Nero - water

The pregnant woman was never supposed to drink water before eating anything, because it was believed that the baby would open its mouth due to the smell and, if the mother were to drink water, the baby would choke. In addition, they would make sure that the mother would not drink water abruptly, nor would she drink water when she was tired. In the village of Afania, the pregnant woman would avoid drinking water from her house. The belief behind this was that the evil demon, who was lurking and hiding, in this case in the water, should be deceived. They would also use this belief to explain any abnormality that would occur during pregnancy, i.e that it was due to drinking unsuitable water. During childbirth, a type of grass was placed in the water, called s̆erin (hand) or palm of the Virgin Mary, which had the property of opening when placed in water and taking the shape of an open palm of a hand. The woman who was ready to give birth would drink that water in order to increase its effect and open the womb. The woman after having given birth was regarded as contaminated and was, therefore, in danger by the evil spirits; and so were those who were near her at the time of childbirth; due to this belief, those present had to put on them some of the water blessed by the priest . After delivery of the baby, the priest was invited to visit the new mother's house to bless her. It was also customary to take water to the priest's house to bless it and then take it to the new mother's house. In several villages, the water was carried from the village fountain to the house by a person who would be silent. The characteristic of silence that accompanied the water gives a dimension of magic to the whole process (Protopapa 2009, 20-22, 56, 170-173, 175).