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'''===Ancient World'''<br>===
In the The Ancient Greek [[w:First Fruits|first fruits]] offerings (or dedications) known as ''panspermia,''<ref group="note">For this reason, in Greece, Kollyva is also called ''sperma'' (i.e., "seed").</ref> consisted of a mixture of cooked seeds and nuts ([[w:Pulse (legume)|Pulse]]) which were offered during the festival of the [[w:Anthesteria|Anthesteria]].
'''===St Theodore Saturday'''<br>===
→Origins
==Origins==
The origin of Kollyva predates [[Introduction to Orthodox Christianity|Christianity]]. The word stems from the Ancient Greek word κόλλυβo (kollyvo), which originally meant cereal grain.
The [[w:Anthesteria|Anthesteria]] was one of the four Athenian festivals in honour of Dionysus (collectively the ''[[w:Dionysia|Dionysia]]''), held annually for three days, from the eleventh to the thirteenth of the month of [[w:Anthesterion#List_of_months|Anthesterion]] (February-March). The month Anthesterion was named after the festival, and not vice versa; and because the month's name is not restricted to the [[w:Attic calendar|Attic calendar]], but was known also in [[w:Ionia|Ionia]], it was considered by the Ancients that the festival predates the Ionian colonisation, making it the oldest datable part of the [[w:Eleusinian Mysteries|Eleusinian Mysteries]]. It was celebrated in most Ionian communities, but most of our information about the festival comes from Athens, where it was of particular importance. The name Anthesteria (Ἀνθεστήρια) is usually connected with the Greek ''anthos'' (ἄνθος; plural: ἄνθη or ἄνθεα; root: ἀνθεσ-) - "'''flower'''," or "'''bloom'''", cognate to the Sanskrit ''andhas'' ("[[w:Soma|Soma]] plant/juice"). Although its name indicates a Festival of Flowers (''anthos''), the festival focused primarily on opening the new wine and on placating the spirits of the dead.
The association between [[death]] and life, between that which is planted in the ground and that which emerges, is deeply embedded in the making and eating of Kollyva. The ritual food passed from [[paganism]] to early Christianity in [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]] and later spread to the entire Orthodox world.
The tradition of blessing and eating Kollyva at the end of the first week of [[Great Lent]] is connected with an event in the reign of [[Julian the Apostate]] in 362 AD. The tradition states that the Emperor knew that the Christians would be hungry after the first week of strict [[fasting]], and would go to the marketplaces of Constantinople on Saturday, to buy food. Therefore he ordered that [[Blood in the Bible|blood]] from pagan sacrifices be sprinkled over all the food that was sold there, making it ''"polluted sacrificial food"'' (food "polluted" with the blood of idolatry), in an attempt to force upon the people the [[paganism]] of which he was an ardent supporter.