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Customs, traditions and preventions were born over time, in order to ensure divine protection, propitiate the good and keep away the evil spirits, prevent the “evil eye” so that the rain is irrigating, the land fertile and the fruit a lot.

The ancient beliefs were incorporated into the new religion and the Christian calendar, and not only that, it gives many opportunities for the continuation of the ancient as well as the newer customs.

The customary rites are found before sowing, during the waiting for the germination and ripening of the seed, for the helper animals, for the harvest, etc.

For sowing

On September 14, the feast of the Holy Cross, women put some of the seed in a clay dish, take it to the church and leave it to the right of the Beautiful Gate for the priest to bless. The blessed seed is mixed with that which will be sown on the first day of the next sowing.

Inside the sack with the seed they put three cloves of garlic, so that it is not seen, a nail, so that the cane of the spars stands upright, and pimples from pomegranate to make the wheat seeds as thick as the pomegranate.

On the first day that the farmer goes to sow, he is protected from the “bad encounter”. He leaves at night for his field. He lights a fire to see and carve the seeds. When it dawns, he kneels towards the East, makes the cross and wishes for “one in twenty”, meaning that each seed will yield twentyfold.

In the village of Giannota of Elassona, until the first decades of the 20th century, the day on which sowing would begin was communicated with the portogiro (delali) from the previous one, by decision of the community leader. That night the housewives had to return what they had borrowed (pan, frying pan, plate, etc.). Also, any xenomerites (inhabitants of another place) had to leave the village immediately, because they might be grumpy and mean-spirited and negatively affect the sowing.

On November 21, the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the sowing is approximately in the middle and that is why the Virgin Mary is called “mesosporitissa or polysporitissa”. On this day, they boil various grains and legumes, the polyspora, and take them to the church to be blessed. Then the whole family eats from them and wishes for good fruit. They say that seeds sown by November 21 sprout faster.

They exorcise the dampness of spring with image processions and litanies.

For the harvest

During the harvest, crosses are formed with harvests in the whole field or in the part that is left to be harvested last and the fruit of which will be used for the next sowing. From this piece is woven the “comb” or “the cross” that the women place, for good, on the iconostasis until the next sowing.

“Bleeding” is a ritual act performed in the small uncultivated part of the field. The reaper carves a hole in his hand with the sickle to drip blood, a sacrificial offering to the earth in return for its production.

For threshing

When the threshing is finished and the wheat is ready to be taken home, the farmer crosses it with the carpoloi and closes it in a circle, which he inscribes again with the carpoloi. The first act is thanksgiving to the divine power and the second magical-talismanic, since the circle protects what it encloses and leaves out any negative energy.

Praises

Before the kneading of the bread begins, the dough is first crossed.

If a piece of bread falls, they don’t throw it away but kiss it and put it back on the table.

The cut side of the bread always faces the center of the table.

The tablecloth with the crumbs of the evening meal is always shaken the next day, because of the evil spirits.

The crumbs are always thrown into the garden for the birds to eat.

The dry pieces are soaked in water and eaten by the hens.

Nothing should be thrown away from the bread, because it means life for the house.

source : Federation of Bakers of Greece