Throughout the festive period of the Dodecaimeros, Dervitsani and more broadly the historical Deropolis, revives a series of customs that are partly related to ancient Greek tradition, culminating in its "marriage" with the Orthodox - Byzantine legacy of the Fathers of our Church.
Οι ετοιμασίες για τη μεγάλη ημέρα της Πρωτοχρονιάς στη Δερβιτσάνη ξεκινούσαν και ξεκινάνε κατά την διάρκεια των ημερών που έπονται της γιορτής των Χριστουγέννων. Επίκεντρο παραμένει η εορτή της Περιτομής του Χριστού και τη μνήμη του Αγίου Βασίλειου, Επισκόπου Καισαρείας. Εκείνες τις μέρες οι Δερβιτσιώτες εφοδιάζουν τα σπιτικά τους με τα απαραίτητα εδέσματα και κυρίως με το χοιρινό κρέας, ή το κοτόπουλο, το οποίο θα χρησιμοποιηθεί στην παρασκευή της ηπειρώτικης Βασιλόπιτας. Πράγματι, μιλάμε για μια αλλιώτικη «ιεροτελεστία», με τις γυναίκες να ανοίγουν φύλλα στο σουφρά*, έπειτα να τα ψήνουν στη φωτιά, να καθαρίζουν τα κρομμύδια και να ετοιμάζουν το σινί* όπου μετά θα ρίξουν την Πίτα, χωρίς βέβαια να ξεχνάνε το «φλουρί» της…
As for the carols, the children followed the Christmas tradition, singing "Kolianta", or the well-known "Archiminia ki archos xoxo..."
In the old days, on Christmas Eve, all the families of Dervitsani would sit together near the fireplace or "ompli" as the fireplace was called in our village, after first throwing a lot of wood into it to warm the house well.
Then the head of the family, who was in most cases the grandfather, took the "koftanetsi", a type of thorny plant, and in turn threw a leaf of it to burn on a hot black coal*, saying the name of each member of the family. If the leaf crackled and bounced, this meant that the new year for that person would be pleasant and lucky. Finally, the grandfather threw the entire koftanetsi into the fire to "squeeze".
Also, on New Year's Day, everyone took special care of themselves, wearing their best clothes and going to church as a family. In the old days, as the old people of our country say, only those who were sick were excused and could stay at home, waiting for someone to bring them the antidoros.
During that time, everyone tried to remain smiling and sweet-talking, since they believed that this would be how the rest of the year would go for them. Let's not forget that on New Year's Day, the "ceremony" of Podarikos was also held, since visits to relatives were mandatory. When the visitor approached the door of his relatives' house, he entered with his right foot so that they would, as they said, go "right"...
*soufras = wooden surface where the sheets for the pies are rolled out
*blue = large copper or aluminum pan
*mavrouki = black stone
