The Greek twelve days In the folk calendar the period between Christmas Eve and Epiphany is called “Dodekaimero” which means “twelve days”. During that period there are a number of traditions all around Greece. Their purpose is to celebrate the coming of spring and to enforce the sentiment of religion and family. Epiphany is the baptizing of the darkness of winter to the spring light, fertility and prosperity. The fireplaces are burning to keep away the kalikatzarous, the “strange elfs” that wander around and tease people. Children sing Christmas carols and women bake delicious sweets, melomakarona, kourabiedes. The night at the church and family gatherings bring families together. Each leg represents one of the weeks of the fast before Easter. Some children draw her for Christmas as well. They paint her and every week they cut a leg, leaving the last one for Christmas Eve.

Santa Claus Santa Claus is an important figure for all children in the world. He visits and gives gifts to all of us. He arrives on our chimneys in his sledge every Christmas Eve. Every single kid asks Santa for a gift. Santa loves children, so well we also call him “our father”.

Christmas Decorations When we decorate the house, we get really busy. We try to make the house tidy and beautiful. All the family members work together. Children usually decorate the Christmas tree with their parents, and they hang up Christmas socks for Santa Claus. In the costal areas of Greece an in the islands children use to decorate a small ship with lights.

Melomakarona Recipe Kali orexi = bon appetite Ingredients: -- 1 cup of olive oil -- 1 cup of corn oil -- ½ cup of sugar -- ½ cup of hot beer -- 1/3 cup of hot cognac -- a pinch of salt -- some grated cinnamon -- some carnation grated - 1 teaspoon of sweet soda -- 2 teaspoons of baking powder -- 1 cup of smash almonds -- 1 ½ kg of flour -- 1 orange For the syrup -- 1 ½ cup of honey -- 3 cups of sugar -- 1 stick of cinnamon -- 2 cups of water --10 carnations -- juice ½ lemon -- topping -- almonds with cinnamon and sugar How to make them: Stir the oils with the sugar, add salt, beer, cognac, cinnamon, carnation, the grated orange and the juice. Stir the soda and the baking powder with the flour and add it to the mixture. Finally, add the almonds. The mixture is ready when it does not stick to your fingers. Bake te dough at 180°C for min. Boil the ingredients for the syrup and dip the Melomakarona for 1-2 min.

Kalikatzaroi Once upon a time, people thought that the world was based on the trunk of a tree. Down there lived evil hairy creatures with red eyes, who tried to tear the tree down with axes and saws day and night. They wished to bring down the tree of our world. But just before fulfilling their plans, Christmas was here and they came up to the surface of the world to have some fun and to rest. On Christmas Eve they harassed old women, teased passengers, jumped and danced all around the villages. But people knew their deeds. They also knew that kalikatzaroi were harmless and afraid of fire. That’s why some people kept the fire burning for 12 days, while the kalikatzaroi visited the upper world.

Fortunately they were stupid ! They never finished what they had started and by the time of the first cock, they disappeared deep down. Some women left them pork or sweets outside their houses. Before they could finish anything, daylight was there and they didn’t have time to enter the house and make fuss. On Epiphany, when the priest used to bring his cross and some basil with holy water to “agiasei” the houses, the kalikatzaroi ran away!!! They returned back to the underworld and started their work again. Next year, on Christmas Eve they would appear again.

Kalanta In Greece we have a tradition. Every 24 and 31 of December children go out and sing Christmas carols. People give them money and they buy presents, or save the money on their bank accounts.

The pie of Saint Vasilis Vasilopita The pie of Saint Vasilis Saint Vasilis was a bishop in Caesarea in the 3 rd century AD. He was rich, but he gave all his money to the poor. Once his town was in great danger, so he persuaded everyone to donate one jewel to save their town. When the Romans saw how many jewels St. Vasilis had gathered, they left, knowing that they could never govern these people. But St. Vasilis didn’t know which jewel belonged to whom. So he ordered to prepare as many pies as there were people. Inside each pie he put a jewel, and then gave them to each family. Like a miracle, every family got the pie with their own jewels! Since then, in order to remember this story from the Byzantine era, the Greeks prepare a pie called Vasilopita (=the pie of St. Vasilis) and put a coin into it. On New Year’s Eve, they cut the pie into slices, and the one who gets the coin, will be lucky for the whole new year !

Symbols of the New Year Rodi is considered a symbol of prosperity. On the morning of the New Year the landlord breaks one in his front door for good luck with a wish: Let our home receive as much luck in the New Year as there are seeds. Onion Already in ancient times, people believed that onions protect us from evil spirits. They used to hang them on the door to drive away every bad persons or spirits.

© class E2 and their teacher K. Apostolopoulou, 2006