St.Andrews Day

ST. ANDREW’S DAY IN POLAND Sandra Dąbrowska

ANDRZEJKI is the day of St. Andrew ’s , who is the saint patron of Scotland, Greece, and Russia. In Poland, the holiday is celebrated on the night the 29th t o 30th of November. Traditionally, the holiday was only celebreted by young single girls, though today both young men and women join the party to predict their future .

HOT, MELTED WAX
One of the most popular Polish traditions performed by the young girls during the St. Andrew’s Night is pouring hot , melted wax through a key hole into a bowl of cold water.

After the wax ha s set solid , it is held up against the light and its shadow cast on the wall must be specified to predict the future. Usually the only light comes from a candle, which not only helps to read from the shadow but also to keep a mysterious atmosphere of th e evening.

While guessing the girl’s future for the upcoming year, it’s best to observe the shape of the shadow from different angles .

SHADOWS DICTIONARY:
A heart or a man – love
A star – prosperity and happy life
A flower – nice surprise
A ring – engagement
An owl , a fox or a house - danger

SHOES
Another popular Andrzejki game that involves unmarried young women is shoe- lining . Participants line their shoes up in a straight line one after the other starting from the back of a room. After all the shoes are lined up, the person at the end takes their shoe and puts it at the front of the line, and so on, until someone's shoe reaches the door. It's believed that the owner of the first shoe to cross the threshold will be the first one to get married.

The second prediction is done by throwing a left shoe from the middle of the room by the arm. If the shoe falls down facing the door, its owner will get married soon.

NOTES UNDER THE PILLOW
The most popular prediction for women was put ting pieces of paper with male names on them under the pillow the evening before St. Andrews’.
F irst thing in the morning t he girl would take one piece out, and check the name on it. That would be the one of her future husband .

THE FUTURE
Apart from these , there was a draw for the objects with symbolic meaning, and the object you've chosen (like money for richness, book for wisdom, ring for marriage, etc.) were to decide about your future.

DREAMS
Dreams are also important during that night. Remember them as they might be revealing what the next year would be like.

APPLE PEELS
Each girl taking part gets one apple. All of them must peel the fruit. The girl with the longest peeling wins and she will have the longest relationship with her boyfriend.

Next is throwing one’s peeling over the arm. The other participant guesses the shape that the peeling gets. If it is a letter of an alphabet, that will suggest the initial letter of the future boyfriend’s name.

OTHER BELIEVES
In another game, a scarf, a ribbon, and a rosary are placed separately under three plates. A girl, with her eyes blindfolded, turns around three times while other girls rearrange the plates. If she draws a scarf, it means marriage ; a ribbon - single for another year ; rosary - becomes a spinster or a nun .

ANOTHER WAY TO FORTUNE-TELLING
In another traditional way of fortune telling, girls stand in a circle leaning over a bowl of water with a small floating walnut shell containing a tiny lighted candle. Each girl pastes a slip of paper with the name of a favored young man on the inside edge of the bowl above the water. To whichever name the lighted candle sailed to and burnt, a marriage proposal from him could be expected.

PINS
For that predicion we need 7 or 13 pins. We must put them in a cup, shake them and throw them out on the table. Secondly, we read the letter built by spill pins.

MEANING OF PINS:
A – trip or removal
E – happiness in love and work
H – marriage
K – succes at work
L – be careful
T – help of friends
W – be afraid - the cheater round the corner
V – somebody wants to use you
X – happiness

DATE OF BIRTH
Date of birth must be expressed in one number, which will be the sum of the whole date , for example :
21.01.1996  2+1+0+1+1+9+9+ 6 = 29  2+9 = 11  1+1= 2

MEANING OF NUMBERS:
1 – Ambitious
2 – Gentle
3 – Trustworthy
4 – Obstinate and sentimental
5 – Cheerful
6 – Social
7 – Romantic
8 – Underestimated
9 – Independent

But whether you believe in fortune-telling or not, today Andrzejki is mainly about having fun with your friends and enjoying your youth - while you still have it!

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St.Andrews Day

by gosiaa_g on Jan 14, 2010

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