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Few days ago here in Greece we celebrated Orthodox Easter, we celebrate it a week later than the Catholic Easter and we made this presentation to share with you our customs on these days. Easter in Greece celebrating from the end of Carnival till the end of Easter . It's a religious celebration both in Christianity but also in spring, most of the traditions have also the two meanings !

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Easter starts from the day after the Carnival and it lasts about 50 days !
Customs begin from the Sunday night of Carnival before dinner begins, family members give each other forgiveness. Forgiveness  is highly valued in human relationships and play an important role in preparing for Lent. People visit relatives and friends, give gifts and forgive each other. Large families gather at the table and the younger ones apologize to the older ones by kissing their hand. So people are freed from bad feelings and family relationships become stronger. The younger ones apologize first to the older ones for all the mistakes - young and old they have made during the year. Only those who receive forgiveness can begin fasting "with a pure heart."
Haska: A red thread, a boiled egg and everyone gathers around the table and the grandfather or father of the family ties a piece of boiled egg to a thread, which on the other hand is tied to a rod and, after putting the children to sit one next to each other, they wave in front of each child's mouth in turn the piece of halva or the boiled egg, until they catch it with their mouth without using their hands at all. This old custom causes a lot of laughter and contributes to the good atmosphere of the whole company. The festive night continues with many songs and dances, because from the next day the Great Lent begins and the festivities will stop for a few weeks.

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One of the oldest Greek customs for Lent and Easter is Lady Lent, which is nothing more than an improvised diary that counted the weeks of Lent, the official start of which is Shrove Monday.
In most homes, this diary was made of paper. They painted a woman in a wide skirt, with a cross on her head, with her arms crossed for prayer, no mouth for fasting, and seven legs - one for each week of Lent.
Starting on Shrove Monday, every Saturday that passed, they cut off one of her legs and so they knew how many weeks were left until Easter. On Holy Saturday they cut off her last leg and hid this piece of paper in a dried fig from what had dried up in the summer or in the bread they baked for the night of the Resurrection.
Whoever found the paper leg of Kyra Sarakosti on the slice of bread that belonged to him or on the fig that he caught from the basket, they believed that he would be lucky, it would bring him luck, good luck.
In addition to paper, in many other parts of Greece they made Lady Lent from dough, with flour, salt and water.
This dough is not eaten, it is only made for good, since it is salty, as they say. The dough deliberately has a large amount of salt, so that it can be preserved for 7 weeks and does not mold. There were many housewives who put in a small coin. At the end of the 7th week, each member of the family cut a small piece by hand. To anyone who dropped the coin it meant they would have luck on their side!

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The carols for Lazarus Saturday are sung in a few areas, while in the past they were one of the most lively customs and gave a special tone to small communities. Lazaro's carols were exclusively female and were sung by girls of all ages and even girls of the marriage called "Lazarines". On the eve of the holiday, the Lazarines flocked to the fields outside the villages to collect flowers that would decorate their basket the next day dressed in local costumes wearing a special costume. They went from house to house singing Lazarus and receiving a small tip, money, eggs, fruit or other edibles. Lazarus carols are sung in very few parts of the country today. The lyrics of the song sometimes refer to the resurrection of Lazarus and are usually mediocre lyrics and other times they are praises of people who reach the limits of high poetic creation.

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Holy Sunday is so named because "after Vaios and branches" the reception of Christ took place in Jerusalem.
A typical custom of the day is the decoration of the churches with vagia, while after the service the priest blesses and gives to the faithful crosses from vagia, which we put on the icons or where else we need protection.
On Palm Sunday, fish is eaten, usually a griffin or if no cod is found.

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On this day, the preparations in the Greek houses for the celebration of the Resurrection begin. The housewives knead shiny cookies, make Easter cookies and paint red eggs.
The women come from kneading. Knead the cookies of Lambri with various herbs and decorate them with nuts and dough ornaments.
The main occupation of the day is the painting of the Eggs. Easter is not possible without red eggs. That's why Maundy Thursday is also called Red Thursday or "Red Thursday". Egg painting is done with a certain etiquette.
In Western Macedonia, housewives spread red velvet or sails on their balcony or window. Families who mourn do not paint the eggs red but some other color such as green and blue.

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Good Friday is a day of absolute holiday and fasting.
Almost the whole day is dedicated to the Apocalypse of the Crucified and the Epitaph Sequence. The people live with the divine drama. His strong desire to participate in the Lord's passion is also evident in some of his simple, yet characteristic, Holy Week deeds.
When the Apocalypse takes place at noon and the golden image of the dead Jesus is displayed on a pilgrimage on a portable canopy, then the decoration of the Epitaph begins. The decoration is done by the girls of the parish, with spring flowers: violets, menexedes, roses, lemon flowers. All the flowers are woven into wreaths and garlands and the Epitaph becomes a whole wreath of flowers.
In many places, the girls, while adorning the Epitaph, sing the Virgin Mary's obituary, a great religious song that tells the story of the crucifixion of Jesus and expresses the pain of the Holy Mother.
And immediately the influx of people and the pilgrimage of the Epitaph begins. Girls with baskets full of flowers stand next to him and sprinkle myrrh on the dead Jesus. Pilgrims pass under the Epitaph, "so that grace may seize them," as they say.
From noon onwards, the godfathers send gifts to their baptisteries: clothes, shoes, candles, bun, egg. You can't imagine how eagerly the little ones are waiting! They will wear them to greet the Epitaph!
At the same time, another thing happens: The engagements are shown! The bride and her mother visit the mother-in-law. The two of them put the bride in the middle and go to worship the Epitaph of all the churches passing through the main streets. This way the engagements are revealed!
When night falls, the procession and procession of the Epitaph begin. The procession is formed by the Hexapteraga and the Cross in front, the Epitaph and the priests further back. In the cities, musicians are leading the way, playing mournful marches. The world that follows holds lighted candles in their hands. From time to time the procession stops in squares and crossroads and there the priests sing prayers.
In Dryovouno of the municipality of Voio, "the representation of the Apocalypse of Christ" takes place on the hill of "Golgotha" located on a hill in the village. On the morning of Good Friday, a large number of believers take part in the procession to the hill, where the Metropolitan will hand over the body of Jesus to the perfumers, the young girls in traditional costumes who have arrived from all over western Macedonia to participate in overnight ceremony.

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In the morning the Liturgy of the Great Kingdom takes place, it is the pre-announcement of the great event and in the evening the Resurrection Service takes place. Shortly before midnight, all the lights in the church go out and darkness falls everywhere. At 12 o'clock at night, the priest sings "Take a light" and comes out with his candle lit through the Beautiful Gate and gives light to the churchgoers.
Then the faithful go out of the church, where the priest reads the Gospel of the Resurrection and as soon as he finishes he sings "Christ is Risen" Immediately after that fireworks and sparklers begin to fall. After the Resurrection, the faithful bring the Holy Light to their home. At the entrance of their house, they make, with the smoke of the candle, the shape of the cross.
Then they light the candle and try to keep it for at least three to forty days. Then they sit at the Easter table. In Kozani they eat a light soup for the first dish after they crack red eggs. The main dishes are a soup to prepare stomach back to normal after fasting and a red egg
Resurrection in cemeteries
In Kozani, most people celebrate Resurrection at midnight with their dead in the cemetery of Agios Georgios!
Men, women, children and even close relatives gather around the memory of their deceased with their candle lit and wait for "Christ is Risen!". In fact, they do not forget to put a red egg on the memory to fill the lost member of the family.

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Easter or Brilliant for the Greeks is the top celebration of the year. It is celebrated all over Greece with the skewering of lambs, the crunching of red eggs, with songs and dances.
Lambs are one of the most recognizable symbols of Easter, as they symbolize Christ. John the Baptist likened Christ to the "Lamb of God, who will take away the sin of the world."
The lamb is a pre-eminent mythical symbol, in the sense of innocence and purity mainly on a spiritual level, so by its division it allows people to communicate with this purity