Fota (Epiphany)

Today is Janyary 5th. I will go with Maria to sing carols again!!!
This time is the Epiphany, or Fota as they call it here in Greece, carols. So, once again we will go out knocking on doors and enter shops and shout out '' na ta poume'' which means should we say it? Everybody says yes as it is a time for children. When we are finished we will wish Many happy years ahead, then some people give us a christmas biscuit but most people give us coins.
Here are the Fota carols:

The next day, January 6th,  the "twelve days" of Christmas officially come to an end. This day, takes on a special meaning in Greece. Here, there is a special ceremony of blessing the waters and of the vessels that ply them. 

The modern observance takes the form of a priest hurling a large crucifix into the waters. Young men brave the cold and compete to retrieve it. These days, the cross is generally attached to a nice, safe long chain.
After the diving, local fishermen bring their boats to be blessed by the priest.

What does all this have to do with Christmas? Orthodox belief says that it was the day of the baptism of Jesus, and that this is where the day's association with water arises.
But the observance itself may pre-date Christianity. There was, in Roman times, what was said to be a ceremony that opened the season of navigation. 

The day is also said to be the date of a festival of emperor-worship, also dating from Roman times. Possibly that, with attendant offerings for the emperor, is the root of this ceremony. Or it may also reflect a survival of the custom of giving precious offerings to sea, river, and spring spirits to assure their benevolence or halt their interference. On Epiphany, the kallinkantzari, the malicious spirits who are said to be active during the twelve days of Christmas, are believed to be banished for the rest of the year.
Epiphany is also called the Phota or Fota, in reference to the day being a Feast of Light.