3. • According to tradition, during the Greek 12
days of Christmas (December 25 to January 6),
goblins come out to tease people and eat
their food.
• This tradition is based on the legend that the
"waters aren't christened" since Christ has not
yet been baptized.
4. The goblins (kalikantzaroi in greek) are
renowned for their ugliness and their
impishness.
These creatures are believed to emerge from
the center of the earth and to slip into people's
house through the chimney, and this is the
reason people, especially in villages, keep the
fireplace lit during the 12 days of Christmas.
5. More mischievous than actually evil, the
“Kalikantzaroi” do things like extinguish fires,
ride astride people's backs, braid horses' tails,
and sour the milk. They are not very intelligent
and can't really hurt anybody. In many parts of
Greece, people hang a pomegranate above the
front door of their house. By the New Year,
when the fruit will have dried, Greeks throw it
on the ground so it breaks, and step into their
house on their right foot.
8. On New Year's Day families cut the vasilopita
(βασιλόπιτα in greek), a New Year’s bread or
cake which contains a hidden coin or trinket
which gives good luck to the receiver, in order to
bless the house and bring good luck for the new
year.
The name "βασιλόπιτα" comes from 'king'
(βασιλεύς) + 'pie ('πίτα’), but was reinterpreted
as Saint Basil's (Βασίλειος) cake.
9.
10. This is usually done at the midnight of New
Year's Eve. A coin is hidden in the bread by
slipping it into the dough before baking. At
midnight the sign of the cross is etched with a
knife across the cake. A piece of cake is sliced for
each member of the family. Slices are also cut
for various symbolic people or groups,
depending on local and family tradition. They
may include the Lord, St. Basil and other saints,
the poor, the household, or the Kalikantzaroi.
11.
12. The tradition of vasilopita is associated with the
legend of Saint Basil. According to the legend St.
Basil called on the citizens of Caesarea to raise a
ransom payment to stop the siege of the city.
Each member of the city gave whatever they
had in gold and jewelry. When the ransom was
raised, the enemy was so embarrassed by the
act of collective giving that he called off the
siege without collecting payment.
13. St. Basil was then tasked with returning the
unpaid ransom, but had no way to know which
items belonged to which family. So he baked all
of the jewelry into loaves of bread and
distributed the loaves to the city, and by a
miracle each citizen received their exact share,
the legend goes. In some telling the sieging
chieftain is replaced with an evil emperor
levying a tax, or simply with St. Basil attempting
to give charity to the poor without embarrassing
them.
