24/06/2025
June 23rd
The Fires of Klidonas
Dionysus dances.
Saint John watches.
The island burns beautifully.
Every June 23rd, just after the summer solstice,
villages across the Aegean light fires.
They call it Klidonas.
It’s the night when
Dionysus of revelry and
Saint John of purification
share the same flame.
A dance of chaos and cleansing.
The air fills with the sounds of tsampouna,
the island bagpipe,
and feet stomp the earth in wild circles.
Children leap through fire.
Old wishes are whispered into the wind.
It is the fire of desire.
Of risk.
Of destruction.
Of rebirth.
A ritual so ancient,
not even Christianity could silence it.
The church gave it a new name,
but the soul of it —
still pagan, still alive.
On Antiparos,
the Klidonas fire still burns.
Each year.
Each June.
Carrying memory in its smoke.
Klidonas:
A name whispered to flames,
to reveal the name of your future love.
Or maybe just to remember…
how it feels to be completely alive.
