Black cats and open umbrellas that bring bad luck. Βlue beads and garlic against  the evil eye … And much more! … Prejudices and superstitions that have to do with everything that surrounds us. And if you think that all these funny and absurd metaphysics concern only Greece, you are probably wrong. Superstitions are something […]

Sitting in one of the many cafes in the shadow of the once holy (now only touristic) hill of the Acropolis, we enjoy a cup of hot coffee, Greek, or one of the European styled we have grown accustomed to in recent years. In the hustle of the modern city, in an environment with old-fashioned […]

May Day is one of the few holidays that do not carry any religious meaning. Also, it is not a day connected just to labour rights. Since antiquity it is mainly a day related to the fruitfulness of the earth, the end of the winter and the coming of the summer. That is why it […]

Ai Giorgis, the patron of farmers and breeders April 23 is a special day in Greece. It is the feast day of St. George and the second milestone day in the year, after the feast day of St. Demetrios. It is identified with the coming of spring, the sowing and transfer of the flocks to […]

Winter  months Even if January changed many times his name in honour of various emperors, the official name January is of Latin origin. Janus was the Roman guardian of doors and also the god who protected the “new beginnings” or endings. He had two faces, one of which looked forward and the other backward. That […]

Are there trees that are victims of people’s superstition? Trees that folk tradition associates with curses? And trees that we are happy to accept their fruits but are not welcome in our garden?   The incriminated fig tree One of the most “incriminated” trees is the fig tree. Many do not want it in their […]

Why water is of such an importance in some cultures? Most cultures were born and grew up around the water. That is why people understood its power since very early: either when it was giving life, either when it took life back. One of these cultures is Greece. And as it is normal, water and […]

Bells and the melody of the sheep The sound of the flock is a sound of history. The bells were hung on animals as a sound transmitter but not only. The bell is not a simple tool, but a communication code. Experienced breeders know the sounds so well they can understand when their herd grazes, […]

“March” or “Martis” is a very old custom. It is believed to have its roots  in Ancient Greece and more specifically in the Eleusinian Mysteries, where the mystics tied a thread, the Kroki (=thread), to their right hand and their left leg.  Nowadays at the first day of March, parents put a bracelet made of […]

March and its first day carry magical power because it was believed that then “the resurrection of nature” takes place. Before the designation of  January 1st, March 1st was the beginning of the year. That is why it was also described as the “great hour of the year“.  At 1st March it was said that […]