Vassilopita

In the 4th century, Ag. Vassili was the Archbishop of Caesarea, an area of Cappadocia. A local tax collector came and demanded that all the citizens of Caesarea hand over their valuables, which caused them to pool everything together in a panic and give them to Ag. Vassili. When the tax collector saw the worried look of the Archbishop, he collected nothing and took his leave.

Ag. Vassili found it difficult to return all of the valuables to their rightful owners, so he asked parishioners to bake a lot of sweet breads, inside which he placed one valuable each. When he passed out the sweet breads the next day, everyone was pleasantly surprised to find the valuable inside belonged to them.

*Some sources say that cutting the Vassilopita is tied to honoring the god Chronos (Time), but I found no historical or biblical evidence to support this claim.

January 1 – New Year’s Day

For children, the giving of money or καλή χέρα (kali xera) is still a custom, though traditionally it used to be sweets and pastries to symbolize starting the year with a sweet taste in one’s mouth.

Some still practice a “renewal of waters,” which involves emptying all water vessels in the house and replacing them with the new water of Ag. Vassili. Offerings in the form of butter or other dairy products are also made to Naiads (nymphs) that preside over fountains, springs and wells and other spirits that protect rivers, lakes and marshes to “feed” them, though there are few who still practice this custom.

Many New Year’s Day rituals have now been replaced by recovering from a night spent in hours of deadlocked New Year’s traffic on the way to clubs and the hangovers that ensue.

However you spend New Year’s, I wish you a very prosperous Kali Xronia and Xronia Polla!

Related posts

“Countdown to ‘the thing’”
“Winter sales in Greece”
“Where to get a turkey in Greece for Christmas”

Main Sources

- The Real Twelve Days of Christmas — Christianity Today
- Orthodox Research Institute
- Orthodox Christian Network
- Traditional Greek Orthodox Kalanta (Greek/English) – Halifax Greeks
- The Christmas Cycle — Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church
- Greek and Cretan Christmas Customs — sfakia-crete.com
- Christmas customs made in Greece — Gourmed.com
- Vassilopita — Cultured Traveler
- History of the pomegranate
- Boat vs. tree: A conflict of cultures in Greece – Agence France-Presse
- Greece: Myths and legends
- Το ρόδι και η κρεμμύδα — Matia.gr (Thanks Stathis)
- Ελληνικά Χριστουγεννιάτικα έθιμα
- “Εναλλακτικές βασιλόπιτες με ρύζι, τυριά ή κρέας!” – Ta Nea
- Consultation with friends, relatives and Orthodox priests
- Two years working at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese

Special thanks to those who endured my questions and did NOT know the answers. Why? Because it gave me extra incentive to find out for myself and share it with you.

Photos from treehugger.com, bbcgoodfood.com and comunitaellenicaroma.it

http://bit.ly/GRNewYear

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Day after “the thing”

December 26, 2007 at 23:58 · Filed under Personal

Now that I’ve taken a 24-hour detoxification after “the thing” yesterday, I can reflect and state again for the record, “you can’t change others, you can only change yourself.”

The afternoon started by traversing Athens from south to north to pick up my fiancé’s brother who didn’t arrange a cab or want to take public transportation, then back south to arrive at his father’s house. We were intentionally late to avoid the pre-”thing” gossip and Q&A session.

I adopted an anti-Boy Scout motto of “don’t be prepared.” That is, just be open to whatever happens.

Some of the usual suspects were present. Remnants from previous years’ hoopla sat tellingly on the table in the form of mismatched plates and glasses. Sixteen of us — half of which were named Konstantinos/a, Giorgos and Christos — were in attendance. Aunt Eleni was talking about her son who died tragically several years ago, as she does in every conversation. There was plenty of wine.

Alterations to the recipe for “the thing” included our plates being pre-loaded in a plausible attempt to get us to eat more food, stereo volume was low key instead of cranked up after dinner, I was not given underwear as a gift by my future father-in-law (am I the only one who finds that strange?), and there was no dancing or breaking of plates to which my fiancé exclaimed, “Thank God!”

In the absence of these ingredients, others were added: Tension, pushing of agendas and ’80s breakdancing. We won the lottery and had them all at our end of the table.

The tension came from my fiancé’s father pissing off his usually bubbly girlfriend by saying her potatoes were “xalia’ and wouldn’t eat them, in addition to an ongoing issue over money owed to my fiancé since October by his ex-boss (aka, cousin), who sat across from us at the table. His cousin also banned me from speaking to him in April (see, “Hypocrite is a Greek word,”) but I still embraced him as if nothing happened.

On the pushing front was: An agenda for grandchildren; a heavy handed request that all “the women” gather at my house to take walks, teach me how to cook Greek food and discuss child rearing; and a guilt-laden, teary eyed plea that the family get together for “the thing” every 15 days. Eeee! Now as fun and tempting as it all sounds, and as grateful I am that people want my company, that over there is an outline of me in the wall after I’ve run through it, screaming “HELL NO!” Instead of defacing the building, I nodded and deadpanned an, “Oh, ti oraia. Efharisto, tha doume.”

This was followed by an outbreak of seven discussions between people not sitting next to each other, causing the volume in the living room to quadruple, and someone passing around a badly translated (U.S. English to Greek) breakdancing book from 1985 with instructions and photos of the “mavros.” Thankfully, no one tried to bust a move.

Most fashionable of “the thing” goes to Uncle Christo wearing a grey suit, pink shirt, purple-and-white striped tie, brown socks and tan shoes. He also provided comic relief. Attempting to escape the mayhem with a cigarette on the balcony, we tortured him a bit by turning on the blinking Christmas lights and locking him outside with little Konstantina and her new crying baby toy. He laughed and told us all where to go, as the elders pointed at buttons that were about to pop off his suit jacket from his now bulging stomach.

“The thing” turned awkward for me when my fiancé went to the kitchen and left me alone with his father. He was talking again about the women getting together to help me with my Greek and cooking, then suddenly became choked up, hiccuped back some tears and started bawling as he called out, “M’agapate!” Since I’d never confronted the same situation with my own father, all I could do was put a reassuring arm on his shoulder and yell for my fiancé to run out and help me.

With the full range of emotions covered in less than three hours, we took our leave. Luckily, it’s all captured on videotape so we can relive the magic again and again.

Related post

“Easter in Athens“

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Kalanta and kourambiethes

December 24, 2007 at 23:58 · Filed under Personal

The presence of children ringing their bells and ours for kalanta and coins was nearly non-existent at our new location, in comparison to my apartment in the center of Athens where they started from 5:30 a.m. and went non-stop.

And the delicate snow that befalls kourambiethes has yet to make an appearance to test my annual skills of not inhaling and choking as I take my first bite.

Snow is falling on this site, however, isn’t that fun?!?

Merry Christmas, Kales Giortes, Feliz Navidad and Buon Natale!

Related posts

“Talking turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas in Greece”
“New Year’s in Greece (Protochronia)”

Photo from salon.com

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