You can tell who your prince charming is - this is what St Andrew’s Party [pl. “andrzejki’] is for. And gentlemen can have a peak into their future on St Katherine’s Eve. We celebrate the most popular Name’s Day of the year in November.
 
At night from 29 to 30 November incredible things happen. This is the only time when you can take a look into your future and see at least the shadow of your future husband! St Andrew’s Party has been celebrated in Poland for hundreds of years, but not from the very beginning it was only fun. Young girls used to approach the fortune-telling with due seriousness, thus marriage is a major business. Each girl would look for the answer to the question about love on her own, and only later the fortune-telling has become a social activity. Nowadays, St Andrew’s Party precedes Advent, the period of preparation to the Christmas Day. And just before this party, a special event for gentlemen takes place - St Katherine’s Eve. On 25 November men get to learn when and how they will meet ‘the one’. St Katherine is the patroness of virtuous bachelors whose intentions towards the ladies are honest ;) St Andrews Party beats this event with its popularity and includes the traditions of both celebrations.
 

The way to find love...

1. The most popular way of fortunetelling is by using wax. You just need to melt a candle in a pot and pour the wax through the keyhole into an utensil filled with cold water. The next step is crucial: you should rise the wax shape to the light and read from its shadow the characteristics of your prince or princess.
2. The next game is a true race for love. Ladies place their shoes one after the other and move them towards the finish line (you place shoes by turns). The owner of the shoe which is the first to reach the line beats the time and will get married before the other girls.
3. An easier, and more beneficial for the female posture, method of finding a husband on St Andrew’s Party includes a day-long fasting. If the fasting is accompanied by the prayers to St Andrews, the prince charming will appear in the dream (probably due to starvation :-) ).
4. As we all know, we cannot fight the destiny, but it’s always worth to know it. Put a wedding band - which predicts the forthcoming wedding, a rosary - which is to predict monkhood, and a leaf - the symbol of spinsterhood into a sack. Drawing will help you learn what your destiny is.
5. If there is a grander in the vicinity, you may want to create a tight circle around it. The first girl to be nibbled by the grander will get married first.
6. If for some reason there is no grander available, you may use pieces of paper with male and female names written on them. A sharp needle or a similar object is enough to learn the name of the love of your live: just close your eyes and pierce the paper with the needle.
 
Every year St Andrews Eve becomes an excuse to have parties and almost all clubs organize something special. However, it is said that the best fortune-telling happens at home, so maybe it is worth to organize your own version of this celebration - especially if you have never tried to read your future in November.

Don't forget to let us know what did you see in your magical wax :)

​Author: Adrian Krawczyk