Athitos / Folklore - Tradition / Customs - Traditions St. John (24 th June) On the eve of St. John's Day all the unmarried girls of the village would cut thistles and cardoons and burn them. Then they would throw them on the roof tops. They waited to see if they would bloom. If they bloomed the next morning, it was a sign the she would be marrying the person she wanted. While they went to fetch water from the well, they recited verses such as this:
Every neighborhood lit a fire and they put wreaths on their heads. These wreaths were made of the St. John plant. The name of the plant "St. John" is the new name for it, the old people used to call it "gribilia". It is actually the wild woodbine. In the area of St. Paraskevi, there is a church called "St, John of the wild woodbine". In other places the custom is called "Klidonas" (ivy) or "nichteria" (night vigils) because they lit fires at night and they jumped over them crowned with garlands of this plant. St. Fanourio's Day They used to make a pie (St. Fanourio pie), it was sweet with raisins, oil and fragrant herbs, cinnamon, clove. They would take it to the church of St. Fanourio and the young ladies believed that they would see the face of the man they were going to marry in their dreams. Weddings
Celebrations/Festivals Holy Mary (15th August) |
On the Wednesday before the wedding Sunday, they would go to the village fountain and throw coins in it and say: "as the water flows, so let the good things flow in our home".