The mountains of South West Crete
are majestic and strong. Dry, because
of the climate and wet, because of
the snow that covers the mountaintops
and the reservoirs of water in
the wells. The unique nature of the
mountains that appear to rise out of
the land seemed to beckon us and so
we went on an adventurous hiking
expedition, which would lead us to a
special experience
We started with a steep climb up a cliff of
about 500 metres, which brought us to a
platform that was a valley for the snowcovered
mountains ahead of us. We took the
time to have a small break and to catch our
breath. As we were eating our apples, we
suddenly saw a small chapel of the Greek
Orthodox Church. Later we heard that people
regularly visit this chapel to celebrate their
religious devotion.
 Whilst we were resting and listening to the
sounds of nature and admiring the beautiful
view of the snowy mountains, we heard the
sounds of a group of men gathering. This was
a surprise to us. It seemed to us a landscape
in which you expect birds of prey like the
albatross, and a herd of sheep, but not people
having a party of some kind! As if out of
the blue, there was a group of about 15 men,
sitting on stones at an improvised table made
from materials found in the area. Men, young
and old, some of them with weather-beaten
faces, from all walks of life, were gathering.
Our path led to their meeting place and we
continued walking until they saw us walking
by. From then on our plan changed and took
on a direction of its own. The men waved at
us and called us to come to their celebration.
We cautiously approached and immediately
were shown to a seat on the bench and were
made to feel safe and welcome. And before
we knew it, there was a dish of home-made
potato soup in front of us and we were
offered the mutton that was on the table
and our glasses were filled with local wine.
They showed us how to eat a piece of mutton
the Greek way, and they told us proudly
that they had prepared the food all by themselves
up in the mountains. The men were
celebrating the change of season. The snow
was retreating from the mountains and that
was a sign for the men living in the district
to celebrate by having lunch together.
To
us, this was quite an experience! A gathering of essences of
a different kind, on the
surface it was just eating and drinking, but
hidden behind it,
when you had a
closer look, was a
deeper connective
feeling, a greater
search and… It was a gathering of
essences like honour,
being proud, oneness
and brotherhood,
confidence
and unity.
Being
Proud was there in their posture
and attitude, in their
upright postures and
straight backs and in
what came out of
their eyes. It felt like
an undercurrent,
which radiated from
them, about their
survival of having
gone through the wintertime and now once again entering a
time of greater freedom.
Oneness and brotherhood was there in the
ceremonial way they drank their wine. From
one to the other, each the same, in posture
and in attitude, emptying the glass in one gulp,
again and again, from one to the other, and
being refilled, from one pair of eyes to another
pair of eyes, sticking to the contract.
Confidence and unity was seen and felt in
that each man was part of it. No matter what
background or age. It was the same for the
plumber as it was for the hotel owner and the
shepherd. It was in the joy amongst them of
being together therein.
It was in the honour to uphold their inherited
ways of expressing what is of value to them.
Now, separate from the women, independent
and from man to man, feeling how it feels, and
being confirmed in their manly ways of going
on and strengthened by it. And honour in the
way they made the soup and the mutton and
in the way they drank their home-made wine.
Then, later, each man went his own way,
going down the mountain and back to the
village, to continue the work of the day, to
earn his living, whether as a plumber, a hotel
owner or a shepherd, which is an integral part
of their lives and of what needs to be done.
Then later to rejoin their women, to be welcomed
and to be there, now rededicated to
the life and family needs.
This story and experience seems in the first
place quite ordinary. But on taking a closer look
as one feels and searches within it, then you
can sense a driving undercurrent in which men
gathered in a same-same way. They gave the
space for an inner compulsion, to be filled with
confirmation and the strength of manly things
and then allowed themselves to be washed
clean by the influence of Mother Nature.
Cleaned and refreshed they each went their
way, to reunite with all the aspects of life and
the needs of every day.
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