The 30th of November is celebrated in plenty of countries from all over the world but the Polish celebration of this day is different. Why? Maybe because its roots go back to pagan times when people strongly believed in the spiritual world. Even if, nowadays one has forgotten about Slavic heritage and lost its original meaning, we still organize events connected with this celebration for fun or for the feast.
Pubs and restaurants prepare party time with a load of food and drinks. Moreover, if you join you will be able to discover your future. This part of Andrew’s celebration is the most exciting. There are many fortune-telling games and foretold future.
One of the most popular games is pouring the wax and predicting the future based on the shadow shapes on the wall. How to prepare it? We need pouring wax, a bowl with water, and an old key with a big hole. Firstly, one has to melt the wax and pour it into the cold water in the bowl through the keyhole. When the wax shape is cooled off, we have to use candles or other lights and throw the shadow of the wax figure into the wall. It will discover your future. If – for instance – the shape looks like a shoe – maybe it means long travel for you. If it represents heart, maybe you will fall in love with someone. I like this game because anyone can be a fortune teller and enjoy it with friends!
Foretelling from the shape is characteristic also of the other game. Like apple peeling. For this you need an apple, knife to have fun. Everybody tries to peel the apple in one piece. The longest apple peel predicts happiness and prosperity for a whole year. The second step is future-telling from the shape of the apple peel. In this case, one can create the shape and people gathered in the room try to guess some future sign.
A bowl with water is necessary for the next game. If you want to check whether you and your partner suit each other, take two halves of a walnut, put your names into them and leave them in the bowl. When you notice that these halves try to come together, it means you can built serious relationship with your partner. If not, find the other man/woman!
Andrew’s night is also special for single people. There are many fortune-telling games which show you who will be your partner. How to do it? Prepare the sheets of paper with the potential male/female names. Put them under your pillow. When you wake up in the morning, take one and discover the name of your future partner. Obviously, one can know the other version of this game. The sheet of paper with names is in a heart shape. Using the pin, point your future partner.
Similar game predicting matrimonial status is the shoe race. Everybody in one room should take their shoes off and put one after one from the wall to the door. Whose shoe is closest to the door, this person probably will get a marriage in the new year.
From time to time during St. Andrew’s Night, one can check truthfully of friendship. In this case, we should make a game with a bowl, sheets of paper with names and water. In the first step, everybody writes down their names on the sheets and put them into the bowl. One of the gathering people pours the water into the bowl slowly. The sheet with the name starts floating means your real friend.
Even if St. Andrew’s Night is associated with fun nowadays, there is enjoyment spending time with friends and preparing the event with good food and drinks.