Unusual Greek, New Year's Day and Epiphany customs and traditions

1. UNUSUAL GREEK CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS
3 rd JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL OF CORINTH

2. CUSTOMS
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR’S

3. SILENT WATER
On New Year's Eve or on Christmas
morning, in many villages in Epirus,in the
west of Greece, young women empty all
the pitchers that are filled with water at
home.Then, they go to the nearest spring
to refill them.
On the way there, they don’t speak at all
and so the water is called ‘silent’.The
strange thing is that they carry with them
butter, wheat, cheese, honey and other
food.In this way, they want to feed and
humour the... spring.
The girl who gets to the spring first will
have the best of luck throughout the new
year.

4. On the morning of New Year’s Day in the
Peloponnese, a peninsula in the south of Greece, the
whole family goes to church. The owner of the house
keeps a pomegranate in his pocket and returns with
the blessed fruit at home.
Then, he must wait for somebody else to open him
the door and once inside, he smashes it against the
door with his right hand (right is for luck, left is for bad
luck).The more the seeds ,the luckier and more
prosperous the new year will be.
After that, he enters the house with his right leg and
says many wishes for a happy New Year.
The pomegranate is a symbol of fertility related to
Greek mythology,as well. Persephone ,who was the
daughter of Demeter, the goddess of harvest , ate six
pomegranate seeds which committed her to return to
the underworld for six months every year.
THE BREAKING OF THE POMEGRANATE

5. The Momogeri is a very old
custom with a history going back
to ancient Greece.
During the twelve days of
Christmas, in villages in northern
Greece, the Momogeri appear.
They are seven men who get
dressed in animal carcasses and
disguise as the bear, which
symbolizes strength, the old
woman, who is a symbol of the
past , the bride for the future, the
horse for development, the doctor
for health, the soldier for defence,
the goat for food, and Father
Christmas symbolizes the
year which will arrive in a few
days.

6. These disguised men wander in the streets
all day, accompanied by local musical
instruments, and exchange jokes with the
crowd that follows them. If a momogeros
approaches you, he won’t let go of you and
will keep teasing until you offer him
something. If you don’t, the momogeros
will throw sour yoghurt at your face!
During the time of Byzantium, the
momogeri symbolised fertilty, incorporating
elements from Christianity as well as
Byzantine folk.
During the Turkish Occupation of Greece,
the Momogeri also expressed satire of the
corruption of the Turkish authorities and of
their tyrannical behaviour towards poor,
simple, Christian people.