295 Fortune Telling in the Modern Greek Ritual Year Ksenia Klimova Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology, Philological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia Fortune Telling in the Modern Greek Ritual Year Abstract. The article describes fortune-telling or divination ritu- als in Modern Greek calendar folklore. The structure of calendar divinations is very typical and is characterized by a certain set of criteria. The main feature of Modern Greek traditions, in contrast to those of ancient Greek, is the fact that these predictions are no longer oficial religious practice. Most of these examples have been taken from sources from the XIX–XX centuries, and some of them have become a part of modern urban culture. Key words: Modern Greek folklore, divination rituals, Greek popular culture Fortune-telling or divination rites in the modern Greek folklore calendar can be found in an expanded or truncated form in many holidays of the Ritual Year. The most signiicant are the ritual events which are called “rites of passage,” like Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Carnival, and Prophet Elijah’s Day. But the most interesting period is Klidonas, St. John’s Day (July 24), which can be called the fortune-telling festival. The structure of calendar divinations is very typical and it is char- acterized by a certain set of criteria: time and place, items which will be used, actions performed, and verbal formulas. Modern Greek fortune-telling calendar rituals can be divided into categories based on the items used in the process of divination: food from the holiday table, pyromancy (by ire), hydromancy (by water), catoptromancy (by mirrors), botanomancy (by herbs), oneiromancy (by dreams), meteorological divination, etc. There is a great deal of information about this in the books of Megas (Μέγας 1975: 217–218) and other scholars of Greek calendar customs (e.g. Abbot 1969: 95–117; Law- son 1964: 318–332). Fieldwork materials gathered by the author of the article (from Rhodes and Karpathos (1999), from Mani, Pelopon- nesus (2000, 2001), and from Perachora, Corinthia (2008, 2009) can also help to evaluate approximately the current state of the rites. Divination Using Food from the Holiday Table There are many groups in this category, which can be divided by the kind of food used in divination: – Bones of the animal which had been eaten at the common ritual dinner (mutton, “full” or “empty” chicken bones, and so on). This is a direct continuation of the famous ancient traditions of divination based on omens obtained from sacriice, on the appearance of its various intermal parts (Lawson 1964: 319–326). On St Basil’s Day (January 1), there was a custom of reading bones. If the bones of the chicken eaten were “full, complete” – the harvest that year was supposed to be good (Μέγας 1975: 73). In Perachora still today (ixed in 2009) they read the bones of the main dish, which is a goat. If they are light, it is a good sign (from personal archive). – Bread specially baked for the holiday (vasilopita, βασιλόπιτα) on New Year, St. Basil’s Day, christopsomo (χριστόψωμο), ‘bread of Christ’ at Christmas, fanouropita (φανουρόπιτα) on the day of St. Fanurios, and so on). – The festive table as a whole (if the table is rich, the entire year will be rich). – By indirect signs associated with the table. During the carnival period there was divination by insects – if an ant or other insect runs under the table during a meal, the year will be fruitful (Μέγας 1975: 115). In Greek Thrace (Skopos), they used to put a metal object, a dog- wood twig, and a straw into the festive pie. They believe that the person who gets the metal object – will receive a new house, the person who gets the twig – a vineyard, and who gets the straw – a good harvest at his farm. (Κυριακίδου 1982: 23). But the most well- known example of this kind of divination is a coin hidden inside the vasilopita. On New Year’s Day, Greeks use the vasilopita to bless the family and bring good luck for the New Year. During the holi- day dinner, they slice the vasilopita, saying: “The irst piece is for St. Basil, the second is for Christ, the third is for the House,” then for all the family members, beginning with the oldest member and ending with the youngest (Λουκάτος 1984: 124–133). This custom has been documented during ieldwork in different parts of Greece: