When Does 'Illegal' Become 'Legal'? - When You Call It A 'Tradition'

When Does 'Illegal' Become 'Legal'? - When You Call It A 'Tradition'
Some of the traditions that exist around Greek Easter made me think of how we can get away with doing almost anything just by calling it a 'tradition'. At any other time and for whatever other reason, these things just wouldn't be allowed.

At the beginning of Lent, on Clean Monday, the village of Tyrnavos has its famous Phallus Festival. In fact, they call it' Dirty Monday'! On the Sunday and Monday the small town is filled with phallic symbols. People eat phallus-shaped bread, drink through phallus-shaped straws from phallus-shaped cups, kiss ceramic phalluses, sit on a phallus-shaped throne and sing dirty Greek songs about the phallus. Men, women and children!

Could anyone do this anywhere else or at any other time? Of course not. But call it a tradition and you've got carte blanche.

Elsewhere in Greece on Easter Saturday, we have the Rocket War on the island of Chios. Two sides fire rockets at each other across the town centre (see photos) and the winner is the side that hits the bell from the other side's church! People have been injured, houses have been burnt, people have to put protection around their houses, but - guess what? - it's a 'tradition' so it's OK!

Photos from Reuters

In other villages in Greece, 'brave' men dance in the central square with home-made rockets - lit - in their hands. Hands and arms have been blown off in the past, but, hey! It's a tradition!

Have you got anything you'd like to do, but you're not allowed to? Get together with some other people, create a'tradition' - you can surely think up some 'historical' justification - and then go ahead. You can even make it a tourist attraction!

Source: corfuinfo.blogspot.com