The custom of scaring off the goblins (kalikantzaroi in Greek) is being revived in central Greece every year during the festive season.
From Christmas Day until the Feast of the Epiphany, on January 6, Greeks watch over their homes especially carefully, looking for moved items or stolen Christmas goodies. That’s because, according to Greek folklore, a group of tiny goblins, called kalikantzaroi, come out during the holidays, hoping to wreak some havoc on mankind.
Gorgogyri, a village located at the foot of Mount Koziakas in Thessaly is renowned for the festival celebrating the custom. It has its roots centuries ago and has been preserved unchanged to this day, passing from generation to generation.
Men, women, and children dress up in traditional fleeces, and wear bells, which they ring with force to “drive evil away.” They dance and they move from house to house to exorcise evil and to extend wishes for a good harvest and euphoria on earth.
Revelers end up in the square of the village rhythmically ringing their bells as loudly as they can.
The Kalikantzaroi custom, or the Greek goblins
These little creatures are said to live under the crust of the earth all year round, sawing at the tree of life that holds up our planet and keeps it spinning, hoping to bring it crashing down. Every year during the holidays, however, these mischievous creatures come up to the earth to steal our sweets and just basically give us a hard time.
The Kalikantzaroi come up to the world during this period every year, the belief goes, because Christ has not yet been baptized and therefore cannot protect humanity from evil.
On January 6, the Epiphany, which commemorates both the day the Magi visited Jesus, acknowledging that He was the Son of God, and the day that Jesus was later baptized, the kalikantzaroi are forced off of the planet, and return back down to the base of the tree of life to see that it has been healed. They therefore must start their dastardly work all over again.
Traditionally, the goblins are depicted as small, dark, hairy creatures with goat-like legs, but more recent images of the kalikantzaroi resemble more standard, human-like trolls or goblins. Although they have always had a negative connotation, kalikantzaroi are now considered festive tricksters rather than evil spirits.
Like much of European folklore, the kalikantzaroi come from ancient pagan traditions, but have been adapted to fit with Christianity. Debate regarding the exact source of these creatures ranges from ancient Greek death spirits to small bugs associated with evil spirits which were known to destroy crops.
Despite these theories, stories of creatures just like the kalikantzaroi are found in folklore across the Balkans, as well as in Cyprus and Turkey.
Related: Greek New Year’s Customs: Momogeroi and Hirosfagia Revived
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