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Ios, island of Homer and dreams, has preserved several traditions from earlier generations, including kounies, wedding customs, klidonas, anegardos, and armyropitari, which symbolizes women’s anticipation of marriage. Kounies is a custom according to which the island’s girls make swings (“kounies”) which they install in the island’s lanes and then swing on them singing traditional love songs. Tradition dictates that Ios weddings are held on Saturday. On the Thursday before the wedding, a celebration called the prozymi takes place where merriment follows the kneading of the wedding breads. Wedding guests are treated to home-made pastelli, bars of sesame seeds and honey, before continuing to the reception and wedding celebration. Klidonas was a custom involving folk prophecies according to which random words or incomprehensible phrases purportedly revealed the identity of their future husband to unwed women. On Ios, on the eve of the feast of Ai Yiannis, single women would gather at someone’s home and assign one of them—a prerequisite was that both her parents were alive—to fetch water from the well or source in absolute silence. This “silent water” (amilito nero) was then poured into a clay jug, or rizikari, in which each one of the women had placed a personal item. The jug was covered with red fabric and “locked” (kleidono is the Greek verb for ‘to lock’) before being placed in outdoors, under the starry sky, for the night. The next day, the young woman who fetched the water is sent to bring the jug back indoors. At midday or in the afternoon, the single women gather again and the young woman who brought in the jar, pulls the other women’s items out one by one while reciting a double verse. This verse is said to be an omen or clue for each woman’s future and is discussed at length by the others. Around twilight, when this process has been completed, each of the single women takes a sip of the “silent water” and stands in front of an open window until she hears a male name being spoken or called. The first name she hears is the name of the man she will marry. After the klidonas has been completed, the locals light a bonfire in the village square and those assembled leap over its flame. Religious folk festivals, the panigyri, are prominent among Ios customs as each one of the island’s 365 churches has a feast day honoring its saint which is celebrated with feasting—that is, food and dancing. The feast of the Three Hierarchs on January 30, is observed with church services, feasting, and a memorial service for the island’s benefactor and first education minister of modern Greece, Spyridonas Valettas. On March 25, which marks both Greek independence day and the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, observances at the Church of Evangelismos (Annunciation), the island’s cathedral, include a procession of the icon of the Virgin Mary, the laying of wreaths at the heroes’ memorial, a parade by elementary and high school students, and folk dance performances. On August 15, the feast of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, the miracle-working icon at the Panayia Gremiotissa is taken around in procession. The panigyri of Ai Yiannis at Psathi, a small settlement on the island’s north coast opposite Irakleia, is held on August 29. Years ago, pilgrims arrived by fishing boat from the nearby islands of Amorgos, Irakleia, and Koufonisia, bringing a priest and musicians with them. On the morning of the feast’s eve, large vats were set up in the cooking area. Meat was blanched, then strained and returned to the pot with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and peppers. The ingredients were then boiled together, then the stock was strained and used as a base for soup to which rice was added and then an egg-lemon sauce beaten in. The food preparation was done by men only. Cooking was timed so that the meal was ready by the end of the evening church services. The cooking pots were then moved out to the yard and the commissioners would serve guests, filling their skoutelia (ceramic soup dishes) with portions of goat pilaf and a piece of meat. After the meal, with pilgrims sated, a collection tray was passed around for donations to be used for the church and the panigyri. After this, the revelry began with a dance called the kavos. The dance is led by a young man in love and his close friends who together coax the man’s beloved to the dance floor. Slowly, the other dancers step away, leaving the couple alone to dance the ballos. The young man then moves away and the woman must then dance with all his friends as well as all of hers. When she’s tired, she gestures for him to return to the dance floor and they “end” the kavos by dancing the ballos again. The merriment lasts through daybreak and stops when the pilgrims are called to the morning church services, after which chickpea stew is served. On September 8, the birth of the Virgin Mary is observed with feasting at the Panayia Palaiokastritissa and Ayia Theodoti.
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