Firewalking

Sotirios Gkaintatzis danced across burning coals, his stomping bare feet raising sparks and puffs of smoke as he held aloft an icon of Saints Constantine and Helen.

Gkaintatzis is the leader of a group of "anastenaria" - the devotees of St. Constantine who celebrate these centuries-old rites in a smattering of small villages near Thessaloniki, in northeastern Greece.

An ancient rite involving … fire-walking was again celebrated last week in a handful of villages οφ northern Greece.
Considered by some as a pagan custom carried into the Christian era, the fire-walking commemoration is held every May 21, which coincides with the feast day of Sts. Constantine and Helen.