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"Blessing of Waters The Orthodox Churches perform the Great Blessing of the Waters on Theophany. The blessing is normally done twice: once on the Eve of the Feast—usually at a font inside the church—and then again on the day of the feast outdoors at a body of water. Following the Divine Liturgy, the clergy and people go in a Crucession (procession with the cross) to the nearest body of water, be it a beach, harbor, quay, river, lake, swimming pool, water depot, etc., and after a short ceremony the priest will bless the waters. In the Greek practice, he does this by casting a cross into the water. If swimming is feasible on the spot, any number of volunteers may brave the cold winter waters and try to recover the cross. The person who gets the cross first swims back and returns it to the priest, who then delivers a special blessing to the swimmer and their household. Certain such ceremonies have achieved particular prominence, such as the one held annually at Tarpon Springs, Florida. In Russia, where the winters are severe, a hole will be cut into the ice so that the waters may be blessed. In such conditions, the cross is not cast into the water, but is held securely by the priest and dipped three times into the water.
The water that is blessed on this day is known as "Theophany Water" and is taken home by the faithful, and used with prayer as a blessing. People will not only bless themselves and their homes by sprinkling with Theophany Water, but will also drink it. The Orthodox Church teaches that Theophany Water differs from regular Holy Water in that with Theophany Water, the very nature of the water is changed and becomes incorrupt,[12] a miracle attested to as early as St. John Chrysostom.[13]
Theophany is a traditional day for performing Baptisms, and this is reflected in the Divine Liturgy by singing the baptismal hymn, "As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia," in place of the Trisagion."

thank you as always,
theodoros

Fantastic series with very interesting explanation. I love the treatment too.

Alex

Very interesting treatment. It certainly gives it an aged feel. If it wasn't for the board shorts you could believe that this was taken at the turn of the century.

has a great feel to it. noticed the flying crucifix in the second photo. Did someone throw it up in the air as they were jumping into the water?

PiroStitch wrote:has a great feel to it. noticed the flying crucifix in the second photo. Did someone throw it up in the air as they were jumping into the water?

Explains it in the writing above the image.

Great feel to them, as said about the board shorts being the only give away that its not a very very old photograph.

Theo - a great series of shots but the last one is exemplary in that I could swear that it was taken in 1888

As usual you created a nice atmosphere around your photos,and their creation gives the impression of being as old, and ancient , as the tradition itself. Excellent conception and execution, and "Kali Xronia"
Cheers
NeoN
http://www.redbubble.com/people/neophytos

many many thanks everyone and Kali Xronia

They certainly do have that old-world feel to them. Fantastic series Theo.

Many Greek communities here in Australia also celebrate this event in the traditional way.

iposiniditos wrote:many many thanks everyone and Kali Xronia

Kali Xronia (καλη χρονια: literally "good year") is the Greek way of saying "Happy New Year"

And to you also.

Mal wrote:

iposiniditos wrote:many many thanks everyone and Kali Xronia

Kali Xronia (καλη χρονια: literally "good year") is the Greek way of saying "Happy New Year"

And to you also.

exactly

thanks again.