Decapentism in Kythira 2 ′

A beautiful text of hers Eleni Harou for the Kythera Tradition.

An unforgettable experience and variety in our childhood was Decapentism.

When life was simpler and children were not demanding and human relationships were more warm, many parents took their children and started in the middle of the season to go to the monasteries of Kythera and spend the 15th of August.

In the old days Decapentism was done in many monasteries of Kythera, in newer ones it was limited only to Myrtles, in Agia Elesa and Agia Moni.

The companies were simple things, a few clothes, sheets, the necessary food and the women took with them their handicrafts, rocket, knitting, embroidery, etc.

Until the 60's there was no electricity in our monasteries and cooking was done with wood. Many were hungry and ate for 15 days.

The program, followed by all the Dekapentistades was as follows: Every morning Liturgy, in the afternoons the Prayer and in the evening after dinner the Small Supper.

In the meantime the women were engaged in women's work, the men came and went for their jobs and supplies, and the children played carelessly in the large courtyards of our shrines. The evenings were a proper festival.

Everyone is lying on the terraces all around telling old stories with the priest first and foremost among them and the children playing group games nearby.

Unforgettable guys, smart, funny, traditional, communicative, cute, made us on August 15 the most beautiful countryside. I remember the old Manolikos in Agia Elesa, 100 years old, reciting and singing Erotokritos.

I remember Grandma Arginia, a 90-year-old Levantine woman, very smart and pleasant. I remember Papa Spyros the Cook, a traditional island priest, with humor, I remember my good friend Spyridos in Myrtidia who enchanted the children with his stories.

I remember Papa Anthimos and Papa Efthymios and the wonderful singer of Myrtidia, Kasimatis-Kartsouris, whose voices are connected in my mind with the cicadas, with the wonderful sunsets and with all the smells, sounds and images of August in a dreamy setting.

Today the custom continues, but with less participation.

In the past, 200 people and a lot of children gathered and it was a problem to secure accommodation, today there are 20-35 people without children's voices and with much more amenities.