Good day for a dip!!!

TODAY, January 6th is Epiphany throughout all of Greece. After the local church ceremony it is tradition that the priest will go to the local harbour and blesses the waters and then throws the sacred cross into the waters, where young men challenge for the collection, a sign of good luck.
   There were hundreds gathered at Hersonissos harbour to celebrate the day, blessed with warm winter sunshine, but, we are told the water was still very cold as 12 brave souls vied for the wooden cross pitched into the sea by the priest from the brow on a boat.

  We go along, meet friends there, and enjoy the activities, and stay on for coffee and a chat, but the ceremony is still to be admired as they retain their traditions. 
   Epiphany is an important religious celebration for all Greeks and Orthodox Christians. The day on which Jesus was baptized symbolizes the regeneration of man and that is why Epiphany used to be celebrated, until the mid-4th century, as New Year’s Day. Epiphany, or Fota as this celebration is otherwise called in Greece, is associated with the removal of evil spirits, human fertility and land fertility.
 It is also considered that the celebration of Epiphany brings catharsis. The waters are sanctified and evil is driven out of them. During earlier centuries, villagers considered this particular day as the biggest celebration of the year when they would wear their new clothes in order for them to be sanctified!
  There was also a myth that on the eve of Epiphany, the heavens opened and people could get anything they requested.