Light Candles and Peer Into Mirrors! How to Divinate on Christmas Eve

The Yuletide season (Svyatki) lasts from Christmas Eve until Epiphany. This period is considered a time when life «turns upside down,» allowing for activities usually forbidden. Many perform divination during these days, with predictions made on Christmas Eve believed to be the most accurate. The Church understandably disapproves of this and may even bar practitioners from communion, but this doesn«t stop everyone.

Young women most often divined for their future groom, and these rituals were the simplest. One love-related divination was the «name divination.» Girls would go outside and ask the first man they met his name. According to belief, this would be the name of their future husband.

One can also divine using a shoe. To do this, you must take off one boot and throw it over your shoulder. The direction the toe points indicates where your fiancé will come from.

Another popular divination involves liquids. Glasses of water are prepared: salt is added to one, sugar to another, a coin to a third, and a wedding ring to the fourth. A person is blindfolded, the glasses are shuffled, and they must choose a glass and take a sip. Salty water signifies a year of tears, sweet water a good year, water with a coin symbolizes wealth, and the ring foretells a swift wedding.

Divination using a comb for a future husband is also practiced. A girl must comb her hair before bed and place the comb under her pillow. It is believed her destined one will surely appear in her dreams. In one interpretation of this ritual, a towel should also be placed under the pillow with the comb.

But it«s not only a comb you can place under your pillow. Four kings from a deck of cards can be used, with the incantation: »My destined, adorned one, appear to me in my dream.« And he will appear, but in the form of a king. By his suit, you can understand the character of the future spouse: a king of spades means the destined one will be old and jealous; hearts promises a young and wealthy husband; clubs foretells a military man or merchant; and if diamonds appears, the destined one is someone you already have feelings for.

If you have many threads at home, you can divine with them too. You need to take seven threads of different colors, place them in a small bag, close your eyes, and pull out any one. White predicts good news, blue an acquaintance, black envy, red love, yellow wealth, brown troubles, and green health.

Threads can also be set on fire. For this divination, you need equal lengths of thread. Several girls should divine together. Whose thread burns the fastest will be the first to marry. It«s sad, however, if a thread doesn»t even burn halfway—then you shouldn«t hope for a marriage proposal in the coming year.

But there are also dangerous divinations. At least in movies, such methods are used to summon evil spirits, which are very difficult to get rid of later. One such divination is the ritual with mirrors. It was performed in a dark room, most often a bathhouse. Two mirrors were placed facing each other with a lit candle between them. Then the phrase «My destined, adorned one, come dine with me» was spoken, and they peered into the reflections, trying to see their destined one. But the main rule was not to stare too long: as soon as a silhouette appeared in the mirrors, you had to say «I deny you» («Chur me») and cross yourself three times.

You can also do a quite harmless thing during Svyatki. To attract money, you need to light three candles near a houseplant and ask the plant to stay green and bloom. Afterwards, the candles are extinguished, and the flower is left by the window until Epiphany.