The Dark-Hunters (869 page)

Babies are baptized into the Greek Orthodox religion when they are only a few months old. Be prepared for a screaming baby and a big tub of water—but it’s a beautiful and solemn event attended by more people than you see at most weddings. The godparent assists the priest in the anointing of the child, thus taking on a very important role in the child’s life. The christening is a momentous occasion, with a gorgeous ceremony followed by a large celebration with lots of food.

And that’s just the beginning.

At a Greek table, food isn’t just meant to be eaten. It is meant to be
experienced.
Sharing this experience brings the people at the table closer together. Food is not just sustenance; it is a way of life.

Both at home and in restaurants, dinners are served “family style,” as opposed to individual meals for each person. (Greeks never eat alone.) A great deal of the meal is meant to be consumed with the hands as opposed to a knife and fork. (It’s all part of the
experience.
How can you truly experience something if you don’t touch it?) So if your instinct is telling you to dig in, indulge yourself. No one will be offended. In fact, they’ll be thrilled that you feel comfortable enough at their table to take such an interest in sating yourself with wild abandon.

There is
always
too much food at a Greek table. We never want anyone to leave our home hungry. A host will want to show off his bounty and prove his generosity and genuine care for his guest. Finishing your meal, however, is a double-edged sword. If you don’t clean your plate, the host will assume that there was something wrong with the food, or that you did not like it. If you do clean your plate, your host will assume you have not had enough, and urge you to take more.

I have found the best way to avoid this is to take as small a portion as you can get away with … and then push away from the table after three helpings and pat your belly happily. There will always be some left over. You need to find a way to deal with it.

Paying for the bill among Greeks should have been an Olympic sport. The check is rarely—if ever—split, and great arguments are held at restaurants over who will be picking up the tab for the table. Some have often resorted to piratical tactics, such as slipping the waitress a wad of cash before the meal has even started, or sneaking to the restroom and paying the bill on the way back so that the bill never arrives at the table. The latter ruse is one of the best ways to cause fewer arguments, as no one is aware who paid the bill. The party only knows it’s been “taken care of.”

Everyone’s heard of the famous plate-smashing, of course, which in modern times is usually only done for tourists, or special ceremonies. Some say that plates and glasses were thrown at the feet of dancing girls to proclaim their beauty, and at men for their virility. Others say that the plates were smashed in order to honor the cook of a fine meal: To use the plates again would be blasphemous—any meal served on that plate hereafter would never be as good as the meal just served, so it is deemed useless. Perhaps it is a melding of both traditions … coupled with the tradition of loud, drunk, rowdy Greeks who like the sound of breaking glass.

Many of you have heard the saying “Beware of Greeks bearing gifts” because of the ill-famed Trojan Horse. However, it has always been—and still is—the custom of Greeks to bring a host gift with them whenever they have been invited to the home of a friend or relative. Flowers, alcohol, chocolates—these gifts are always welcome.

If you happen to be visiting a person on their name day, they will undoubtedly be hosting an enormous party for their friends with the requisite ton of food—like an open house, they will expect people to drop by all day long.

You are welcome to bring a present (you will not be expected to do anything special; it would just be the present you would be bringing to this friend’s house anyway), but know that your gift will not be opened in front of you. It is custom at any gathering to open gifts after the guests have left, so as to avoid any uncomfortable situations (the recipient is disappointed with the gift, two people accidentally give the same gift, and so on).

The demarcation is exceptionally fuzzy between Greek traditions, religious beliefs, and superstitions. The Orthodox Church split from the Roman Catholic religion in 1054 because of differences in theological, political, and cultural beliefs. Many Greeks today call themselves devout, but most of the traditions that they follow hearken back to customs, symbols, and rituals of pagan origins. As do many of their sayings and superstitions. Over the years, the Orthodox Church has integrated these beliefs into a rather unique religious dogma.

Superstitions

We will always be known by our actions.

Let them always be good ones.

—Theo Kafieri

COFFEE

Coffee is very important to the Greeks, as is the drinking of Greek coffee. Proper Greek coffee is made on the stove in a
briki,
a small, hammered copper pot. Coffee grounds (usually a strong Turkish blend) are added to the water and sugar. The
briki
is then brought to a boil three times (three is a number of power, remember). The potent coffee is served in demitasse cups, and sipped slowly.

If you are in the company of someone who reads coffee grounds (like reading tea leaves), and they are in the mood to indulge, they might offer to read your cup for you. (You would never put upon the person by asking, of course.) There are many different ways to do this—your reader will instruct you.

When you have sipped down to the “mud” in the bottom of the cup, you place your saucer on top of the cup. Keeping the cup right-side up, spin it in the air three times, then flip it upside down. The grounds will slide down the sides of the cup and dry there. Some readers have you tip the cup and roll it around before the spinning, to ensure that the mud makes lots of pictures along the sides of the cup.

After the mud has had time to dry, the reader will turn the cup over. Some readers may make the sign of the cross over the cup before they read it, to bless it and ask that only good news be found inside. Shapes in the cup will form pictures in the reader’s mind, and they will tell you stories about the events they see.

The time line is loosely based on the distance of the image in the cup from the handle, and how close to the lip of the cup it is. As with many other psychics, things a reader tells you may have already come to pass, may eventually come to pass, or may never happen at all. But it is always good to write them down anyway, just in case.

EASTER EGGS

Easter is the most important Greek holiday, surpassing even Christmas. Many of the traditions celebrated on this day date back to long before the advent of Christianity. Even the day that Orthodox Easter falls on is calculated using an equation that involves the vernal equinox, the phase of the moon, and the Julian (as opposed to the Gregorian) calendar. Rarely do Catholic Easter and Orthodox Easter ever fall on the same day.

Easter not only honors Christ’s sacrifice and rebirth, but it also represents the rituals of spring and the never-ending circle of life: the eternal Passover from life to death and then back to life again as the world itself is reborn.

Lamb as Easter dinner represents the ancient lamb sacrificed in honor of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Easter eggs are not rainbow shades of pastels; they are only colored bloodred, for the blood of Christ. Sometimes the eggs are cooked into a sweet bread called
tsoureki
(yeasty bread also “rises again,” you see).

On Easter Sunday, a game is played by young and old alike, where people rap their eggs against their friends’ eggs. The owner of the last egg uncracked on one or both sides is considered lucky.

EVIL EYE
(MATI)

In Greece and Turkey, many shops sell
mati,
or Evil Eyes. The eyes themselves are not evil; on the contrary, the eye is worn (usually on a necklace or bracelet) as protection
against
someone putting a hex on you. When an Evil Eye breaks, that means that it has done its job and protected the wearer.

Most Evil Eyes are blue, but they can come in a variety of colors. The blue originates from the rare occurrence of that color ever appearing throughout the dark Greek heritage—people with blue eyes were considered evil, powerful, cursed, or just really good at hexing others. On Crete, it is not an eye but a light blue bead that is used for protection.

It is important to note that an Evil Eye is more powerful, its warding strength more potent, when it is given as a gift.

The Orthodox Church recognizes the Evil Eye as something terrible, but it does not support the efforts of men and women who say they can remove it. These common people are considered charlatans. According to the Church, only the priest has the power to remove the effects of the Evil Eye.

The Church also does not recognize the Evil Eyes sold by street vendors as actual talismans of protection. Only a priest has the ability to make a proper
filokto,
a religious article that protects you from evil. It can be made from anything, but it is usually something like a locket containing blessed items such as cotton soaked in holy water, tears from a crying icon, or scrapings from a candle from a holy monastery.

NEW YEAR’S BREAD

In honor of the New Year, Greeks celebrate with
loukoumathes
(fried dough covered in honey and powdered sugar), and
vasilopita,
or New Year’s Bread, seasoned with almonds and Metaxa brandy. A coin (washed and wrapped in foil or plastic wrap) is baked into the bread. Each member of the family gets a slice, a slice is cut for the house, and a slice is cut for Jesus. Whoever receives the coin will have a fortunate year with lots of good luck and good news. If the house gets the coin, the whole family will have good news together. If the coin falls to Jesus, then there will be health and happiness for everyone all year long.

All the bread must be eaten, of course—bread is a gift from God and must never go to waste. Feed it to the birds, if you must, but never throw it away.

KNIVES

Knives are very symbolic. A knife handed to someone else means that there will soon be a quarrel between the giver and the recipient. If you have to pass someone a knife at the table, you put it down onto the table and let them pick it up.

Knives are never given as a gift. A knife as a gift is symbolic of the severing of the relationship. If someone does give you a knife for a gift, you must pay them for it, even if it is only a penny. Then it is not a gift; it is a purchase.

KOMBOLOI

Also called “worry beads,”
komboloi
are a string of beads like a small rosary that one puts in their pocket to fiddle with (usually men). Most
komboloi
have an odd number of beads or groups of odd numbers of beads, as odd numbers are lucky. Playing with
komboloi
is a meditation, a contemplation, as the beads click together. It is said that the
komboloi
represent infinity, the beginning and end of all things in endless cycle.

MONEY

Money attracts money. Never leave your wallet, purse, or pocket empty. If you ever give a wallet or purse as a gift, put some money inside it. If you see a penny, pick it up, because leaving money lying on the ground is just silly.

PALM

If your palm itches, you will soon be coming into some money.

RED

When two people say something at the same time, some Greek people say “Touch red”—like a combination of “Jinx” and “Knock on wood.” It is thought that two people speaking at once is prophetic, and may foretell of a dispute between the two speakers. Touching something red (usually accompanied by some spitting for good measure), thwarts this possibility.

SNEEZING

If you sneeze, it is because someone is talking about you. Where one would say, “Bless you,” the Greeks say, “Ya’sou.”

SPITTING

Words have power. Spitting is what people do to try and dilute that power.

If someone says something nice about you, they spit (or make the sound
“Ptou, ptou”
while mimicking spitting), so as not to tempt Fate or call down an unwanted Evil Eye. There is nothing worse than to call a baby or a bride beautiful and then have them turn ugly because of your careless words. By doing so, you can inadvertently put the Evil Eye on someone.

Also, if there is bad news, someone will spit so as to ward off any
more
bad news. So, good news or bad news, it’s important to stay hydrated.

Sometimes, a person will spit three times, in honor of the Holy Trinity—yet another example of the gray area between Christian and pagan beliefs.

THIRTEEN

Thirteen is a lucky number for the Greek people, as thirteen was the number of all the apostles plus Jesus. The only time thirteen is unlucky is on Tuesday.

TUESDAY

Tuesday is considered unlucky by the Greeks because it was on this day that Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, fell. An American’s Friday the thirteenth is a Greek’s Tuesday the thirteenth.

Pearls of Wisdom

You’re baked bread.

—Artemis

If you’ve ever heard Artemis try and conquer colloquial slang, you’ve possibly winced so hard you pulled something. Why is it, you wonder, that this beautiful, all-knowing, all-powerful goddess must murder the language the way she does?

You know she’s not doing it on purpose. And no, it’s not because she’s really a blonde (don’t you ever let Aphrodite hear you say that). The reason she just can’t seem to make that cultural leap is because the Greeks have a long, lovely tradition of sayings even weirder than anything we might dream up in our wildest imaginings.