Traditional fire-walking ritual; Dancing on Fire by Demetrios Ioannou

On May 21 every year, in some villages in northern Greece, takes place a spectacular traditional fire-walking ritual, called Anastenaria.

Dancing on Fire: On May 21 every year, in some villages in northern Greece, takes place a spectacular traditional fire-walking ritual, called Anastenaria.

Although according to many ethnographers it has its origins in ancient Greece and the fests of god Dionysus, through the years it was connected to the Orthodox religion and today is performed on the celebration day of Orthodox saints Constantine and Helen.

The myth has it that when the church of Saint Constantine in the Bulgarian village of Kosti caught fire, the voices of the saints were heard from the inside. The villagers, who rushed into the flames to rescue them, were protected by the saints and left the burning church unharmed.

I first heard of this tradition many years ago, but now it was about time to witness myself this unique phenomenon. So, I travelled to Lagadas, about half hour outside Thessaloniki , Greece. There, I found Mr. Tasos Gaitatzis, an around 80-year-old man who has inherited this tradition from his ancestors. His family has been doing this for all he can remember, and now he is passing the legacy to his children. The family and a few other close friends are the group of anastenarides who walk into the fire when the time comes. They first gather at the konaki -a special shrine dedicated to the saints-, and dance to the music of the Thracian lyre and drum, while at the same time they are holding the holy icons of the saints, brought by Kosti from Mr. Gaitatzis himself and are dated more than 200 years old.

DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_1

DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_2
Dancing on Fire by Demetrios Ioannou

The festival lasts three days, from May 21 to May 23, but this year, because of the rainy weather, the ritual on the first day was performed inside, by lighting a big fire in the fireplace. The music started to play, people from the village started to gather and the floor soon cleared from all the carpets to welcome the hot coals. Holding the icons, candles and red kerchiefs that are supposed to be blessed, anastenarides circled the red hot coals dancing to the rhythm and singing a song about “Constantine the little boy”. After a while, the head of the group walked into the fire and soon all of them were dancing on it. When the coals where burned out, a new batch was thrown on the floor and the ritual continued.

All of the visitors were looking at them in awe, including myself. When there were no more burning coals, the group continued dancing and singing. At the end, they wished to everyone good health and long life. Looking at their feet there was no indication that those people have just walked on fire. They were only covered in ash, and none of them was burned. It is said that if they don’t feel spiritually ready, they don’t go in. The celebration concluded with all the visitors leaving and the anastenarides having a rich meal inside the konaki.

DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_3
Dancing on Fire by Demetrios Ioannou

About Demetrios Ioannou

Demetrios Ioannou is a freelance photojournalist based in Athens, Greece. Over the years he has worked in multiple media outlets in Greece and abroad, including the Greek TV station ANT1 TV, the online edition of the Greek newspaper Proto Thema and Daphne Communications, one of Greece’s leading publishing groups. Since 2015 he is a blogger for The Huffington Post Greece while his work has appeared in a variety of international news platforms. Currently he is working on the refugee crisis and the greater issue of Middle East, among other things. [Official Website]

DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_4
Dancing on Fire by Demetrios Ioannou

DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_5
Dancing on Fire by Demetrios Ioannou

DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_6 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_7 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_8 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_9 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_10 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_11 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_12 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_13 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_14 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_15 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_16 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_17 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_18 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_19 DemetriosIoannou_Anastenaria_20

More Stories

Thomas Alleman : Sunshine & noir – Photographs of Los Angeles

Thomas Alleman : Sunshine & noir – Photographs of Los Angeles

I began making “urban landscapes” with a medium-format Holga---a $30 plastic camera---in September of 2001, in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. My heart was shattered then, and my career was momentarily stalled.
The photography of Lenghi Teng

The photography of Lenghi Teng

Lenghi Teng is a Dutch photographer based in Rotterdam. She was born in 1976 in Vietnam and grew up in a Chinese family. At the age of three she moved to the Netherlands. 
Krisztina Laki ; An emotive standpoint

Krisztina Laki ; An emotive standpoint

Krisztina Laki, a mother of three children lives in Kaposvar, close to the southern border of Hungary. Like many lovers of photography, Krisztina was creatively inclined from childhood.
https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bannerpr.jpg

We invite you to participate in the first edition of the Portrait Photography Awards. Our call is open to any artistic interpretation of portrait photography.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BAnImage.jpg

ImageRights provides intelligent image search and copyright enforcement services to photo agencies and professional photographers worldwide.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/mono2022.jpg

The best 100 images along with the winning images published in the yearly book “Monochromatic – Best Photographers of 2022”

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/banner24.jpg

Call For Entries #24 | After 23 editions and more than 100 published photographers, our print edition has proven to be a simply effective promotional channel.

Huis clos by Kathleen Meier

Huis clos by Kathleen Meier

The series Huis clos confronts us with a suggestive confinement. What happens in us when we are faced with a desperate situation ? What do we feel when we no longer have a connection with the outside world ? Disorientation and loss of contact with the outside world put us into a physical and mental isolation and can lead us — in a conscious or subconscious way — to modify our relationship with the external reality.This maze slowly conducts us into a mental illness.
Sanghamitra Sarkar ; Bondas-Children of the nature

Sanghamitra Sarkar ; Bondas-Children of the nature

The Bonda tribes are most primitive tribe of India who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwestern Odisha, India, near the junction of the three states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. The Bonda are a scheduled tribe of India, known for their unique culture and traditions.
These Walls Have Eyes by Anton Panchenkov

These Walls Have Eyes by Anton Panchenkov

Anton Panchenkov is a street, travel, and creative photographer from Russia, currently based in Kazakhstan. He is a corporate lawyer in his primary occupation but has been interested in photography for many years.
Traditional fire-walking ritual; Dancing on Fire by Demetrios Ioannou

Traditional fire-walking ritual; Dancing on Fire by Demetrios Ioannou

On May 21 every year, in some villages in northern Greece, takes place a spectacular traditional fire-walking ritual, called Anastenaria.
Beauty and feelings by Andrea Koporova

Beauty and feelings by Andrea Koporova

I was born in 1979 in the Central Slovakia town Lucenec. During my studies I took degree from the Hotel Management but I could find myself in this kind of the career.
Luca Benini : Fine Art and Nature

Luca Benini : Fine Art and Nature

I always strive to take photographs that express my way of seeing the world. The important thing for me is that people who see my photos experience the same feelings that I have felt at the moment I made the photograph.
Silk by Justine Tjallinks

Silk by Justine Tjallinks

There are great expectations placed upon youth to excel in all they are and undertake. Appearance is everything.
The Way of the Bushmen by Goran Jovic

The Way of the Bushmen by Goran Jovic

Bushmen once were hunters; nowadays they mimic their hunting days for visitors. A hunter knows his bow and arrow. As they search for they prey with such vigilance, even lions seem trepid.
Interview with Lys Arango; Published in our printed edition #16

Interview with Lys Arango; Published in our printed edition #16

Time, dedication, and the right rhythm combined with a human approach make the work of Lys Arango one of the most truthful and inspiring photo testimonies of indigenous people.
Up there in the sky by Éric Bourret

Up there in the sky by Éric Bourret

If you want to discuss the atmospheric void above the Earth, you don't have a great deal of choice. A short, unprepossessing word stands out: sky.
Haenyeo by Jose Jeuland

Haenyeo by Jose Jeuland

Before I transitioned to photography, I was a professional triathlete for 19 years. I had started doing Ultra Trail races, and while preparing for one such race in Jeju Island, South Korea, I discovered the Haenyeo women divers.
The stranger by Cédric Zuwala

The stranger by Cédric Zuwala

A reflection on the notion of identity and post-humanity. A vision of an anticipatory fictional documentary that questions the relationship between memory and entropy. 
Les Symboles invisibles by Sylvain Heraud

Les Symboles invisibles by Sylvain Heraud

Between the 1960s and 1980s, the Federal States of former Yugoslavia erected monuments of an imposing size. These spomeniks ("monuments" in Serbo-Croatian) were raised in memory of the local populations who resisted the atrocities of the 20th century and would praise the experience of a more egalitarian and antifascist socialist society.
(un)real landscapes: Los Angeles plays itself by Karen Constine

(un)real landscapes: Los Angeles plays itself by Karen Constine

Like the rest of the globe, the Coronavirus forced Angelenos to quarantine and shelter in place. (un)real landscapes: Los Angeles plays itself explores what a pandemic society looks like — otherworldly, unreal.
A chance to shine by Javier Fergo

A chance to shine by Javier Fergo

I have been taking pictures of Flamenco for over ten years, in different festivals and venues. After so long you get to recognize what is known as “duende” in flamenco.
Christopher Lin, Co-Founder to SLR Lounge

Christopher Lin, Co-Founder to SLR Lounge

SLR Lounge is an online community for photographers featuring industry news, tutorials, and inspiration. We are also the go-to source for comprehensive yet intuitive premium workshops and resources.

Featured Stories

Fine art photographs; Big Appetites by Christopher Boffoli

Fine art photographs; Big Appetites by Christopher Boffoli

Big Appetites (2003-present) is a a series of fine art photographs that features tiny, meticulously hand-painted figures photographed against real food environments.
Kamila Karpinska ; Lifestyle photography

Kamila Karpinska ; Lifestyle photography

A photographer born and living in Poland. She specializes in lifestyle photography. and takes pictures of people in situations where they feel fine.
Jacqueline du Pré; Madonna litta by Peyman Naderi

Jacqueline du Pré; Madonna litta by Peyman Naderi

The collection is a tribute to the famous cellist Jacqueline du Pré, a famous British musician who died at a young age. In this series, I have tried not to see the female face at first, so that the viewer's perception remains without judgment, and when she begins to see the rest of the photographic works, she realizes the feelings of this dominant musician.
Selfhood by Vicky Martin

Selfhood by Vicky Martin

The series "Selfhood" was in part inspired by the proverb "The Eyes Are The Window To The Soul" and a desire to challenge the need to see the eyes within a portrait.
Everybody Counts by Erlend Mikael Saeverud

Everybody Counts by Erlend Mikael Saeverud

Erlend wanted to ask him for a portrait, but he didn't dare. This became the inspiration for this project.
Rohingya refugees by Joxe Inazio Kuesta

Rohingya refugees by Joxe Inazio Kuesta

We arrived at Teknaf, in the district of Cox's Bazar (Bangladesh) at noon, and that same afternoon we left for the refugee camps. It was raining, and the moto-rickshaw carrying us broke down halfway
Bin Uthup ; City-Monochrome

Bin Uthup ; City-Monochrome

Binoy Uthup is a City, Architecture, Interior, Landscape and Wildlife photographer who uses techniques such as Digital Blending, HDR, multiple exposures, vertical panorama, etc., to create unique looking images.
The Langtang Survivors by Jan Møller Hansen

The Langtang Survivors by Jan Møller Hansen

Hundred disappeared when entire villages and homes in Langtang were wiped out when landslides, avalanches and icefalls caused by the two earth quakes that hit Nepal on 25. April and 12. May 2015.
Points of the compass by Suvobroto Ray Chaudhuri

Points of the compass by Suvobroto Ray Chaudhuri

Examining life by over-thinking all the various life paths in front of you will always present a scary picture. In this journey over the last few years of your life, you might have been trying to figure out which path to go on.
Vignettes of a salesman by Ole Marius Joergensen

Vignettes of a salesman by Ole Marius Joergensen

A lot of traditions are being lost as new technologies are invading our day-to-day world. The door-to-door salesman is a relic from the 50s.
Ethiopia; The art of disappearing by Harry Fisch

Ethiopia; The art of disappearing by Harry Fisch

The trucks continually roll past the roads that lead to their villages, spitting out so much dust that people living in the villages can no longer breathe. 
Portraits of Tertius Alio

Portraits of Tertius Alio

My name is Daniil Kontorovich, also be exhibited under the name of Tertius Alio, which translated from Latin means the observer or grated face.
Terri Gold ; Poetic infrared imagery

Terri Gold ; Poetic infrared imagery

Terri Gold is an award-winning photographer known for her poetic infrared imagery of people from the remote corners of the world. She is a storyteller who is happiest when she is in a world that is unknown to her.
Stories of Russian women; You are mine by Mary Gelman

Stories of Russian women; You are mine by Mary Gelman

«You are mine» is a series of stories of Russian women who endured domestic partner violence.These stories are about power and control of one person over another.
Love for Uganda by Victoria Knobloch

Love for Uganda by Victoria Knobloch

Many times I already traveled to Uganda and have gained a lot of insight. But I travel there not only for photography, but also because of my humanitarian project Deseret Foundatione.
Being a child in a mundari camp by Elena Molina

Being a child in a mundari camp by Elena Molina

This project was selected and published in our print edition 19. Being a child in a Mundari camp is synonymous with working tirelessly from dawn to dusk. From their earliest age, they actively participate in the care of their livestock

Trending Stories

Reflections by Alex Sher

Reflections by Alex Sher

Once upon a time, when wheels were made of stone and phones had no cameras, lived my grandma. I loved my grandma and loved her stories about people and places she remembered. There was one story about a photographer grandma was telling in her photo lab.
Birth of A Ship By Nenad Saljic

Birth of A Ship By Nenad Saljic

A few years back, a very good friend of mine decided to build a wooden sailing boat. It took him three years just to build all parts for the hull in a small garage of 6×3 m.
Anatomy of a photography by Jelena Osmolovska

Anatomy of a photography by Jelena Osmolovska

This photograph is one of "Wonderland" series picture. My series “Wonderland” is about feelings when your town becomes too small for you.
Deep Woods by Thomas H.P. Jerusalem, based on Brothers Grimm

Deep Woods by Thomas H.P. Jerusalem, based on Brothers Grimm

She surely memorized every bush, shrub and berry by now. Her mom spent the past two hours explaining in detail how to get to grandma's house and she had to recite everything she said.
Black and white portrait photography by Yura Kurnosov

Black and white portrait photography by Yura Kurnosov

Introduction to photography had on the children's time. The first camera FED-3. The whole film process, including print, I learned in childhood.
Cross Road Blues by Oli Kellett

Cross Road Blues by Oli Kellett

According to legend, Robert Johnson, the Delta Blues musician, met the devil at a crossroads outside Memphis and sold his soul in exchange for his musical talents. He was forever plagued despite his success.
Abstraction by Mihai Florea

Abstraction by Mihai Florea

For me photography is a spiritual act, an inner conviction and a desire to abstract essence beyond the material world. I'm interested in something which is built up from within, rather than just a superficial image.
Holi in India by Aman Chotani

Holi in India by Aman Chotani

Holi, the festival of colors is celebrated with a great enthusiasm throughout in India. But the most amazing holi being played in Barsana, Uttar Pradesh. It is located at a distance of about 42 km from Mathura.
Inside the Camera Bag of Adrien Tache

Inside the Camera Bag of Adrien Tache

In photography, I'm working with two different tools, so let's say I've two camera bags. In the first one, you can find an entry level reflex, which is a Nikon D5000 with two lenses (a 18-105 mm and a 50mm 1.8) and a Manfrotto Tripod
Terra Mater – Ode to My Family  by Marco Castelli

Terra Mater – Ode to My Family by Marco Castelli

Words are not inherently suitable to embrace any even blurred concept of time, and beside all speech being made nowadays around the sense of family, its true nature belongs to the undetectable trace we leave through centuries, and to our relationship with time itself.
Inception by Shenyi Wang

Inception by Shenyi Wang

Inception is a fine art project which represents my inner world through photographs of folded paper/origami. The formal quality of strong lines and shapes investigates the relationship between light and shadow through visual abstractions.
Nude females by Renata Vogl

Nude females by Renata Vogl

I live and create in Slovakia. I am a self-taught (autodidact) and I seriously took up photography in 2009. I cannot impress you with a story about my grand father, who gave me the camera in hand and taught me to see the world through the perspective of lenses when I was a little girl.

Other Stories

stay in touch
Join our mailing list and we'll keep you up to date with all the latest stories, opportunities, calls and more.
We use Sendinblue as our marketing platform. By Clicking below to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provided will be transferred to Sendinblue for processing in accordance with their terms of use
We’d love to
Thank you for subscribing!
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted.
- Between 10/30 images of your best images, in case your project contains a greater number of images which are part of the same indivisible body of work will also be accepted. You must send the images in jpg format to 1200px and 72dpi and quality 9. (No borders or watermarks)
- A short biography along with your photograph. (It must be written in the third person)
- Title and full text of the project with a minimum length of 300 words. (Texts with lesser number of words will not be accepted)
This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Contact
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted. This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation.
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Get in Touch
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.