Stoixeia: The Greek Land Spirits

ATHENS – In Ireland roam the leprechauns and brownies. Oman has its Jinn. Iceland, Norway, and even the Swiss Alps have trolls, elves, and fairies of their own. The wilds of Greece have the stoixeia.

The stoixeia [στοιχειά], pronounced ‘stee-hee-AH’ (singular: stoixeio) are the powerful spirits of the land found on mountainsides. The word is similar to stoicheion, the word for “the elements”, but definitions and descriptions for the stoixeia vary. They are seen similarly to cryptids, like Bigfoot in North America or the Yeti in Tibet. But others say they have no form, more like a ghostly spirit. Another translation for the word is wraith, a shadowy creature that may or may not have once lived on earth, and may or may not be seen. In Roman times, they became synonymous with planetary and astral effects as well as a personification of the zodiac.

For the modern pagan, perhaps the best phrase with which to conceptualize them is ‘land spirit’: the never-human spirits of the land that inhabit a mountain, a body of water, or a valley.  A curious translation of the word is also “of the first/origin”: the stoixeia were in Greece before the Olympians, before the Titans. They are the primal elements of the land. Their rituals are also considered – and noted even in the Bible – as the origins of the pagan calendar of festivals.

Land spirits are both feared and revered in villages throughout rural Greece. A country with a rich history of conquerors and conquering, the myth and lore surrounding the importance of land spirits is both complicated and expanded by cultural crossover. All of Greece was conquered by the Romans in the early centuries of the Common Era. It was then under Ottoman rule from the 1460s to 1821 and intermittently was also conquered by the Venetians. But even in the midst of millennia of contention, the ancient – and in some cases, prehistoric – Greek customs persisted. And today, even with the Greek Orthodox Church as the major religion, the practices and belief in land spirits continue.

Traditionally, they are feared because of their power. They aren’t necessarily called on as aides like land spirits are in some other cultures and practices but instead were seen as threats. Villages across the mainland have stories of the wrath of the stoixeia when they are forgotten. Crops failed, babies died, and large storms left homes decimated. Today some feel that the stoixeia were simply personifications of the elements: unpredictable and dangerous storms could hopefully be waylaid by rituals, festivals, and offerings. A way to place blame somewhere other than their own actions, or their misunderstandings of weather. But the Greeks are a mystically reverent people, and so even today offerings are found, and festivals celebrated.

The most important way to respect the stoixeia was by offering them the first fruits. The spirits of the spring are an important type of stoixeia, their blessings of drinkable water being key to the survival of the village. Even today, villages have central springs that locals can drink from or fill water jugs at. It’s customary still, though the tradition is declining, to find offerings of oranges or glasses of wine on their stone walls, like pop-up altars to the water spirits each spring.

At Yuletide, the kallikantzaros, sprite-like fairies that wreak havoc, are placated by burning a fire through the night each winter, and offerings of loukoumades, small round doughnuts, and sausages are thrown on the roof. Their threat is more specific than the general stoixeia: they aim to cut down the World Tree, and by keeping them distracted with food and burning wood, they will not have a chance to do it. The kallikantzaros are at the very least a metaphor for the way winter is a threat to life, and food and fire are the best protection. Their impact is wider-reaching than the localized Greek stoixeia, with these wards being practiced throughout  Bulgaria, Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia, and Cyprus as well.

The week after the spring equinox, a parade of dancing would be held in ancient villages to ward away winter’s negative spirits. Similar to practices seen throughout Eastern and Central Europe, this may be a holdover from the common Indo-European roots shared by Europeans. People dressed in scary costumes, covered in bells or nuts that made loud noises, or wore wooden masks as horned satyrs all to imitate a daemon or spirit. These costumes would hopefully intimidate the stoixeia who might otherwise extend winter. Pan, god of the satyrs and of the land itself, was honored in these parades in Greece as well, and his later conflation with Dionysus saw these festivals expand in larger cities like Athens or Tyrnavos. In the Christian era, these festivals have evolved into Apokries, a masked week of revelry right before Lent that isn’t sanctioned by the church.

Although the stoiexia are not at the forefront of Greek spiritual beliefs anymore, their vibrant impact is still present throughout the Balkans. These small mystical practices keep their traditions of first fruits alive today, and their power and impact continue respectfully through spring festivals, from the biggest cities to the smallest villages.

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