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Firewalkers preserve ancient rites in Greece

Anastenaria are devotees of St. Constantine who celebrate centuries-old rites like firewalking and dancing at annual festivals.

By Associated Press

May 25, 2023

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Sotirios Gkaintatzis, center, prepares to carry out icons barefoot over a bed of burning coals as part of the "anastenaria" rituals celebrated in the village of Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22. "Dancing and firewalking is like communicating with the saints," said Gkaintatzis, who started participating as a small child in the "anastenaria" and took over the role of local leader after his father passed away last summer.
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Sotirios Gkaintatzis, center, dances carrying an icon in honor of St. Constantine in the special room reserved for the saint's feast in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22.
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Konstantinos Kyriakides, 12, holds a large candle as he waits to process to the firewalking held in honor of St. Constantine in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22. The boy hopes to become an "anastenari," as these groups of devotees are called who trace their rituals to the story of ancestors who run into a burning church to save icons – and emerged unscathed.
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Icons of Orthodox saints framed in red cloth hung with votive offerings are venerated in a special room called "konaki" in the village of Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22. Devotees of St. Constantine celebrate his feast day with elaborate rituals that include dancing with these icons over a bed of burning coals.
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A group of "anastenaria" kiss icons and don red handkerchiefs before stepping out of a sacred space to walk on a bed of burning coals as part of centuries-old rituals kept alive in a smattering of villages like Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22.
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Dancers dressed in traditional Thrace dresses put on the finishing touches of make-up before performing around a fire set up in a residential street for a firewalking ritual in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22.
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Firewalkers and traditional dancers gather around a fire whose embers will be central to the ritual celebrating St. Constantine in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22. "It cannot be translated into words. It's all a matter of faith," said Sotirios Gkaintatzis, second from left, the leader of this "anastenaria" group.
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Boys play soccer in a house garden next to a fire that, once reduced to smoldering coals, would be crossed by devotees carrying icons of St. Constantine in a ritual in the Orthodox saint's honor in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22.
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Dancers dressed in traditional Thrace costumes dance around a fire set up in a residential street for a firewalking ritual in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22.
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Devotees of St. Constantine called "anastenaria" walk and dance across a bed of burning coals, carrying icons to celebrate the Orthodox saint's feast in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22. "Always there's an amount of fear related to respect," one of them said, but the ritual symbolized empowerment through the saint's intercession to put out the flames.
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A firewalker shows his foot – unscathed except for a few smudges of soot – after performing a firewalking ritual in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22.
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Dancers dressed in traditional Thrace costumes watch a ritual to celebrate St. Constantine in Lagkadas, Greece, on Monday, May 22. Groups of devotees of St. Constantine called "anastenaria" celebrate his feast day with elaborate rituals that include dancing with icons over a bed of burning coals.
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Firewalkers dance across a bed of burning coals in a ritual in honor of St. Constantine in the village of Lagkadas, Greece on Monday, May 22.

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