ANDRZEJKI – Your magical evening, turnkey

Do you want to improve your polish? Have you always dreamed of trying your hand at witchcraft or attending a pagan party with friends? Do you want to know if Ania or Bartek will finally declare their love for you? So look no further! This article will tell you everything there is to know about Saint Andrew’s Day!

Saint Andrew (Andrzejki) falls on the first day of Advent, it is the starting point of the Christmas festivities and the beginning and end of the liturgical year. Andrzejki is celebrated in Poland on the night of November 29 to 30 but can also be celebrated on the 30th. Some claim that this celebration dates back to ancient Greece, and recall the etymology of the first name André (from the Greek andros, “the man”). Others see the influence of the Norse cult of Freyer, god of fertility and abundance.

An Eastern Tradition

Traditionally, Andrzejki celebrations were only for young single girls and were intended to identify their future husband. The matter was serious and there was little doubt about the effectiveness of the divinatory arts. The various rituals were sometimes practiced in groups, but more generally alone.

In Romania, the tradition is that young girls place 41 grains of wheat under their pillow before going to bed. If they dream that someone comes to steal these grains from them, they will be married within the year. In the old Czechoslovakia, young women wrote the name of their suitor on pieces of paper and then slipped them into dough. They were then thrown into boiling water and the first name that came to the surface was the correct one.

In Poland today

Today, this holiday in Poland is still practiced by the youngest, but as a folk curiosity, old-fashioned and good-natured. Competing with two more commercial holidays: Halloween (more festive) and Valentine’s Day (more romantic), and above all a victim of the decline of superstitions, Saint Andrew is struggling to exist. The party tends to normalize, with the presence of music, boys and alcohol. It very often becomes a simple nightclub outing.

To take full advantage of this cultural experience, we suggest that you invite friends over instead. Don’t forget to bring some essential (but easy to find) items: candles, a key, and a bowl

The most popular game

Fill a bowl with cold water, light a large candle and run a nice amount of wax through the “eye” of a key. The shape obtained or the projection of his shadow on a wall should give a clue to the profession of the future groom (today the interpretation is more liberal). To shine in front of your friends, you can slip into the conversation that divination by melted wax is called Ciromancy (or Kéromancy) and that in the German countryside people still sometimes use its ancestor, molybdomancy, where the wax is replaced by molten lead.

To find the right person

Another very common game consists of lining up the shoe (left, for the purists) of the participants, one after the other, up to the threshold of the house, the owner of the shoe who reaches the landing first will be the next married (which suggests that Polish women with big feet marry faster than others).

A final game requires a basin and walnut shells. A candle is placed in this makeshift boat and the names of the suitors are placed on the edges of the basin: the first to burn will be the good one. In another version (mixed and more modern) each participant places their walnut shell in the basin. Coming into contact with the craft of a participant of the opposite sex indicates the beginning of a relationship. You can always blow to give fate a boost.

We wish you a very happy Saint-André’s Day, hoping that all your predictions will come true soon!

We want to give thanks to the author of this write-up for this amazing material

ANDRZEJKI – Your magical evening, turnkey


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