The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Monday, November 2, 2026
Camille Stanley highlighted Tarpon Springs, Florida, noting that the Greek Orthodox community holds an annual Epiphany celebration every January where teenage boys dive into a bayou to retrieve a thrown cross for a year of good luck.
“every January there's something called the Epiphany Celebration... the head of the church tosses a cross into this bayou... after the cross is tossed, a ton of teenage boys dive into the water. And whoever comes up first with the cross is said to earn good luck for the rest of the year.”