{"id":7272,"date":"2025-01-02T12:32:20","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T10:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesandbox.eu\/nl\/2016\/11\/10\/celebration-epiphany-lights-greek-national-holiday\/"},"modified":"2025-01-03T13:55:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T11:55:56","slug":"celebration-epiphany-lights-greek-national-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omilo.com\/nl\/celebration-epiphany-lights-greek-national-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"January 6 – Greek National Holiday and Celebration of Epiphany (of Lights)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On January 6th, Greeks celebrate \u201cTa phota\u201d or \u201cTheofania\u201d or \u201cEpiphania\u201d, which stands for the Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River.
\nIt is a very important Greek celebration and it is the last one of the 12-day celebration period, which starts on Christmas.<\/strong><\/p>\n


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Click here to listen to the song; children singing at the door in Athens<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The tradition of January 6th<\/h2>\n

In the morning of January 6th<\/strong>, the priest throws the cross in the water.
\nDepending on the region, the cross is thrown in the sea, river, or lake. In mountainous areas or in Athens, the cross can also be thrown in a fountain.
\nYoung men will dive or jump in the water and try to catch it. The person that will catch it, will have a lot of luck.<\/p>\n

Also, the water is then believed to be sanctified (the process is called \u201cthe sanctification of waters\u201d). The priest often goes to the houses and blesses them with this water.<\/p>\n

The Epiphany customs come from ancient Greece, and particularly from a feast in ancient Greece called \u201cPlintiria\u201d (=washing machines). During this feast, the Athenians were carrying the statue of Athena to the coast of Faliro (close to Piraeus) in order to wash it in the sea, to make sure it would keep its magic powers.<\/p>\n