New Year’s Day or Protochronia 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 is being compiled, however I thought it was important to publish the New Year’s portion today.

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 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.

‘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 to be lucky is selected and handed the pomegranate 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 lucky — usually a child because their hearts are innocent and without malice — then steps into the home using the right foot, thus giving the family an omen of good luck (kalo podariko) 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. 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 wrapped in gold or silver foil) baked into the pita.

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 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!

For related posts, see “Culture.”

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

- Consultation with friends, relatives and 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

On the Orthodox Christian calendar, the Feast of the Dormition of Our Most Holy Lady — the Theotokos and eternal Virgin Mary — is celebrated on August 15 each year. It marks the “falling asleep” (repose or kimisis, in Greek) of the Virgin Mary, mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Feast also commemorates the assumption of the body of the Theotokos into heaven.

The Biblical Story

According to the Holy Scriptures, Christ was dying on the cross and saw His mother and His disciple John. He said, “Woman, behold your son!” to the Virgin Mary and “Behold your mother!” to John. From that moment, Apostle John took care of the Virgin Mary/Theotokos at his home in Jerusalem.

The Virgin Mary was with the Holy Apostles on the day of Pentecost (a moveable feast that occurs 50 days after Pascha that marks the descent of the Holy Spirit and the culmination of the Holy Trinity) and continued a ministry in word and deed. All of the Apostles except Apostle Thomas were at her bedside when she “fell asleep,” and the Lord Jesus Christ came down and carried her soul to heaven.

The body of the Theotokos was laid in a tomb near the Garden of Gethsemane, but the tomb was empty three days later when Apostle Thomas went to see her. The assumption of the Theotokos (the body) was later confirmed by an angel and an appearance She made in front of the Apostles.

Celebrating the Feast

Commemorating and preparing for the Dormition of the Theotokos begins on August 1 with a period of strict fasting that dictates no meat, dairy, oil or wine, except for fish on the Feast of the Transfiguration (August 6) and the day of the Dormition (August 15). Oil and wine are allowed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Paraklesis services are performed by most parishes on weekdays before the Feast, which consist of supplication and prayer for the intercessions of the Theotokos. A Great Vespers is held the evening before the Feast, and the Feast itself is celebrated with the Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom in the morning.

Related posts

“New Year’s in Greece: A pomegranate, an onion and a Vassilopita“
“Kalanta and kourambiethes“

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Photo from www.assumptionaz.org

I’m not Orthodox Christian and normally spend Pascha outside of Greece, so I’m not accustom to the familial wrangling involved in deciding where and with whom to spend this holiday of all holidays. My best guess is that it’s much like the politics of who to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with in America…family, food (a lot!), fighting (more than enough), fodder and hurt feelings.

Back in February when news came out I wasn’t jet-setting, my friends’ dad called his ex-wife and announced that his sons (my friends) and I were spending Pascha in his village. Uhhhh, what? First of all, no one asked us. Second, I found it hurtful that their dad would make this announcement in front of his ex-wife as if it were a competition he’d just won by likening us to the front seat of a car and calling ’shotgun.’

Of course we had no plans, it was February for gosh sakes! But wise people should know better than to tell me what to do without asking first because that’s just wood for a fire called “he!! no!”

In their dad’s village, I hear it’s a depress-fest because no music, dancing and smiling are permitted since their cousin Kosta died 6 years ago in a car accident. So basically, it’s eating, sleeping, fighting, eating, drinking coffee and the dispensing of unsolicited advice. Woo hoo!

There have been daily calls (sometimes 5 times/day I’m told) over the past weeks to inquire what we’re wearing to church, the candles being bought for us and how things are going to go. In addition to the fact I’m not Orthodox and I think it’s wrong for people to go only once a year for Pascha if they don’t truly believe or regularly practice, there’s a rumor that their dad wants me at church so he can show me off as his sons’ “exotic and beautiful foreign friend.” Add to this a dash of being insulted by their aunt for being a “lower person” because I’m foreign, “poor” because I own no farmland and “not of good character” because I have an American education and traveled the world alone. I’ve kept quiet, but others apparently have not.

We’re going to their mom’s village now.

Pascha-friendly advice

If you’re going to attend church for Easter service, ladies must make sure to wear a skirt to show respect to Orthodox Christian customs and men are expected to wear suits. Many people use the event to pose and posture, it sometimes isn’t about God, resurrection and bringing home the light…although it’s supposed to be.

Wish everyone “Kali Anastasi” or Good Resurrection from Thursday to Sunday and “Christos Anesti” after that; if someone greets you with “Christos Anesti” or Christ has risen, the proper response is “Alithos Anesti” or truly He has risen.

Related posts

“Easter in Athens“
“Death and resurrection: Paschal journey, life journey“
“Countdown to the thing“