The 10 Week Run Up to Greek Easter

 

 

We’ve only just about recovered from Christmas and New Year, and here in Greece, the Greeks, ever on the lookout for a reason to celebrate, (actually, they don’t need a reason ) are warming up for Easter, Pascha in Greek, not to be confused with the Jewish Pesach , which is Passover.

Easter is a moveable feast, not occurring on the same date every year, and is calculated by the phases of the moon, and always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon, on, or after March 21, the spring equinox.

Eastern Orthodox Easter, must always fall after Passover, since the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ took place after he entered Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

 

 

Easter, in the western church, the date of  which is  calculated with the Gregorian Calendar, usually falls a week before it is celebrated in the Eastern church, where the date is calculated using the Julian Calendar (there is 13-day difference between the calendars).

Preparations for Greek Easter, the most important holiday on the Greek calendar, the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ, begin ten weeks beforehand, with Greek Carnival, a whole three weeks of it, masquerade parties, parades and merriment, when Greeks go all out, for the last time, (Don’t believe the last time bit, this is Greece!) before the sober forty days of Lent.

 Greek Carnival, in Greek, “Apokries” (meaning without meat), takes in twenty two days and three Sundays.

 

The 3 weeks of Greek Carnival, “Apokreas”

Week one – the opening of the “Triodion Book”

 

The first week of Greek Carnival begins with the opening of the “Triodion Book”; The Three Holy Sacraments, the liturgical book used by the Greek Orthodox Church, explaining the details for the fasting period before Easter, and for the weeks leading up to the fast.

This is a week of no fasting, a sort of eat all you can, before the beginning of Lent, and coincides with Greek carnival, which is officially discouraged by the Greek Orthodox Church, who think it’s a pagan custom, and, they are not far wrong.

Greek carnival, “Apokreas” is just another name for the Dionysia the Original Greek Carnival, the crazy, wild goings on of the ancient Greeks, celebrating the coming of spring; the word decadent does not even come close to describing these ancient rave parties!

 

 

Week two – “Kreatini”- Meatfare

 

The second week of Greek Carnival is “Kreatini” week; you are allowed to eat as much meat as you like, all day and every day, if the fancy takes you, even on the traditional fast days of Wednesday and Friday.

 

Tsiknopempti  – Smoky Thursday

 

 

Thursday, of the second week is “Tsiknopempti”,  meaning charred or Smokey Thursday, the official start to the celebrations, when  the first masquerade parties take place, street parties,  tavernas and restaurants are overflowing, and the dish of the day is meat, grilled, barbecued or roasted, the smoky air is enough to make your mouth water (And your eyes!).

Thursday seemed the logical for this “eat enough meat to last you for forty days of lent” day, because, as, I mentioned above, Wednesday and Friday are traditionally fasting days in Greece.

The Sunday after smoky Thursday, is meat Sunday, no more meat allowed now until Easter Sunday.

 

Week Three – Tyrine – Cheesefare

 

 

The third week of Greek Carnival is “Tirini”, cheese week, or white week, as only dairy food is allowed, ends on Cheese Sunday.

An old wives tail, states women should not wash their hair during cheese week, or they will go white!
Cheese Sunday is also the day of the great carnival, the last day before lent begins.

No church weddings are allowed after Cheese Sunday, until after Easter, it’s not advised to get hitched on this day, as it will result in an unhappy marriage.

Guess what? I was married on this day, still going strong after thirty seven years, it’s been happy, mostly!

The Cheesefare ends with Cheese Sunday, also known as the Sunday of forgiveness, this is the last day of carnival, the big blow out, and the grand finale of the Patras Carnival, the biggest in Greece and one of the largest in Europe, it’s the craziest day of the previous three weeks, and it’s parties galore until dawn.

 

 

During Cheese Sunday, many quant local traditions are carried out all over Greece.

In Arcadia, Peloponnese, the tradition is to eat “tyrozoumi”, a soupy stew made from wild greens and mizithra cheese, followed by macaroni, liberally sprinkled with cheese, young, unmarried people steal a piece of macaroni to put under their pillow, which will induce dreams, revealing who they will marry.

On the island of Karpathos, the whole town is invited to the mayor’s house where an enormous buffet is highlight of the day.

On the islands of Kea and Milos, any food left over from the day’s feasting, is left out overnight, just in case the ghosts, or spirits of the house become a little peckish.

 

Kathara Deutera – Clean Monday

 

Kathera Deuftera , or, Clean Monday, a public holiday in Greece, is the first of the forty days of Lent, also known in Greece as “Sarakosti”, a time for leaving behind sinful habits and non – fasting food.

 

 

Mrs Sarakosti, or, Mrs Lent is usually made from dough, her arms are folded in prayer, she has no mouth, as she is fasting, and she has seven legs, of which one, each Saturday, from Clean Monday until Easter, is broken off.

Clean Monday is also the beginning of spring, and is traditionally spent outdoors; families eat out, or take picnics to the countryside and fly kites, the “Koulouma”.

The flying of kites on clean Monday is said to be a way of communicating with God, an effort to reach God spiritually, some say it symbolizes the Resurrection of Christ.

The most popular place to fly your kite is on Fillopapou Hill, near the Acropolis, in Athens.

 

 

As it seems the Greeks did everything first I was not surprised to hear that they invented the first kite, ancient Greek mathematician and engineer, Archytas, rigged one up to help with his studies of aerodynamics in around 400 BC.

Clean Monday, so called, as to make a clean start, means eating the traditional Clean Monday fare; shellfish, octopus, beans, “Taramasalata”( Fish-roe dip), dolmades (rice filled vine leaves), unleavened bread; “Lagana”, and “Halva” (Semolina pudding), all washed down with plenty of wine or tsipouro.

 

 

That’s it now, until Easter Sunday, no meat, no poultry, no fish, no dairy, no oil.

Maybe it’s just as well; you need to lose those five kilos you put on through gorging over the previous three weeks!

My family doesn’t fast, well MGG (My Greek God) pretends to, and if my mother-in-law is within earshot, he definitely fasts!