c. 1997 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ On clear, summer nights, according to Greek Orthodox tradition, the biblical prophet Elijah _ standing upright in a flaming chariot drawn by four horses _ can still be glimpsed roaring across the sky.

Indeed, in Greece and wherever Greek Orthodox churches are named after him, Sunday (July 20) is celebrated as Prophet Elijah’s _ or Elias’ _ Day. (Elias is Greek for Elijah). In the United States, there are two Greek Orthodox churches named after Elias, one in Salt Lake City and one in Yonkers, N.Y., according to Greek Orthodox officials.

In the height of the hay-making season, it is a day when farmers pray for good weather. Because Elijah is depicted in Orthodox icons drapped in animal skins, he has been adopted as the patron saint of the fur trade, making the holiday special for Greek Orthodox furriers as well.

In Greece, the holiday is a traditional time for the faithful to trek to mountaintop chapels dedicated to the truth-telling desert hermit who, as it is said in the Old Testament (2 Kings 2), “went up by a whirlwind into heaven” in a chariot of fire.

Like many other religious holidays, Prophet Elijah’s Day is an historically layered festival woven of Judeo-Christian mysticism, folk customs and ancient political intrigue.

Elijah is most often associated with the Jewish festival of Passover, where a cup of wine is poured for him as the “unseen guest” who heralds the promised coming of the Messiah. However, both Christians and Muslims have made a place for him in their traditions, too.

In the Muslim Koran, for instance, Elijah is honored as a prophet who helped instill monotheism in his people.

In Greek Orthodoxy, Elijah was transformed into St. Elias “because of his appearance in the New Testament beside Jesus during the transfiguration on Mount Tabor,” said James Skedros, professor of Orthodox Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif.

“There was a popular belief among some Jews at the time of Christ that, because Elijah rose into heaven, he would return. Thus, some thought that Christ was Elijah,” he said.

“Several times in the New Testament, Christ is approached by apostles who say `Some say you’re Elijah.’ During the transfiguration, however, when Jesus appears in a great light with Moses and Elijah, it shows that Jesus is quite different from them, yet also that he is continuing their prophetic tradition and has received their stamp of approval,” said Skedros.

More importantly, however, it was the ninth-century prophet’s ability, “to stand up for the truth” that gained him a place of religious significance within Greek Orthodoxy, Skedros added.

As Skedros retells the Old Testament story, Elijah caused a drought in Canaan _ where the pagan god Baal was worshiped _ to remind the Israelites they were wavering in their faith to Yahweh.

“Everyone was praying and sacrificing to the god Baal, yet that didn’t stop the drought,” he said. “Through Elijah’s prayers, however, rain finally came and the drought ended. So he reflects a victory over a pagan god and for this he is commemorated and lifted up by the church for proclaiming the God of Israel to the people.

“The major part of the biblical story that is emphasized in the liturgical feast in the Greek Orthodox tradition,” Skedros continued, “is when Elias has fled up the mountain to a cave to escape vengeance (from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel) for his actions and is being fed by ravens.

“Thus, in Greece, most of the churches that sit atop hills are usually dedicated to St. Elias.”

While these remote chapels generally are not often visited, July 20 is the day when Greek villagers make special pilgrimages to pray in these hilltop aeries, followed by outdoor celebrations.

Anneli Rufus, author of the “World Holiday Book,” (Harper San Francisco) said villagers attending these services often bring fried eggs.

“Round, oily and glittery,” said Rufus, these food offerings are “a clear, visual symbol of the sun. At a time when it is boiling hot and the sun is so dominant, it’s easy to understand why there would be a ritual to mark it.”

It is also a time when farmers perform rituals to forecast the weather. On the eve of Prophet Elias’ Day, she said, farmers set out a dozen fig leaves _ one for each month _ on their rooftops. Those leaves still fresh the next morning, she said, “represent the wet months of the coming year.”

Such folk customs reflect the older pagan influences underlying Prophet Elijah’s Day.

Carolyn Radlo, director of the Joseph Campbell and Marija Gimbutas Library at the Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif., said it was common “for Christians to build their traditions upon pagan rites. The initial material is transferred to temples and saints with the same attributes. For those tending these rituals, this brought a certain satisfaction, for it meant the continuation of a tradition, rather than an abrupt change.”

Certain Greek forms of the word “Elias,” Radlo said, even “sound exactly like Helios,” the Greek sun god. And, just like the biblical Elijah, Helios rode a flaming chariot pulled by horses across the sky, mirroring the motif of fire and light.

St. Elias chapels “are almost always on hilltops that used to be consecrated to Helios,” she said.

Such similarities between the god Helios and St. Elias may make it appear as if earlier earth-based traditions blended seamlessly over time with Christianity. But according to Richard Heinberg, author of “The New Covenant With Nature” (Quest Books), that assumption is a misreading of history.

Elijah’s triumph over the prophets of Baal as recounted in the Old Testament, said Heinberg, who lectures on ancient mythologies, “was an important turning point in the history of religion. Baal, who was a god of rain and abundant harvest, represented earlier horticultural deities. The word `baal’ was used to denote a whole class of local farm gods.

“But the Israelites were not an agricultural people _ they were a nomadic, herding people who had an entirely different theology about the sacred. Their principle god was the war god Yahweh. When they moved to Canaan and became more settled agriculturally, there was a temptation to adopt the local religion. When Elijah realized that the Israelites were beginning to lose their uniqueness, he knew that the only way to prevent that was to put down the local religion.”

The results of this pivotal event nearly 3,000 years ago, Heinberg said, helped shape modern-day religious sensibilities. For, he said, “it was at that point that the Judeo-Christian tradition, with its emphasis on a god of history who is separate from nature, got its start.”

The lesson to be learned from this, Heinberg maintained, is that “religion is a process that is shaped by political and economic realities. Yet every generation’s newly revealed religion tends to project that as the one true faith.”

MJP END PEAY