That is why small glass blue eyes are pinned to the clothes of babies here, to reflect any evil wished on the baby back to the evil wisher. Most Greeks who do not have blue eyes themselves will carry these 'evil eyes' to protect them against evil. If you want to break an evil curse, then you must turn to the local Priest of one of the locals, who is said to have special powers and, with the aid of chanting and aromatic herbs, they will fight the evil spirit. Even in the case of a bad cold or flu, the Greeks still place hot glasses on their backs, as was seen in the film 'Zorba The Greek', to get rid of the bad spirit. You will also see the small roadside shrines erected to keep the land and the crops free from bad spirits. These shrines are also put at the scenes of accidents in memory of the person injured or killed.

The Dowry

When a young girl finds herself a handsome young man and decides to get married, one of the first important subjects to discuss is her dowry. Even though a dowry is no longer compulsory, they are still commonly given and vary in size and content, depending on how rich the girl's family is. As Greek women are experts at hand crocheting and making lace, you can be sure that their daughter's dowries will include elaborate tablecloths, napkins and bed covers of every design.

Marriage (Greek Style)

A Greek wedding consists of a three-part ceremony, comprising of the blessing of the rings, the blessing of the crowns and finally the blessing of the Isalaih. This is when the couple walk three times around the table and on-lookers throw rice and flowers at them. When the couple gets engaged, they exchange gold rings that are worn on the left hand. During the wedding ceremony, the same rings are then transferred to the right hand. After the ceremony, the couple along with the Best Man, Best Woman, and their families, line up to greet the guests. The feast that follows afterwards is usually a pretty lively affair, with lots of eating. Dancing can go on until the early hours of the morning. Greek tradition states that the newly-weds are to be the last people to leave the reception.

Baptism

This is a very important ceremony in the Greek Orthodox Religion. It signifies the entrance of the child into the Christian faith. Children can be christened at any age, the most popular ages being between 9-24 months. The naked child is immersed three times in warm water mixed with olive oil (the devil being renounced each time) and a lock of hair is cut from the child's head. It is a great honor to become a child's Godparent, however it can also become very expensive. The Godparents have to pay for the christening outfit, a gold cross for the child, a gold present for the mother and they also have to pay for the cost of the ceremony.

Widows

When you see a lady wearing all black, this sadly means that they are in mourning. When a close member of the family dies, women wear black from anything between 1 and 3 years. If her husband dies, a woman has to wear black for the rest of her life, the only exception being, if she re-marries, in which case she wears black right up to her wedding day. She is then free to wear what she wishes.

For men it is completely different. For 40 days they wear a black armband and refrain from shaving, as this is considered a sign of vanity. When the 40 days are over, a wake is held and afterwards the men remove their armbands and can start shaving again.

In larger towns and cities, this custom is not so strictly adhered to any more, however on the islands and in the villages, it is still widely practiced.

Worry Beads

You will see many of the Greek people with worry beads, in the villages and in major towns and cities. These are a string of beads (Komboloya), which are twisted constantly around the fingers in order to relieve stress and anxieties.

The Greek Society is very much a chauvinistic one, and here the man is the leader of the household. A Mother always wants a male child to carry on the name and the work of the Father. The first male child is named after the Father's Father and the first girl child is named after the mother's mother. There is a great deal of celebration, when the first boy is born, though you will find that the Greeks love children regardless of their sex.

As the boy grows up, his parents will be proud of his many female conquests, but they will expect him to be married before the age of 25. The marriage is Still quite often an arranged one, as the girl must be of the right social standing, with an acceptable dowry and of course pure. It is not expected that the couple will be in love, but the duty of the man is to bring home the money and to make sons.

The woman's place is very much in the home, and she has to do as her husband says. She will be expected to conceive within the first year of marriage. The husband will never been seen in public to be doing any housework, or 'woman's work' and can usually be seen sitting in the cafe sipping coffee, watching the tourists, while the women are at work in the fields or with the donkeys.

It has to be said that it is a changing society here and that the younger generation do marry for love and that the women have jobs, but there is a struggle between the beliefs of the older generation and the ideas of the younger. So far, the older beliefs win through nine times out of ten.

When it comes to medicine, the Greek doctors are fairly good but they still put a lot of illness down to the weather or too much sunbathing. However, the locals tend to believe the Priest more than the doctor and accept that most illnesses are brought on by doing something wrong and getting your just reward from God, or worse, by someone else wishing you evil and putting something like a spell on you.