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15th August is the biggest holiday of the Greek year and even with the virus, anyone who could, returned to their village for this huge religious celebration. The islands are a popular place to visit in August because so many of them have churches dedicated to the Virgin Mary and their fiestas, used to, go on for days and nights.
On the island of Kefalonia, over on the Italian side of Greece there is a little church where harmless snakes suddenly appear just before the Feast of the Dormition.
A Holy Serpent
They are said to appear only at this time and disappear a few days after the fiesta. According to tradition if they don't turn up it heralds a tragedy. They did not appear in 1940 just before WW11, when Kefalonia was occupied by the Italians, and again in 1953 when the island suffered a tremendous earthquake.
The villagers wait with great anticipation for the first snake to appear and church bells ring out to announce their arrival. This year, 2020, with all its woes, the snakes returned. A good omen for all of us.
The snakes are friendly, crawl through the church and can be picked up and handled. They are not longer than one metre and have a small cross on their head.
They are called the miracle snakes of the Panagia (Virgin Mary). I have read a few explanations of why they might appear at this time, one of them saying the church is on their migratory path.
It doesn't matter. It must be quite a sight to see these snakes crawling all over the icons and the faithful, although after reading various sites it seems that there are only 2 or 3 that have appeared in recent years
So there you go.
I visited the island of Kefalonia in `1974 with a couple of friends. We had heard that there was a monastery with the mumified body of a saint. Saint Gerasimos. I don't know what on earth we were expecting to see but I remember a coffin in the church with some sort of ghostly mummy. We had a Nun trailing us who probably expected us at the very least to kiss the glass case where the Saint was preserved. I don't think we even lit a candle because that was all so foreign for the 3 of us . We got out as fast as possible, having no idea of Orthodox protocol. The Nun I am sure was not happy with our disrespect which was simply ignorance.
That is interesting about the snakes. I wondermwherenthey went in '40 and '53. My Dad used to say that animals and birds knew an earthquake was coming long before we did.
ReplyDeleteIt's not so long ago that you could call these tales myths so I guess it's true but ok with the earthquake. How about the Italian occupation.
DeleteFascinating about the snakes - so pleased they appeared this year.
ReplyDeleteI'm pleased too. A bit of positive news. Hope for the islanders it does mean a year of harmony
Delete15th August was always the day of our big village fete. We roasted several Lambs, drank too much, and danced until morning. These now no longer take place as they have been replaced by the weekly Thursday evening picnics (which we no longer attend, because of covid). Fings ain't what they used to be!
ReplyDeleteIncredible creatures. Makes you wonder if they can predict the future?
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard about this before. I always found it bizarre as the serpent represents evil in the bible. But as always the Greeks do it there way lol
ReplyDeleteI’m glad the snakes appeared this year. I could just imagine if they hadn’t. This year is bad enough
I'm sorry folks. I accidently deleted a whole load of comments from you and my replies. Deleted forever. I should have left the australian hemp oil or whatever it was.
ReplyDeleteRachel, Cro, Dave, Angela I did reply to you and perhaps a few more.
Just from memory
ReplyDeleteRachel - I think there is a lot of hype over this event and some years only one snake may appear. One's enough obviously. Sort of thing I would like to see for myself. Religious tourism is/was a big thing at times like this
Cro - I hadn't realised just how big a celebration this was all over catholic europe till I read about your festivities in France.
I bet the revelling will return once fings return to what they were.
Dave - who knows. Animals tread another path but predicting the occupations by the Italians is a bit much. Mind you there was an octopus that predicted the results of the World Cup so why not
Angela - even snakes are positive news this year.
F's pretty cool about wildlife, handles most stuff that other people think of as creepy crawlies, but we're not sure about snakes. We've never actually meet one, but we used to have slow-worms in our allotment (apparently they are legless lizards) and she wasn't over keen on handling them even though she thought they were neat and good slug predators. I reckon we'd go to look at the snakes in the church, but we'd probably make sure they weren't crawling on us. That little one actually looks quite cute.
ReplyDelete