Andrzejki

Andrzejki is an extremely popular holiday in Poland, which is celebrated on November 29 late at night, on the eve of Andrew’s name day. It is a time of fortune-telling, witchcraft and fun, which is why most Poles, especially young people, party.

It is worth mentioning that St. Andrew’s Day is an age-old holiday. The first Polish mention of an evening of fortunetelling dates back to 1557. Some researchers even claim that it has roots in ancient Greece!

In ancient Poland, andrzejki was one of the most important dates on the calendar. It was a holiday reserved exclusively for maidens on the verge of marriage, who were told who and when they would marry. Divinations performed on this special evening were treated with great seriousness. Bonfires were burned around the houses to ward off evil spirits, and young girls placed men’s pants under their pillows to dream of their future husband, or did not eat all day and prayed to St. Andrew that their future partner might appear to them in a dream.

Nowadays, for many years now, St. Andrew’s Day has been great fun for everyone, regardless of gender or age. Today both boys and girls fortune-tell, regardless of whether they are looking for a life partner or have already found one. Fortune-telling and games even find their way into schools and kindergartens. What’s more, we fortune-tell not only about our husband or wife, but about our entire future, work, health or future possessions (preferably big money 😊).

As a final note, there are a couple of Andrews games that we can organize ourselves at home on a November evening:

• Pouring wax – the main attraction of the party: we pour heated liquid wax into a bowl of cold water, and then try to interpret them the resulting shape. Often the shadow of this wax creation is helpful – cast on the wall is more legible and stimulates the imagination. Important: we traditionally pour the wax through the keyhole!
• Shoe race: we place the shoes as they come by the wall opposite the door. Then one by one we take these shoes and place one in front of the other until one of them crosses the threshold. Its owner according to this divination will be the first to marry or get married.
• Apple peel divination: each participant peels an apple. The one whose peel is the longest will be lucky for the whole coming year (another version says that his/her relationship will be the most durable)! Participants then throw the peels behind their backs and try to decipher what future the shape of the lying peel predicts.

graphics taken from: https://gifyagusi.pl/obrazek/andrzejki/wrozby-w-andrzejki/

AI-generated images