Photo of the Day: Waitangi Day and the Maori-Greek Connection

  

Flashback to 2003...

Evangelos Venizelos,  as Minister of Culture, Hongis with a Maori Performer of Moana and the Band, at one of the group's performances in Greece for the Cultural Olympiad, in the lead up to the Athens Olympic Games in 2004

The photo is taken from the front cover of Nemecis Magazine at the time

The Hongi is the traditional Maori greeting in New Zealand and is done by pressing noses together. During the Hongi the breath of life is exchanged and the visitor is welcomed as one of the people and no longer a stranger

Wikipedia says the following: When Māori greet one another by pressing noses, the tradition of sharing the breath of life is considered to have come directly from the gods.In Māori fo lklore, woman was created by the gods moulding her shape out of the earth. The god Tāne (meaning male) embraced the figure and breathed into her nostrils. She then sneezed and came to life. Her name was Hineahuone (earth formed woman).
  
Today is February 6  and the day that the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi is commemorated in New Zealand - the signing of a Treaty passing 'ownership' of Aotearoa ' The land of the Long White Cloud' as the native Maori called New Zealand to the representatives of the British Crown. 

Even though it is the subject of much heated debate, the Treaty of Waitangi is considered as the founding document of New Zealand as a nation, and for that reason it was called New Zealand Day and is a National Holiday. You can read more about the Treaty of Waitangi at Griwis - the New Zealanders in Greece Blog

There has been a lot of discussion recently about the identity of the first people to arrive in New Zealand, with the publication of a book by Noel Hilliam who believes that in fact evidence found in New Zealand suggests the Greeks got to New Zealand first.

I had read Hilliam's findings and then, strangely enough, some months ago, as we were sorting through some old furniture in an Athenian apartment, I discovered a yellowing newspaper in an old trunk that was being thrown out. It was French and my eye fell on a heading which read Mysterious Discovery in New Zealand... The article pictured below,  goes on to describe wall carvings which bore a remarkable resemblance to  the Ancient Greek and Egyptian Galleys...

The Newspaper was  Le Matin and the date of the newspaper, 10 January 1926, nearly 90 years ago!!!

We don't know what the truth is but if our noble ancestors did get there first - imagine if Alexander the Great was among them - it wouldn't surprise us at all. There is a remarkable feeling of kindred spirit among the Maori people and the Greek people. Apart from the extensive use of vowel sounds in both our languages, our two peoples have a lot in common: the joy of living life to the full, the strong sense of family, the respect for the dead, the mythology with Gods taking a central role in creation are just a few of the similarities...

Food for thought? We think so!

Happy Waitangi Day! 

From Tarpon Springs to Wellington: Epiphany Day Around the Global Greek World! Xronia Polla!

The Statue of the Cross Retriever

outside St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Tarpon Springs

 representing all those who have retrieved the cross from the waters of the Bayou

Εν Ιορδάνη βαπτιζομένο Σου Κυρίε...

Epiphany Day (Των Φώτων - Θεοφάνια)  today in the Global Greek World and the Orthodox church celebrates the baptism of Christ in the River Jordan.

The bells rang out this morning in every church in Greece - a beautiful sound calling the people to attend the blessing of the waters, the Agiasmo, commemorating the day that Christ was christened.

Despite the bad weather in Athens, Piraeus and the rest of Greece, the tradition holds strong and people flocked to their local churches  to be blessed, to get some of the Holy water to drink and to bless their homes using a sprig of basil or rosemary to sprinkle the water everywhere.

In our local church, Profiti Elia in Halandri, weather permitting, the ceremony takes place in the church grounds, a beautiful pine studded spot right opposite the Rematia Stream. You can watch a little of the ceremony here...excuse the sound, it was the best I could do as the winds were pretty strong and it started raining in the middle of the Agiasmo!




In Greece it is a public holiday, but in our communities around the world, if Epiphany Day doesn't fall on a weekend, it is usually celebrated on the closest Sunday to the actual day.

 Epiphany Day 

on a sunny summer January Day in Wellington, New Zealand

Two out of the three brave young men who defied the elements in Wellington, New Zealand 

to dive for the cross on a not so summery day in January 2010

The exception is of course  the most famous Greek Sponge Village outside Greece, Tarpon Springs, in Florida, USA where for more than 100 years Epiphany Day is celebrated as THE most important day in the church calendar and the biggest event of the year. This year is the 106th Epiphany Day celebrated in Tarpon Springs.

The whole community looks forward to the unique Epiphany Day celebrations and the Greek Festival that accompanies them.

The person who is lucky enough to find the white cross which is cast into the waters of the Bayou, gets to keep the cross he retrieved, is given a commemorative trophy cup and a gold cross to wear. Above all, however he is considered blessed for the whole of his life, holding a place of honour in Tarpon Springs for the ensuing year. The Cross Retriever is Tarpon's very own homegrown hero and looked up to by all, young and old alike and especially by the younger ones who make retrieving the cross one of their life-goals.

His name is entered on the honours memorial at the Bayou and leads the celebrations the next year.

Andrew Nikiforakis was the lucky one to find the cross in 1992

exactly twenty years ago today!

Andrew Nikiforakis

A jubilant Andrew Nikiforakis, the 1992 Cross Retriever, rejoices as his fellow contenders in the Epiphany Day dive carry him on their shoulders in his victory lap by the Bayou

 1992 Cross retriever, Andrew Nikiforakis, stands by the honours monument 

at the Bayou in 2009 as his sister proudly points to his name etched on the monument

There is something very special indeed about this annual tradition which, apart from its religious significance has become a favourite in the local community for Greeks and non-Greeks alike.

Usually the Archbishop of North America comes down from New York to officiate at the ceremony held at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral and thousands of Greeks flock to the city.

The magnificent St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Tarpon Springs

 

Inside the magnificent St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, Tarpon Springs

 

Epiphany Wall Mural inside St Nicholas, Tarpon Springs 

The Spring Bayou is prepared and the small boats are readied for the sixty to seventy young boys between 16 and 18 who prepare to dive for the Cross in the calm waters of the Bayou...

The Spring Bayou, calm and quiet, days before Epiphany Day 

It is wonderful watching so many young men in their Epiphany Day tops led by the previous year's Cross retriever in the procession from the church to the Bayou and into the little boats. A white dove is set free and as soon as the Holy Cross is thrown into the water they dive into the water from the boats watched by the cheering onlookers and thousands of people wait to see who will be the lucky one!

The late Archbishop Iakovos officiates at the 1993 Epiphany Day celebrations in Florida  

Andrew Nikiforakis, the 1992 retriever, can be seen to his left in the dark suit 

ready to handover to this year's lucky young man.

It is a magnificent sight to behold, and definitely a must for any visitors to Tarpon Springs - the most famous Greek Village outside Greece!

This post is dedicated to one of Tarpon's blessed young men, Andrew Nikiforakis, who having retrieved the Cross from the Bayou in 1992, led the 1993 procession and handed over to his successor, Michael Saroukos. Most of the photos on this post are from the Tarpon Springs Epiphany Day celebrations of that year.

I was thrilled to have been there to see this wonderfully inspiring event in 1993...

1993, a time when the local Greek Community was adding its voice of support to the raging controversy of FYROM - proclaiming loudly and proudly to all that would listen, that MACEDONIA IS GREEK...

We don't have a video from the 1992 Epiphany Day but we did find this one from 1990... the ritual and the tradition entrenched in this most Holy event continue to this day.

 

Kai tou xronou and to all celebrating namedays today - Xronia polla kai kala!!! 

At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows! 

© GlobalGreekWorld 2009-2020 All Rights Reserved

John Psathas - A Greek-Something Composer for Athens' Magical, Unforgettable, Dream Olympics!!!

Celebrated Greek-New Zealand composer John Psathas is one of our Global Greeks.

John is one of New Zealand's most frequently performed composers, and one of the finest and most talented of the younger generation of composers in New Zealand.

His music is energetic and vibrant, with a passionate exuberance that is a product of his Greek heritage.

One of the few, if not the only, Greek-Somethings to be involved in such a way, John's music was a major part of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the highlight of his career to date.

John commuted several times between Wellington and Athens to work on the music and supervise the rehearsal process. His music included a number of fanfares and processionals to accompany the arrival of the IOC President, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron  and also the music that preceded the Olympic oaths, and he was responsible for the soundtrack to the entire flame sequence of the ceremony. 

John also arranged the National Anthem of Greece, the Olympic Hymn and music by Shostakovich, Debussy and the foremost living Greek Composer Mikis Theodorakis that accompanied other parts of the ceremony. Listen to John's superb arrangement of the Olympic Anthem.

Born in New Zealand to Greek parents, Emmanuel and Anastasia, who have since returned to live in the family town of Michaniona in Northern Greece, today John lectures at the Victoria University School of Music but visits Greece regularly both for personal and professional reasons.

Apart from his numerous visits to Greece in preparation for the Olympics, in December of 2006 he gave a series of concerts in Cyprus and in Patras, which was the Cultural Capital of Europe that year.

His music is heard regularly on the world's concert stages, and has been performed by Michael Brecker, Joshua Redman, Evelyn Glennie, Pedro Carneiro, Federico Mondelci, Michael Houstoun, and many fine ensembles.

Some of John's most recent compositions are View from Olympus, which he wrote while on Sabbatical in Greece and stayed at the top of New Zealand's classical charts for 5 months, and ‘Zeibekiko’, an entire programme of Greek music celebrating the heritage of Greek music from Antiquity to the present day.

‘Zeibekiko’ was commissioned by the Eduard van Beinum Foundation at the request of the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble - an invitation to John to create an entire programme based around the theme of 2500 years of Greek Music and was performed by the Nederlands Blazers throughout Holland, at the Bath Festival UK and at the 2006 New Zealand International Arts Festival among others.

The ambience of the Zeibekiko, a Greek dance traditionally performed by men, sets the tone for this magnificent programme which evokes the beauty of the Mediterranean as we accompany John on this musical journey as he explores his ancestral roots. His programme includes the first Hymn to Apollo from Delphi, traditional folk and popular music, as well as original compositions -wonderful and unique, classic Psathas!

For the performances of Zeibekiko, John worked closely with two very gifted traditional Greek musicians, Clarino virtuoso, Manos Achalinotopoulos and master percussionist, Vagelis Karypis.

On August 29 of the same year, his’ "Olympiad XXVIII" had its World Premiere in Beijing at Forbidden City in the context of Beijing’s Olympic Games. Olympiad XXVIII is a new suite of symphonic arrangements based on John’s music for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympics Games.

In 2008, John's composition 'Helix' was played by the New Zealand Trio at Government House in Auckland, to a private audience of Prime Minister Helen Clark and visiting US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice.

Although his music has been performed at the Megaron Mousikis (The Athens Concert Hall) in the past, it would be fantastic to see one of John’s Greek-inspired works either ‘View from Olympus’ or 'Zeibekiko' performed at either the Herodeion or the Megaron!!

What They Said About John

"John Psathas is one of the most talented composers of his generation. He produced wonderful music which added a lot to the success of the music in the ceremonies."

George Koumendakis, Director of Music, Opening and Closing Ceremonies, Olympic Games, Athens 2004

"Many of his compositions have an energy and drive more extreme than any other music I know - it sweeps one up on a frantic roller-coaster ride and carries one to that height of exhilaration."

Jack Body - Mentor and Colleague

Distinctions

• Awarded the 2002 SouNZ Contemporary Award for View From Olympus
• Named an Arts Laureate by the Arts Foundation in 2003.
• His album Rhythm Spike was BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM 2000, and Fragments BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM - 2004, in the NZ MUSIC AWARDS.
• At Victoria University School of Music he is nurturing a new generation of composers.
• The NZ Herald named him as a contender for New Zealander of the Year 2004.
• He was awarded Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in the 2005 list for his services to music.

More about John Psathas

John’s Official Website

John Psathas at Wikipedia

John’s My Space

View from Olympus

John’s Music Videos on You Tube