Belarusian girls spent Old New Year’s Eve divining future husbands
Virtually every girl dreams of knowing when and whom she will marry. During Christmastide – which starts on Christmas Eve and lasts until Epiphany – all young ladies in Belarusian villages were involved into divining their future in the past: some threw felt boots outside gates, and others tried to see the future in a mirror. Over time, traditional fortune-telling has been ‘upgraded’, but it still arouses the interest among those unmarried.
In Belarusian Krasnopolye, ancient traditions are still alive.
Victoria Zaichenko, a student of the Mogilev State College of Arts, is on vacation. The girl has never tried to look into her future, but the age of 19 years seems to be the best time to think about the would-be family.
“My mother and grandmother told me that they loved to do guesswork during Christmas holidays when they were young – not so much to learn of their fate, but to have fun. In winter, nights are long, and I know that the best time for divination is Christmas Eve. Those not satisfied with the outcome of such fortune-telling can make another attempt on the night of January 13th-14th,” Victoria smiled.
Anna Snytko, Tatiana Podolyakina and Olga Sarenkova, from the Krasnopolye District Cultural Centre, volunteered to teach the girl the wisdom of divination, since they well know such traditions.
“Fortune-telling definitely works,” Anna said. “We simply do not immediately compare it with the reality. As a student, I divined my future husband, following granny Zinaida Yegorovna’s advice: it is necessary to make three lumps of bread, put a grain in one of them, and then intermix them. Afterwards, a girl needs to put these lumps in different places: on a window, under a bed and in a basket. In the morning, she takes one of the lumps and looks at the result. If the grain is in the lump under the bed, then she will get married for love, if in the basket — the lady will have interested marriage, and if on the window – she will get pregnant initially. Mine was in the basket, and I have been a happy wife of Sergei for thirteen years already.”
The ladies began to divine with help of candles and mirrors – which is a traditional method. Anna, Tatiana and Olga shared all details of the ritual with Victoria. It is necessary to wait until midnight and go to a dark room; Belarusian women went to a bathhouse for that. Then it is necessary to place two mirrors so that a kind of corridor of reflections is created. Looking in the mirror, the girl needs to say: ‘My betrothed please come out to me in beautiful clothes’. Actually, not everyone was brave enough to perform that ritual: after all, mirrors might look fearsome sometimes.”
Meanwhile, wax and water can help divine a fate and path of life. Victoria willingly joined the experiment. She poured water into a bowl, lit a candle and read her future from a picture that emerged on the surface. Believe it or not, Victoria had a big star in the centre with small ones around.
“In my studies, I specialise in folk art (choral music). Maybe I really will become a star," the girl smiled. “Judging by the even number of pegs on the fence that I hugged, I will spend this year paired with my beloved! Come to us next year, we will see whether the divination is correct. It is not for nothing that our mothers and grandmothers paid so much attention to that. The original Belarusian culture continues to live not only in the memory of older generations. As you can see, it also attracts young people.”
