How to Celebrate a Greek Christmas

In Greece, members of the Eastern Orthodox Church consider Christmas second only to Easter as the most important holiday of the year.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Holy Waters
• Wooden Crosses
• Basil
• Wooden Bowls
• Wire

1. Take the children to see Santa Claus, who can often be found outside shopping areas giving treats to children.

2. Expect neighborhood children to sing "kalanda" (Christmas carols) on Christmas Eve and offer their good wishes to you. Have dried figs, walnuts, almonds and - most important - coins on hand to offer the youngsters who come to your house.

3. Prepare a holiday feast for Christmas Eve. Serve traditional foods and wine with baklava for dessert.

4. Bake loaves of "Christopsomo" (Christ bread), a sweet bread formed into shapes of your choice. You can also decorate the loaves with symbols that reflect your family's trade. Serve the bread with dried figs.

5. Display a wooden bowl with a piece of dangling wire holding a sprig of fresh basil wrapped around a wooden cross; this is the Greek symbol for Christmas. Keep fresh water in the bowl to keep the basil alive.

6. Immerse the basil and cross in holy water once a day and sprinkle drops in every room of your house to keep the sprites, or "killantzarin," away. These sprites are known to slide down the chimney between Christmas and Epiphany (January 6) and play mischievous pranks on your family.

7. Remind your children to hang their socks over the fireplace, where small gifts will appear.

8. Serve vasilopita, or Christmas cake, on December 31. Bake a florin (gold coin) into the cake. Whoever finds the coin in his or her piece of cake will have good luck in the coming year.

9. Exchange gifts on January 1, which is St. Basil's Day. Also perform a renewal ceremony on this day by replacing all the water in your jugs with St. Basil holy water.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that St. Nicholas is considered the patron saint of sailors in Greece; he is said to save them from shipwrecks.
• Instead of giving large numbers of gifts to family and friends, many people in Greece give small presents to hospitals and orphanages.
• Greece is a country made up of many ethnic and religious groups, so Christmas traditions are diverse and cannot be generalized. The steps above represent a sampling of local traditions that may or may not be appropriate for your personal celebration of Christmas.

[kohuether]

on 5/9/2008 Yes, our church has a Vasilopita charity thing to raise money for Saint Basil's Academy every year. I've gotten the coin before and haven't noticed much of a difference. :)

on 12/28/2005 The Vasilopita is not a Christmas cake; it is St. Basi's cake. St. Basil, instead of just St. Nicholas, is known for bringing gifts. We put a coin (wrapped in foil) in the cake and cut symbolic pieces for Christ, the Virgin Mary, St. Basil, the poor, and then a piece for each family member. Whoever gets the coin will have good luck for the rest of the year. Also, we decorate apples, oranges, and pomegranates with gold Greek letters of H and P for Hronia Polla (Many Years) and K and H for Kali Hronia (Good Year).
Also, the evil elves are known as Kalikantzari.

on 11/22/2005 Also, in olden days, they used to decorate a ship (usually wooden), instead of a christmas tree. Nowadays, we usually decorate a christmas tree, but in my family we still decorate a ship (which stands in the best spot in the house), as well as a tree for the kids.