The Nymphs Still Dance on Mount

This article (excerpt) and photographs (sorry for the poor quality, they were taken directly from the newspaper) appeared in the "Eleutheria", a local newspaper of Larisa, Greece, in their July 4, 1999e.v. edition, written by James Valla. (translation into English by Alastor Knoxx)

With the participation of many from Larisa, who for a few hours took off their daily clothes and forgot their everyday self, the celebration taking place in a beautiful deep valley on Olympus, a few kilometers from the village of Litochoro in Pierias, surely left speechless even the most casual passer-by.

The two or three tourists that happened to be in the area, were stunned and completely absorbed in what they were witnessing, while the Greek passer-by, after the initial surprise, could not resist the calling of their forefathers and everything was suddenly familiar to them, as though time was turned back to that ancient time.

The Prometheian festival lasted two days and was organized by the School of Olympou, that is directed by a Greek University Professor from Sweden. Amongst the main organizers was Tryphona Kostopoulo, the man who stunned and surprised everyone a few years ago when he wed couples on mount Olympus in true ancient Greek ritual.

The Greek professor changed his last name to Olympios and settled in Litohoro, where he founded the philosophical and spiritual school Olympou, intent on spreading the Greek Spirit.

A small group of our Fratra were also amongst the participants that went from Larisa. We arrived to find a large gathering, more than we expected, actually we weren't sure what to expect. When we seen flutes and drums we were very sorry that we did not bring our goblet drums and pan pipes to join in. It truly felt, especially the second day, that we flew back in time. It was a very special feeling, more so because the festival was celebrated in the same place it was celebrated 4,000 years ago. It was as though we were awakening the sleeping giant. The Promethian is the celebration of the bringing forth of the first Fire, Prometheus is he who stole the Sacred Fire from Zeus for mankind. In this festival he is called Prometheus Pyrophoros which means Prometheus, Bringer of the Fire (pyro-phoros). The festival marks, really, the time people began to use fire for other purposes besides keeping warm, protection and cooking. Prometheus is a strange divinity as he is not only named as a Titan but also a Kabiri, who were chthonian fire deities of unknown age and origin (another way of saying, neolithic era.). One of their greatest skills was the working of metal. In some circles the Promethian festival is tied to the Kabirian festival, especially as they are celebrated relatively close to each other (the Kabirian is a nine day festival beginning on July 20th). Pyrophoros though was he who brought the sacred light, and fires were lighted and torches ablazed. They were two unforgetable days.........