Andrzejki – an evening of fortune-telling.

According to tradition, andrzej's are held 29 November, on the eve of Andrzej's name day. This evening the girls gather for it, to fortune-teller together, who will get married soon and who will be the chosen one. The boys have a day like this too, when they can play with the thought of getting married. It falls on 11 November, on the eve of Katarzyna's name day. But today it is a forgotten habit.

Whereas andrzejki have survived and it is probably worth maintaining this nice tradition of girls' meetings, the more that it creates an opportunity for charming games with fortune-telling, which we no longer treat as seriously as our great-great-grandmothers, and we treat it rather with a pinch of salt.

Few of the old St. Andrew's rituals can be introduced into a modern apartment, but a few are great for this. So a fortune telling with a shoe. Truth, how it sounds beautiful "with a shoe”, not with a shoe or a clog? So come to this evening in the most beautiful shoes, what do you have. The divination is there, that against the wall, opposite the door, lines up one slipper from each girl, and then a second slipper of the same pair is placed in front of them, then again the first, followed by the second, etc., until the slippers come” to the threshold. The first girl will stand on the wedding carpet, whose slipper first crossed the threshold.

The next game of divination is pouring melted wax on the water. You need a nice bowl filled with cold water and some wax, which melts in a crucible or in a small pan or saucepan. The girls successively pour the melted wax into the cold water. The frozen piece of wax is taken out of the water and its shadow on the wall is examined. If, for example, it resembles. knight, the silhouette of a boy or a man's head, it means an imminent wedding, if the flower, wreath or some plant shape, this promises maidenhood for the next year.

In the same bowl of water, you can tell in another way. In two improvised nutshell boats, two disguised candles are released onto the water from a plastic lid or a cup made of wax” for a boy and a girl. The water is muddled with a finger, let the boats go, and looks intently, will they meet each other, or not. If the water calms down, and the boats will not come together, We have another year of freedom ahead of us.

And now fortune telling to answer the question, what will be the name of this future husband. The same bowl of water and the candle-boy in the boat will be used for this purpose. On the edges of the bowl, strips of paper are glued around (so, so that they protrude over the water) with male names written on it. He places the boy's boat in the middle of the bowl and slightly moves the water, for the candle to flow. When it reaches the shore, light the name of the future husband.

You can foretell otherwise. Cards with the names of the nicest boys can be put under the pillow in the evening, to rano, in Andrew, get the name of your future husband or sympathy for the next year.

And finally, what "he” will be?

This question will be answered by a game somewhat reminiscent of a hooligan. One girl is blindfolded, the rest, standing around, pick up various objects symbolizing the profession or weaknesses of the future "beloved"”, np. hat, a diplomat's briefcase, a tennis racket, skate, a vial of drugs, etc.. Ciuciubabka chooses “blindly”.

Because St. Andrew's Day falls usually on a weekday, when there is little time to play, you need to prepare something that is not very absorbing and does not distract your mood. So maybe traditional Polish dishes?

Np. red borscht with dumplings and stew with plums baked in a stoneware vase, applied with a wooden ladle on stoneware bowls or plates. And baked apples for dessert.

Let's sit down to traditional Polish dishes in a folk mood. For this purpose, cover the table with a linen runner. It will be served with borscht in clay cups and stew in clay bowls. Serve the apples on the dark, porcelain saucers, and to them a tiny "thimble."” drinking honey. As a table decoration, we will put a clay jug with a colorful bunch of chip flowers.

Or maybe as an admission card to the mysterious evening of fortune-telling, each girl will bring one beautiful Cepeli wood chip flower with her.?