St Andrew’s Day in Poland (Andrzejki) is celebrated on the night of November 29th. It is a day of mysterious parties, magic and mystery games. There is plenty of drinking, dancing and future telling games! Who wouldn’t like a party like that?

Those traditions have their beginnings in old pagan times of Polish ancestors, when people believed in a strong connection between the real and spiritual worlds. Nowadays, people still do it for fun, even if almost everybody has forgotten its original meaning.

Because this is the last day before lent, people eat and drink as much as they can. As well, this is the last day to have a party. During the weekend that’s the closest to  November 29th, nearly every club organizes a party. “Andrzejkowe party” is different from the ones you’ve got used to. You will not only dance or drink, but you will also have your future foretold

There are many fortune telling games that Poles believe will only come true when performed during this special night. One of the most popular games is based on pouring liquid wax into a full bowl of water through a keyhole. An old, rustic looking key is of course the best for it! After the wax cools off, you need to hold it in front of a candle and the shadow that will appear, represents your future.

Image by Henryk Niestrój from Pixabay

Another popular game, the shoe race competition, is reserved for the girls only. All of them took off their left shoes and put them in a  line one after the other.  Then  this line of  shoes “walk” to the door, the last  moving to the front on by one, thus walking forward.  The girl who’s  shoe reach the door first, would be  the first to get married.

One more interesting tradition is the one with a pillow. Before the girls go to sleep, they have to write down names of boys, each name on a different piece of paper. Then they need to put all of those papers under their pillow. When they wake up the next morning, the girls have to take out only one piece of paper, and this will reveal the name of their future husband!

Image by _Alicja_ from Pixabay

Andrzejki is a wonderful celebration and although it has a more commercial ankle nowadays, you can still try these traditional games to feel the real atmosphere of this day. They always add a lot of fun to the party!