Koullourin

Koulouri was used to cure various illnesses of children: A recovery method for children suffering from convulsions was to hang koulouri on a tree near the Panagia Chrysospiliotissa. They would silently beg for the ingredients they would use to make this type of buns by going to seven households (the housewive in each one of them must have been married only once). When a child could not speak or walk, they would ask from seven households for flour and use it to bake a large koullouri. Then, they would take the child at a crossroad and let it 'pass' through the koullouri, which they would leave behind for the dogs to eat it or they would give it to five or seven households to feed their dogs with it. If it was eaten by the dogs, the child would be cured and the evil would pass to the dog. In Philia village, they would hang the bun around the child's neck and go around the village. In Karavas, they would hang the bun around the neck of the child who could not speak and leave it at the crossroad at night, hoping that the Good Women would pass by and be pleased with the offering, so the child would be cured and start shouting. They would be waiting far away for the child to shout and they would go get it. In such a case, the koullouri, which had been made by the child's mother, would be cut into pieces and given to passersby. In Kormakitis, when a child was late to walk, five little girls would take flour from five houses and wood from three houses. They would place the baby in a wicker basket and take it to a crossroad. There, they would knead a koullouri on the ground and bake it. Then they would undress the child and place the bun on it. They would cut a piece and give it to the child to eat while the rest would be cut into four pieces; each piece would be thrown in each direction of the crossroad. A koullouri was also made when a child was getting dangerously thin. The koullouri had to be very large enough so as when they would take the child at night at the crossroad and pass the child through it, the koullouri would not touch its body. They would leave the koullouri behind at the crossroad so that the animals would eat it. They believed that it was an offering to the Good Women, who would help the child to get well. This custom was practiced in many villages and with several variations (Protopapa 2009, 528, 535-546).