Also called Andrzejki, Noaptea Sfântului Andrei, Andrew's Night wax pouring
On the night of 29 to 30 November, young people in Poland pour melted wax through a key into cold water and read the shapes for a future partner, while in Romania girls sleep with basil under the pillow to dream of theirs. It is one of Europe's best-loved nights for love fortune-telling.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: Hot wax burns: melt it on low heat, never microwave it, and pour slowly over the water with a cloth under the bowl. Do not leave the melting pan unattended.
Girls lined their shoes toward the door and leapfrogged them; the owner of the first to touch the threshold would wed first. Other games included sleeping with men's names on slips under the pillow.
Uses: shoes
On St Andrew's night single girls sleep with a sprig of sweet basil under the pillow; if someone takes it from them in a dream, they will marry soon. Garlic is rubbed on doors and windows because the night is also said to bring out strigoi, restless spirits. Wheat is sown in a dish and its growth at New Year read as an omen.
Uses: basil, garlic, wheat
St Andrew's feast falls on 30 November, and the night before became a time for marriage omens in much of Central and Eastern Europe, perhaps because it opened Advent, when weddings were not held. In Poland the evening is called Andrzejki, and its chief rite is pouring wax through a key into cold water and reading the shadows of the shapes. Once a young women's custom, it is now a party night for students and friends of every gender.
In Romania, where Andrew is honoured as the apostle who brought Christianity to the land and is the national patron, the night is also linked to the strigoi, the restless dead, so households guard doors and windows with garlic. Young women sleep with basil under their pillows, and the national holiday on 30 November keeps the customs well known. The two traditions are distinct, though English-language sites often blend them.
Dragobete is a Romanian folk holiday for lovers, usually kept on 24 February, when the birds were said to pair off and spring to begin. Young people gathered the first spring flowers for their sweethearts, girls saved 'fairy snow' for beauty charms, and a kiss after a playful chase could seal a year's engagement.
On midsummer night, unmarried young women weave flower wreaths, often with a candle, and set them on a river. How the wreath floats tells of love and marriage in the year ahead.
An old Scottish and English way to dream of a future partner: eat a small salty oatcake or 'dumb cake' in silence before bed, drink nothing, and see who brings you water in your dream. It was done on Halloween, Shrove Tuesday, St Agnes' Eve and Midsummer.
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