Morals have changed, and unfortunately, customs are also changing.
New Year's Eve in Epirus used to have a different flavor, but it's different now.
Whether then was better than today is a matter of debate, but the past, as many say, had greater authenticity and simplicity than the present.
The preparations
For New Year's Eve, women would clean the house and make everything sparkle.
They made buns with a hole in the middle and on New Year's morning they hung them from the animal's horns and if it fell straight down, a boy would be born, if it fell upside down, a girl would be born.
On the same day, they would cut a tassel from a holly tree and put it in the fire, saying wishes (lambs, female goats, and male calves).
The carols
The carols or kalanda, coriander, New Year's Eve: "The beginning of the month and the beginning of the year, my tall rosemary and the beginning of our good year, the church with the holy throne..." As with Christmas and Epiphany, they are songs of blessing and praise for the family and the home and at the same time the musical narration of the day's event.
A common type of New Year's carol, although they vary from region to region, is:
Early in the month and early in the year, my tall incense tree
and a beginning, and a beginning, our good time,
church, church with the holy throne.
Beginning when christ came Forth, Holy and spiritual,
on earth, on earth to walk
and to us, and to make us kind.
Santa Claus is coming,
from, from Caesarea, long live the prince, long live the noble lady.
It holds an image and paper,
paper, paper and squid, look at me, look at me, the lad.
In this house we came to, stone, stone, let it not be broken
and the master of the house, may he live a thousand, a thousand years.
With the eagerness of purity and the disposition to get acquainted with the joys of life, there are always children, who used to hold a basket for "kisses".
The treats in the greek countryside were mainly sweet: diples, xerotigana, loukoumades, but also nuts, kourampiedes or melomakarona.
One of the most common tips was "kolintra", small buns made from wheat or barley.
The reward of the calendists is neither charity nor begging, but an effective act. They took their name from the Latin word calenda, which was formed from the Greek verb kalo. Children, in groups, roamed and roam around houses, streets, shops and sing with a special instrument songs that relate to Christmas, the celebration of New Year, the celebration of St. Basil the Great and some even the Circumcision of Christ.
This custom existed in Greece, before Rome. Today the reward for the hymns and wishes is mainly monetary and various treats.
The vasilopita
On New Year's Eve, housewives would make “vasilopita”. They would sprinkle the flour with spices and knead it to make “vasilopita”. They would roll out six sheets of dough and add the herbs. Sometimes they would place fillings of their choice between the sheets, usually meat and rice, while on the basilopita they would make symbolic shapes from a branch. And of course they would put the “flouri” inside.
On New Year's Day, just before noon, they baked it in the oven.
At noon, at the festive table, the eldest of the family, that is, the grandfather or grandmother, would cross it with a knife and then cut it.
The first piece was always for Christ, the second for the house, and the others, one for each person, depending on age, the oldest first and the youngest later.
The pie has its roots in ancient Greco-Roman customs. Orthodox tradition connected the custom with Vasilopita.
Its origin is related to Basil the Great, who, in order to protect his region, Caesarea of Cappadocia, from an invasion by foreigners, raised funds and collected gold coins and other goods to give to his enemies, in order to tempt them not to plunder his region.
However, the enemy ultimately failed to invade caesarea and The goods remained. then, basil The great Ordered Them to make small pies – Buns, inside which they would put a gold coin, or something else from all the valuable things that had been collected.
These pies were shared among everyone and each person kept whatever they had.
The apology
Πριν ακόμα μπει ο νέος χρόνος, φρόντιζαν οι μεγάλοι με εσωτερικές διεργασίες να έχουν αγνή και καθαρή συνείδηση, να είναι καθαροί και φωτεινοί μέσα τους, και έτσι καθαρό να είναι και το νέο έτος. Τακτοποιούσαν όλες τους τις εκκρεμότητες, ακόμα και τις οικονομικές, γιατί δεν ήθελαν να τους βρει ο καινούργιος χρόνος και να χρωστούν, οπότε κάνανε τα πάντα για να ξοφλήσουν το τυχόν χρέος! Τηρούσαν λοιπόν όλοι, τους κανόνες της ευπρέπειας και της συγγνώμης. Πάντα η αρχή τους ήταν πως ό,τι κακό θα έκαναν τη πρώτη μέρα του νέου έτους, θα το έκαναν αυτό όλο το χρόνο!
So they avoided sleeping all day, they avoided arguing, fighting and getting angry. They wanted to be happy, eat, drink and have fun!
And for better or worse, that was their fun, to mingle with close relatives, with neighbors, and to make friends and make jokes. Today, the celebration of the first days of the new year has taken on a completely different meaning.
The silent water
While the head of the house will hang a wild onion on the wall next to the door on New Year's morning, symbolizing longevity, a child, usually a girl, will take the pitcher to go to the village fountain and bring water, but on the way she will not give anyone an apple!
Whatever is said to him on the street, he will not answer until he brings the water to the house. There he will fill a glass or a can with water, “unspoken water” it was called (hence the phrase: “You drank the unspoken water”), and throw it, making the sign of the cross, on the threshold. After that he will speak.
The footrest
An image from the past: The low-rise house stood out with its stone chimney, sending white ribbons of smoke into the blackened, hazy winter sky. Outside, the north wind was raging, with the drizzle freezing the frightened robin
The so-called "podariko" (foot-shoe-making) was of enormous importance, that is, who would be the first to step on the threshold of the house on New Year's morning and bring them a good luck charm! So it wasn't just the handsome, handsome boys who were preferred to go to houses and do a good foot-shoe-making, girls could also have a very good luck charm!
Even today, some people watch them, and if their year went well, they think about who did them the favor, and invite them back to come again next year!
Σε μερικές περιοχές ο νοικοκύρης του σπιτιού έκανε το ‘ποδαρικό’, χτυπώντας την εξώπορτα, δεν επιτρεπόταν να ανοίξει ο ίδιος με το κλειδί του, θα χάλαγε το ποδαρικό, κρατώντας μια εικονίτσα και ένα ρόδι. Μπαίνοντας μέσα, με το δεξί, έσπασε το ρόδι πίσω από την εξώπορτα, το έριξε, δηλαδή, κάτω με δύναμη, και έλεγε ευχές για υγεία, για καλή παραγωγή και για τα οικονομικά της οικογένειας. “Με υγεία, ευτυχία και χαρά το νέο έτος κι όσες ρώγες έχει το ρόδι, τόσες λίρες να έχει η τσέπη μας όλη τη χρονιά”.
Children's gifts
On the morning of St. Basil's Day, the bell rang and everyone went to church to receive communion. After church, the parents would send the child's bounama to the godfather, and then to the grandparents, close relatives, and uncles.
Children in the old days didn't expect gifts from anyone, not even from Santa Claus! They didn't even know Santa Claus in the form we know him today!
The children learned it after the Occupation. However, the children were aiming for a little money that would be given to them, mainly by their godfather, because even then all the children wanted more things than they had.
He didn't complain, however, that they were poor, because the children of his neighbor, the next door neighbor, and the entire village were just as poor, even those of the most well-off families, so he didn't complain. Long ago, before the Occupation, money didn't usually circulate, except in very small amounts and to very few people.
Instead of money, however, they "circulated" kourabiedes, melomakarona, walnuts, chestnuts, oil, eggs, raisins, etc. With these, the adults made the children happy!
Tα παιδιά τα παλιά χρόνια δεν περιμένανε δώρα από κανένα, ούτε καν από τον άη Βασίλη! Δεν ήξεραν καν τον η Βασίλη με τη μορφή που τον ξέρουμε σήμερα! Τον άη Βασίλη τον μάθανε τα παιδιά μετά την Κατοχή. Αποσκοπούσαν όμως τα παιδιά σε κάποια λίγα χρήματα που θα τους έδιδαν, κυρίως ο νονός, γιατί και τότε όλα τα παιδιά ήθελαν περισσότερα πράγματα από αυτά, που είχαν. Δεν παραπονιόταν, όμως, που περνούσαν φτωχικά, γιατί έτσι φτωχά ήταν και τα παιδιά του γείτονα, του παραγείτονα, και όλου του χωριού, ακόμα και των πιο ευκατάστατων οικογενειών, δεν διέφεραν!
Another flavor
In the old days in Thesprotia, decades ago, New Year's was celebrated in a poor way, but it was happy! Back then, when people might have patched clothes and shoes, but they had indestructible hearts.
Back then, when decay hadn't progressed to consciousness. back Then, when houses looked like a small hut, but could accommodate the whole world.
Back then, when the cupboard may have been empty of varieties that delight the taste, the deprivation may have been harsh, but happiness was not lacking.
Back then, when poverty was proud and pure, perched on the backs of farmers, subsistence farmers, and porters, who ran, even on New Year's Day, to satisfy it with the wreath of honesty and virtue. Back then, when every New Year's Day, parents dreamed of their offspring becoming great and powerful people, and they fought with passion and faith to make this dream a reality. Back then, when the soul was full of love and the will was steel for success.
Back then, when the eyes might have been tired and the faces hollowed out by the toil, but not hopeless. Back then, when the fire burned in the fireplace and everyone sat around tightly embraced, since the real warmth was within them.
Then, when the sweet-sounding bell from the snowy, towering bell tower called the faithful to the church and everyone would flock there.
Difficult, but truly beautiful years. There may have been no television, only an old radio with tubes. There may have been no telephones, except for the only one in the village cafe. There may have been no internet. However, there was society and communication, which, despite the fact that today there are so many technological means, is incomplete or non-existent, because the sad people have become locked up and sullen, and their insides are not fully open.
