May 21, 2012. Serres, Greece. Anastenarides hold holy scarves during the dance, of which derive strength and confidence.
The Anastenaria is a traditional fire-walking ritual performed in some villages in Northern Greece and Southern Bulgaria. Each Anastenaria festival lasts three days and involves various processions, music and dancing, and an animal sacrifice. The festival culminates with a firewalking ritual, where the participants, carrying the icons of saints Constantine and Helen, dance ecstatically for hours before entering the fire and walking barefoot over the glowing-red coals, and are seemingly unharmed by the fire. This festival is truly mind over matter. The festival starts with music and dancing on the evening of May 20th (the eve of the feast of Saints Constantine and Helen) to begin the process of inducing the ecstatic state. The main firewalking event is the next day and this is open to the public, however the villagers request privacy for the event’s final day when more firewalking is carried out in private. The legend behind this fiery custom dates back to the Middle Ages, when the Church of Saint Constantine went up in flames. The story goes that as flames engulfed the church, the icons of the saint and of his mother, Saint Helena, could be heard crying for help from inside the church. Some brave villagers ran into the flames to rescue the icons but miraculously both the villagers and the icons remained completely unscathed by the fire.
Size: 4368px × 2912px
Location: Ayia Eleni, Serres, Central Macedonia, Greece, Europe
Photo credit: © Konstantinos Tsakalidis / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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