Lady Lent

A custom in Greece during the time until Easter is the Lady Lent (Κυρά Σαρακοστής). It is basically a special diary measuring the weeks from the last week of carnival till Easter Saturday.

Lady Lent is often just a paper painting depicting a woman with crossed arms and a cross on her head who is praying. She has no mouth because she does not speak and fasts. But the most peculiar thing about her is that she does not have two but seven legs. Those represent the seven weeks until Easter. Every Saturday the Greeks cut off one of the legs. The last leg is cut off on Easter Saturday. Then you know that the Easter Sunday is just one day away.

In other parts of Greece Lady Lent is not made of paper but of dough. The people there first make a dough with flour, water and salt and then craft the Lady with it.

You can also build Lady Lent out of cloth and stuff it with feathers.

There is also another variant that is quite different. It is just a potato or an onion that is hanging from the ceiling and has seven hen feathers nailed to it.

But no matter which variant you choose, the process is always the same: You remove a leg or a feather on every Saturday until Easter arrives.