Download - St.Andrews Day
ST. ANDREW’S DAY ST. ANDREW’S DAY IN POLANDIN POLAND
Sandra DąbrowskaSandra Dąbrowska
ANDRZEJKIANDRZEJKI 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 to 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 WAXHOT, MELTED WAXOne of the most popular Polish traditions
performed by the young girls during the St. Andrew’s Night is pouring hot,
melted wax through a keyhole into a bowl of cold water.
After the wax has 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 the 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 SHADOWS DICTIONARY:DICTIONARY:
A heart or a man – loveA star – prosperity and
happy lifeA flower – nice surprise
A ring – engagementAn owl, a fox or a house -
danger
SHOESSHOESAnother 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 PILLOWNOTES UNDER THE PILLOW
The most popular
prediction for women was
putting pieces of paper
with male names on them
under the pillow the
evening before St.
Andrews’.
First thing in the morning the girl would take
one piece out, and check the name on it. That
would be the one of her future husband.
THE FUTURETHE 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.
DREAMSDREAMS Dreams are also
important during
that night.
Remember them as
they might be
revealing what the
next year would be
like.
APPLE PEELS 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 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, a scarf, it means marriagemarriage; a a ribbon ribbon - single for single for
another yearanother year; rosaryrosary - becomes a spinster or becomes a spinster or
a nuna nun.
ANOTHER WAY TO FORTUNE-ANOTHER WAY TO FORTUNE-TELLINGTELLING
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.
PINSPINSFor 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:MEANING OF PINS:
A A – trip or removalE E – happiness in love and workHH – marriageKK – succes at workLL – be carefulTT – help of friendsWW – be afraid - the cheater round the
corner VV – somebody wants to use youXX – happiness
DATE OF BIRTHDATE OF BIRTHDate 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= 22
MEANING OF NUMBERS: MEANING OF NUMBERS: 11 – Ambitious2 2 – Gentle33 – Trustworthy4 4 – Obstinate and sentimental55 – Cheerful6 6 – Social7 7 – Romantic8 8 – Underestimated99 – 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!