The origin of ritual divination belongs to the deepest antiquity, so deep that it is even approximately difficult to say about the time of its appearance. The reason for its origin, obviously, was the desire to explain the mysterious in nature and in human life and look into another unknown world, at least slightly open the dense curtain that hides the future. IN ancient world fortune-telling was practiced by priests and philosophers. It was they, endowed with certain knowledge about being and the world around them, who were subject to the methods of interpreting certain events, as well as the meanings of certain signs and phenomena. Those types and forms of fortune-telling that have come down to us from the relatively recent past as folk fortune-telling are, of course, echoes of the most ancient forms that have been passed down from generation to generation, simplifying, changing their symbolic meaning, but remaining the only possible way to recognize and interpret future fate. .
Folk fortune-telling gave answers to significant questions using improvised means, household trifles, grains or pets. The paraphernalia and symbolism of divination is closely connected with the uncomplicated peasant life. There are several very common ones that are still popular on holy days, at Christmas and Epiphany.
Russian folk divination
It is very popular. It gives answers to the questions “will it come true?” or “will it not come true?”, and the answers can only be received in one word, that is, “yes” or “no”. Therefore, you need to think fortune-telling in such a way as to get these simple answers. 37 beans are taken when guessing for a man, and 31 beans for a woman. For divination, only completely white beans, without spots, are suitable. After thinking about the question, the beans are laid out in 3 piles. The woman has 10 beans and the man has 12. One extra bean is stolen in the middle. Then, the number of letters in the first name, patronymic and last name is counted separately, and from each heap to the bean lying in the middle, as many beans are laid aside as there are letters. Then they count the number of vowels in the question, which was conceived for fortune telling. From the formed middle pile, the corresponding number of beans is laid. If it turns out that the beans do not eat, what is planned will never come true. But if there are enough beans, and there is a pair or even number of them in a pile, everything planned will come true, and if it is odd, then it will not come true.
Very common formed by burning paper, wax melted and poured into cold water, or an egg.
The sheet is placed on the bottom of an inverted saucer, set on fire and brought to the wall. The bizarre outlines that appear on the wall are interpreted in accordance with the images they create. The outlines of solidified wax in water are also interpreted.
To take a transparent bottle, fill it with water up to the shoulders and release a raw chicken egg. The bottle is placed overnight in a cold place, leaving it open. In the morning, the bizarre forms and images formed in the water are interpreted.
There are folk fortune-telling on a nutshell. They put a basin of water on the table, take several well-peeled walnut shells, put tickets in them with inscriptions: “it will come true, it will not come true, soon or not soon, good or bad,” etc. The shells are launched into the basin, which is covered with a napkin from above, and the basin is slowly turned in place several times. Fortunetellers stand near a closed basin, ask a question and take out a shell that has fallen into their hand. The answer to the question will be on the ticket.
Perhaps the most beloved were folk. The most famous of them are fortune-telling with a rooster, fortune-telling with a shoe, fortune-telling by name. Moreover, they were especially girlish, they were not suitable even for widows.
Folk divination with a rooster was as follows. In the center of the room, a circle is drawn with chalk and heaps of grain are poured around the circumference, saucers with water are placed, rings from the hands of fortunetellers and a mirror are placed. The girls stand near their ring and grain, and in the middle of the circle they place a rooster, which has not eaten anything all day. The rooster, having recovered, makes some choice. The rooster went up to the grain and began to peck, the girl would certainly get married soon, went to the mirror, her husband would be a dandy. If he pecked two or three times and walked away, there will be no imminent wedding, and if he immediately comes to the water, then the husband will be a drunkard. If a rooster pecks all the grains in one pile, this portends a quick death.
There are a lot of Russian folk divinations. All of them, for the most part, were timed to coincide with the winter religious holidays, the symbolism of which is associated with renewal, the beginning of a new countdown, a new life, on the threshold of which everyone wanted to know at least a little about their future destiny.
In this article:
Divination is an ancient folk remedy that allows you to predict the future and get answers to various questions. Many people today continue to believe in the effectiveness of fortune-telling, others are skeptical of such rituals, however, every person sometimes wants to know about his fate.
Divination refers to witchcraft and magic, but unlike rituals in which the performer actively intervenes in the forces of nature and changes the world around him for his own benefit, fortunetellers work with reality passively - they only open the veil over the secrets of the future, but do not interfere in the natural course of events.
How fortune-telling appeared
Divination existed and continues to exist among all peoples in the world. The mystery of such rituals lies in the thinking of a person, which perfectly grasps all external associations.
People watched the world, paid attention to the signs and phenomena that preceded certain events, memorized them, and deduced a certain pattern, because of which signs first appeared, and then complex divination systems that allow people to find out their future.
Fortune-telling was common in all ancient states, this art was of great importance for Ancient Assyria and Babylon, Egypt, Greece and Rome. In certain eras, this magical craft played an important role in public life. Evidence and legends have survived to this day, which say that in Rome there was a state college of priests, whose main task was to foresee events that could affect the whole society as a whole.
Fortune-telling was an important element of human life before the spread of Christianity, when any magical rites were first condemned, and later all magicians and fortune-tellers were persecuted. However, even the church has never denied that with the help of divination, you can find out the future and get answers to important questions. The clergy only said that all the information in divination comes from the Devil himself, that it can be false, and if a person turns to such witchcraft, then the path to Heaven will be closed to him once and for all.
These warnings did their job, and people began to fear any manifestation of magic, however, there were also those who preserved the ancient traditions of witchcraft and witchcraft, and passed them on to their heirs. It is thanks to such people that magic rituals exist in our time.
Russian folk divination
In the Middle Ages, divination was still widespread throughout the world, especially in Russia and Western countries. There was a huge number of esoteric books that all people who were interested in the ability to foresee the future and, of course, who knew how to read, tried to get. This literature talked about the signs that foreshadow certain events in life, as well as about the methods of divination that a person could use.
Naturally, books were of interest only to the educated part of society; in the villages, people could not read and managed with the ancient knowledge of their own ancestors, which was preserved despite persecution.
Divination for the betrothed
This is one of the oldest Slavic divination, which is accepted to be carried out on the eve of the Nativity of Christ. To find out the name of her future husband, a girl must go outside at midnight and ask the name of the first man she meets. It is believed that this is the name that her fiancé will also bear. Today, this method of divination is considered to be ineffective, however, girls still use it, although it looks more like a kind of entertainment than a real way to predict the future.
How to see your future husband in a dream
This divination method was also used on Christmas Eve. To see her betrothed in a dream, the girl had to take a homemade broom (necessarily used), pull out several twigs from it, tie them together and say the words of the conspiracy:
In addition, immediately after waking up, you can not look out the window.“Whoever is my betrothed, who is my mummer, he will cross the bridge of twigs and into my dream, servants of God (name), will come. May it be so. Amen".
After pronouncing the words, the twigs had to be tied together in the form of a bridge and placed under the pillow.
This ancient divination has several versions. In one of them, the girl had to make a well of matches, put it under the pillow, read the words of the plot and go to bed. Conspiracy:
“You are my betrothed, mummer. You come to me, servant of God (name), to drink some water. May it be so. Amen".
An important condition for such fortune-telling is that after pronouncing the magic words, the performer should not talk to anyone. In addition, waking up in the morning, you can not touch your head and hair, otherwise you can forget the dream.
What will be the character of the future husband
With the help of this simple divination, the girls found out what the character of their future husband would be. The ceremony is held on the night before Christmas and with the condition that there is a lot of snow on the street. You need to dress warmly, go outside, sit in a large snowdrift, then get up and, without turning around, go to your house. In the early morning, you need to go outside again and look at the trace that was left of you in the snow.
If the outlines of the trace are clear and sharp, then the character of the betrothed will be sharp and even rude. The soft outlines of the footprint indicate that the husband will be kind and responsive. If the trail is covered with snow, then you should not hope that you will meet your loved one this year.
In another version of such a fortune-telling, the girl should go out at night with a knife in her hands, and cut the nearest snowdrift with it, saying the words:
“Damn, Devil, don’t be silent, tell me the answer, what kind of husband will I get, what kind will I get. Should I laugh with joy, or should I cry with grief, fate inscribed? Amen".
After that, you need to listen to the world around you and wait for the first dog barking. If the barking is loud and vicious, then the husband’s character will not be pleasant. A boisterous, cheerful bark is a good omen, indicating that the husband will be kind and with a sense of humor.
Divination for the future on wax
To carry out this ceremony, you need to pour fresh milk into a small saucer and put it on the threshold. Then melt a church candle in a water bath, pronouncing the words of the conspiracy:
“Brownie, Brownie, you are the owner of my house, you come to my doorstep, drink milk, and eat wax. Amen".
When the wax becomes liquid, you need to quickly pour it into milk, the resulting figure will be an omen for the next year.
The meaning of wax figures:
- Flower or plant- fast wedding.
- Cross- a serious illness or a series of troubles. The clearer the outline of the cross, the more unpleasant events will happen in your life.
- Animal- an ill-wisher will appear among your friends and acquaintances, capable of bringing you trouble and spreading vile rumors.
- small stars- next year you expect good luck and prosperity, especially in business and work.
- stripes- movement, they can mean a trip, a business trip, an early move to a new home.
- Human's figure- expect a new person to appear in your life who can become your good friend and even lover.
How can you guess by the shadow
To conduct this fortune-telling for the future, you need to take a newspaper, carefully crumple it and put the resulting sheet on a plate. The paper needs to be set on fire. wax candle(preferably church). When the sheet is completely burned, place the plate next to the candle so that the shadow of the paper falls on the wall or other flat vertical surface.
The shadow cast by the newspaper contains an omen of the future. You need to see in the shadows the clear outlines of any figures or figures, they are the very omen. You need to interpret the shadow according to the same principle as wax figures in milk.
Most of the old Russian fortune-telling was timed to coincide with large and small annual holidays. church calendar, echoing ancient pagan actions. In this article, you can learn simple and reliable ancient divination naked ancestors.
The origin of ancient Russian divination
Old Russian divination is still popular today. The semi-pagan, semi-Christian system of beliefs, concepts and way of life of the people left their mark on the fortune-telling rituals of the Russian village.
Moreover, in folk religion it was customary to celebrate holidays “together” with all the creatures inhabiting Mother Earth, regardless of their pagan or Christian “origin”.
So it turned out that on Easter, the Slavs seemed to be protected by prayer and the sign of the cross from "evil spirits" and immediately christened with her! - after all, according to pagan and folk beliefs, on Easter even devils roll painted eggs at crossroads, since this is one of the favorite holidays of all supernatural beings!
There is every reason to believe that there was once a certain annual order of everyday, ritual, ceremonial and festive divination.
In Ancient Russia, the chronology was conducted not from the Nativity of Christ, but from the creation of the world, therefore New Year coincided with the astrological and the countdown of the new calendar year began in March.
Therefore, it coincided with the time of the awakening of nature and a new cycle of agricultural peasant work.
Under Ivan III, the Grand Duke of Moscow, August was considered the last month of the year, and the New Year began on September 1. Celebrating the New Year on the night of December 31 to January 1 began in Russia only 300 years ago under Peter I.
After the adoption of the Julian, and then the Gregorian calendars, the order of divination was confused and forgotten.
In addition, we should not forget that the official church never approved of "pagan obscenities" and opposed the preservation of elements of pagan rituals in folk culture.
The Slavic year began with Kolyada or winter Christmas time and continued until Epiphany. In the evening on the eve of Christmas (the wedding of Dazhbog and Marena according to the pagan calendar), boys and girls with a "nativity scene and a star" went from house to house - they caroled.
They read generosity poems, sang carols, for which their hospitable hosts presented them with gifts - sweets, and even money.
Many researchers believe that carols in Russia were not only of an agrarian-magic and ritual-commemoration, but also of a love-marriage character.
Since guessing at Christmas time was considered to be matchmaking, collusion, handshaking, allotments and other pre-wedding, wedding and post-wedding ceremonies.
What holidays can you guess
Our ancestors divined during Epiphany Christmas Eve (the day of Kashchei and Beles);
On Maslenitsa - a winter pagan commemoration holiday that has survived to this day - they baked pancakes, arranged fistfights in memory of their ancestors, glorified those who married and symbolically punished the single and unmarried;
Then there was a post that coincided with pagan memories-myths about how Dazhbog went to the kingdom of Kashcheyevo for the stolen Madder;
On February 11, put on Beles - a “cow holiday”, replaced by the day “Vlasia - knock off the horn from winter”, guessed at animals, fed cows with bread and watered them with baptismal water; On February 18, they were guessing on the day of Marena, replaced by the day of St. Mariamne the Righteous.
In the folk calendar, she was called Maremyana-kikimora, "one-eyed", equivalent to the pagan Marena-Marmore-Mare, as well as kikimora-fate. A proverb, remembered on this day, has been preserved: “Yarilo lifted winter on a pitchfork.”
In the first half of March, spring was called, they guessed at the comedians - the holiday of the awakening of the bear;
All spring they praised Lada, Lelya, Yarila, and in the second half of March they commemorated the dead, celebrated feasts.
Moreover, in the days of paganism, the very word “trizna” had a meaning different from today’s “funeral feast”, and meant “fight” or “rising” - “fighting over the dead”.
Ukrainians still call the Thursday of the Great Week "Navsky Great Day", i.e. day Navi - the dead.
On June 4, on Yarilin Day, they praised the god of spring fertility, arranged festivities similar to the ancient Greek mysteries in honor of Dionysus.
Finally, from June 19 to June 24, Rusalia and the day of Ivan Kupala were celebrated - the culmination of pagan rituals.
These days were accompanied by ritual dances, merrymaking, round dances, kindling fires, setting off burning wheels, praying to the spirits of the waters, bathing in dews...
On July 20, the day of Perun was celebrated with plentiful sacrifices, the ceremony of tearing off wreaths - the initiation of girls into women.
In August, zazhinki and dozhinki were celebrated, accompanied by various rituals of agrarian magic - fortune-telling and other actions associated with the beginning and end of the harvest.
In September, the time came for communal feasts with the praises of the Family and women in childbirth, with the singing of ritual songs and drinking honey from a ritual bowl-charm that went around in a circle, various fortune-telling, sacrifices to the gods of bread and animals.
Since our ancestors tried to guess on holidays or on the eve of them, there is every reason to assume that “pagan Friday” was a kind of deity and patroness of the spirits of the dead.
For this reason, ritual divination was carried out on the night from Thursday to Friday.
Many researchers see this as yet another proof of the duality of Slavic beliefs. The fact is that in European, and in domestic demonology, Thursday is considered the most favorable day for contacts with "evil spirits."
At the same time, the ceremony of feeding and looking out for the brownie on Thursday indirectly indicates that in pagan mythology and magical practice this day was dedicated to the spirits of the dwelling.
No special indications have been preserved as to which places are especially suitable for fortune-telling rituals, however, non-residential dark places were considered the most suitable - barns, baths, attics and cellars.
Fortune-telling is known that was supposed to be carried out near the village outskirts, at crossroads, at the crossroads, on the graveyard, on the church porch, on the banks of the river, in winter - at the ice-hole, at wells and reservoirs ...
Divination at Holy Cross Week
They bake "crosses" on Wednesday and bake rings, money and a cross in them. Whoever gets the cross will find it difficult to live or die soon, the ring will get married or get married, the money will become rich.
Divination for marriage with a ribbon - they put a ribbon from a braid under the pot, under the other - a ring. Whoever gets the braided ribbon will sit at home, whoever picks up the ring will get married.
Divination for the Trinity
- On the eve of Trinity Day, they twist a wreath for each family member and throw it into the rye. They take them out to Trinity and let them into the river; whose wreath does not float, but immediately sinks, then the time has come for him to die.
- On the Thursday before Trinity Day, the girls get together to curl the bindweeds - the rods on the birch are braided with bindweed and tied with ribbons, wreaths are weaved and put on that birch, then they cook porridge for everyone and eat. After porridge, they throw spoons through a birch and note: where the spoon falls with a handle - from there they wait for the betrothed, they will give them in marriage.
- Before Trinity Day, young people gather and treat themselves to eggs and butter before curling the bindweeds; on Spirits Day, bindweeds are developed and thrown into the river. Whose bindweed floats - they predict a long life.
- Fortune-telling for marriage on Trinity Day - they throw birch wreaths into the river and note:
Divination about a witch
- If someone is suspected of witchcraft, then they take a knife with the image of a cross on the handle and throw it over the head - then the witch will open.
- Children's shoes are smeared with lard, and then the witches cannot leave the church while there are children in it.
- During mass at Christmas, they stand on a bench made of new wood and look: those who turned away from the altar are witches. After that, you need to go home faster so that the witches do not overtake and tear to pieces those who see them immediately after the service.
- If you look into the eyes of an ordinary person, you will see your own image, and a witch can be recognized by the fact that the image in her eyes is upside down.
Old Russian divination by sounds
“The word is not a sparrow, it will jump out - you won’t catch it,” they said among the people, endowing speech and sound with the miraculous property of predicting and changing the course of fate. Divination for the future with the help of "voices" was very popular in Russia.
In Russia, the ringing of bells and the creak of runners, the sound of an ax and the sounds extracted by “turning” in the snow were considered prophetic ...
Main Feature Fortune-telling "on the crosses" or "growths" was considered "falling" to Mother Earth in order to listen to "her voice."
How they guessed in Russia
Divination by dog barking
This fortune-telling for the future will tell about a possible marriage. Fortune-telling for barking - they stand on a hill, with their backs down, collect snow in a sundress and sow from the hem, saying:
"Field, field white snow, vlay, dog, in the father-in-law in the yard, in the mother-in-law on the stove." Then they listen: in which direction, in which yard the dog barks, they will give her in marriage there.
Fortune-telling-weeding on the hop
- They go to the hopyard (a place in the forest overgrown with wild hops, or a garden where hops are grown), collect snow in the hem from behind, pour it and say:
“I’ll field, I’ll field white snow on a dog’s trail, climb, doggie, at the father-in-law - on the chain, at the mother-in-law - on the stove, at my dear one - on the bed!”
After that, they listen: in which direction the dog barks - in that the groom lives, he will bark in a rough voice - to marry the old one, in a thin one - to the young one.
- 2. Snow is poured on the hopyard, snow is collected in the floor, then they are poured in handfuls over the left shoulder, saying three times in a row: “I will field, I will snow, barking, doggy, on the wrong side,” and they listen to where the dog barks.
Fortune-telling with a rolling pin - they beat a rolling pin on a faith and say: “Doggy, doggy, bark at the father-in-law on the chain, at the mother-in-law on the stove, at my fiance on the bed.”
Scrap divination
Fortune telling in a sauerkraut barrel - they rub the snow in a whorl in a barrel or in a jar and listen to the creak, as if whose name is being heard - they will call and magnify the betrothed.
Fortune telling by creaking - they twirl a stake in the snow and listen: what name will creak out - they will call the betrothed. They also turn the shafts - then the frozen tuck creaks and, as it were, the name of a man slurs indistinctly.
Fortune telling on a sleigh - they touch the runners on the sleigh and listen to the creak: what name will creak, creak, so the bride or groom will be called.
Divination with a horse
Fortune-telling at the stable - they roll up in the snow to the gate of the stable with their faces up from the side of the street and listen: the horse will start to step over, walk or snort, which means that the wedding train will soon be, if it is quiet - and they will not come to woo.
Fortune telling at the gate - they fall into the snow, roll up to the neighbor's gate and knock with a whorl - a horse will neigh or snort, which means they will marry this year.
Fortune telling on a horse - in the evening, when they bring the horses to the stable after work, the girls gather, fall on the snow, roll up to the gate and say three times:
“Good horse, tell me - don’t lie, tell me - don’t hide, will I get married or not?” After they notice: the horse neighs, rattles the bridle - it means they will marry.
Fortune-telling-jumping - near midnight, the girls jump over the well against the sun - three times on their left foot and three times are fascinated: "The place is damned - to hell with you!".
After they listen: water drips in the well - to be married, if it doesn’t drip - sit at home this year. Before going home, they get excited: they jump over the well in the sun - three times on their right foot and say three times: “God's place - God is with you!”
Fortune telling at the grain barn - at night, around midnight, they go to the granary, jump it three times against the sun on their left foot and say:
"Damn the place - to hell with you!" After that, they fall silent and listen: bread will fall - to live for the rich, a sweep will be heard - to marry the poor. Before going to sleep, they get excited.
Divination for the future by sound
Fortune-telling in the barn - they go to the covered barn and, if there are non-milk stacks there, they call out different judgments about their share and fate: if which of them responds - with a sound, rustle or stirring, then it means to be good, and the judgment will be fulfilled.
Fortune-telling - blowing into the castle - they go to the barn and blow into the castle: they hear that they are pouring rye in the bottom of the barrel - go for the rich; it will be heard, as if someone is sweeping naked, - the poor husband will get it.
Fortune-telling on the porch - they go to the church closer to midnight and listen to the porch in the castle: they will hear "Isaiah, rejoice" - to marriage, "With the saints, rest in peace" or "Eternal memory" - to death. You need to go alone and do not greet or talk to anyone along the way.
Fortune telling by seven cards - they put seven cards in their bosom and go to the church: what is the first word they hear there, they judge their future by it.
Fortune-telling-eavesdropping under the windows - as the girls weave the canvas, so they take price boards and go with them under the windows of strangers - to eavesdrop, guessing in advance what people will say:
About bread or grain - to wealth, about horses and bells - to marriage, about clothes or boards - to death.
Fortune-telling by ringing - having heard ringing in the ears, they ask each other in which ear it rings; while making a wish for fulfillment. Guess correctly - and the wish will come true.
Ancient Russian divination on objects
Divination on a sieve
- Usually married women guess on the sieve, and only if someone is suspected of deceit or theft.
They approve the sieve on the thumb, then they take their hand to the side and begin to pronounce suspicious names aloud. On whose name the sieve moves, he is recognized as guilty of his deed.
- Scissors are tied on top of the sieve, then two people are called to approve the ring ends on the middle fingers, after which the fortune teller begins to ask:
“Black stole? Red stole? Gray stole? Piebald stole? ... ”As soon as the sieve is turned, they look after what question, after which they begin to interpret fortune-telling and find out who is right and who is to blame.
Fortune telling on the hymnal
In ancient Russia, rather interesting divinations on the psalter were considered prophetic, and these divinations were made as follows:
- They write a question on a piece of paper, randomly open the psalter and put a note in it, noting the psalm on which the book was opened. They take the key, put it in the book - with a rod with cutouts inward, with a ring - outward.
They are tightly tied with a rope or twine so that the psalter does not open and the key does not fall out, they tie the ring to the rope and put it on the fortuneteller's index finger.
- The fortuneteller asks a question, arbitrarily opens the psalter and reads the opened psalm, after which the fortuneteller-fortune teller interprets what has been read to him.
Fortune telling on beans
They take exactly forty-one beans and divide them into three parts without counting. They take the first part in the left hand, and count four beans with the right, putting it aside, until three, two or one bean remains in the hand. The remainder is placed in the first line - next to the first part.
They take the third part, count out four beans and put the remainder in the first line - next to the third part. They make up the second line of beans set aside - and also in three orders.
The third line is also made up in three orders, but without counting, - from the beans left after the first two lines.
The second order in the first line is the head, the third order in the first line is the hand; the second order in the second line is the heart, the third order in the third line is the legs.
By the “head” they judge mood and learning, by the “hand” - about poverty or wealth, by the “heart” - about joy or sadness, by “legs” - about receiving a package, about the upcoming journey, about the fulfillment of desires.
Even in a fortune-telling order portends an obstacle or obstacle in the way of fulfilling a desire, odd - success, good luck, favorable conditions in business.
Divination on the water
Usually they tell fortunes on Mondays, but the best time for fortune telling is Thursday. Water fortune-telling is used mainly to convict the kidnapper-thief.
They gather suspected and suspicious people in one place, put a cup of water on the table, after which the fortuneteller writes the name of each on pieces of paper and throws the notes into the water.
Whose note does not sink, but slides on the surface, he is recognized as guilty.
Fortune telling about the future of the newlyweds
“Hiding” - when the time comes for the young to go to the basement (the lower floor of a wooden house), in the upper room, the friend wraps the cake in one end of the towel, and lowers the other from the table.
By the way the cake rolls, they guess whether a son or a daughter will be born: on top down - a daughter, up - a son. That is why they call this fortune-telling for the birth of a child - hiding.
With the help of a loaf, you can carry out a simple fortune-telling who will be born - the young will go down to the basement and settle down, so the friend of the loaf rolls down the girl's hump. The bread will lie with the top crust down - the girl will be born, the bottom - the guy.
Fortune-telling for the birth of a child at the "red table" - on the second day of the wedding - at the "red table" conceives a friend to destroy bread and throw it on the table. The first piece will fall upside down - to wait for their first-born son, down - a daughter.
Guessing who will be born on a kalach - young kalach are taken from both sides and pulled in different directions. Whose half will be more, he will be the leader in the family.
Mother-in-law's fortune-telling - they put a sourdough in the middle of the bride's yard, cover it with a tablecloth, put bread on top and put a flask.
The bride's mother meets the young, traveling from the church, in a fur coat turned inside out, sitting on a grip, a poker or a broom. He gallops towards them in the yard with a pot of water and oats. She gives all this to her son-in-law.
He must pour water with oats on the horse's mane and give the empty pot to his friend. He throws his friend a pot aside, and if it breaks, the son will be born first, the daughter will survive.
Once upon a time, divination was one of the main ritual actions of pagan worship. But with the advent of Christianity in Russia, fortune-telling, like any divination, was not only not approved, but even forbidden and persecuted by the official church. In the end, the old Russian divination, having survived the centuries, turned from a serious cult rite into a kind of fun.
And why not, because among many peoples the goddess of happiness and joy was called Gada, and the word "gad" meant research, testing. So why don’t we “try our luck”, and if at the same time something unpleasant is seen or heard, we just need to turn our faces to the sunrise, bow at the waist and say: “Thank you!” They say that nothing will come true after this.
Divination on shoes
Once a Epiphany evening the girls wondered: They threw a slipper over the gate. To do this, the girl takes off her slipper from her left foot and throws it over the gate. In which direction his sock will point, the one who threw it will go there and marry. And if the shoe lies with its toe to the gate, its owner should not count on marriage this year.
Divination on bulbs
The girls choose several bulbs and, planting them in the ground, wait. Whose will sprout faster, one of those who guessed before others will marry.
Divination at the gate
At midnight, the girl should go to the gate and say: “Ball, bark, little dog! Hurry, gray top! Where the dog barks, my betrothed lives there. Where, after these words, a dog barking is heard, there the one who guessed her happiness will find. And the more muffled the dog barks, the farther from her house the groom lives. At the same time, if the barking is loud and boisterous, the betrothed will turn out to be young, and if the hoarse dog barks, you will probably have to marry the old man.
Divination under the window
At midnight, fortune-telling girls sit at the window and take turns saying: “Betrothed, mummers! Pass by my window!” If, after these words, a cheerful company passes under the window, a troika jumps, ringing bells, or a horseman rushes with a dashing whistle - be happy in marriage, and live cheerful and well-fed. But if village sledges drag under the window, family life is unlikely to become joyful and carefree, and if no one shows up after the spell, there will be no wedding this year.
Divination by a stack of straw
One by one, the fortunetellers approach the haystack and pull straws out of it with their teeth. Whoever gets it with a spikelet can count on a well-fed and happy life, and if the straw turns out to be bare and, moreover, very short, then the year for the fortuneteller will not be the easiest.
Divination on a towel
With the words: “Narrowed, mummers, come and dry yourself,” they hang a white towel from the window on Epiphany night. If by morning it becomes wet, then you should prepare for the wedding, and if it turns out to be dry, sit in girls for another year.
Divination on the ridge
At night, after combing your hair, you need to leave the comb under the pillow and go to bed with the words: “Narrowed, mummers, comb my head.” If someone gets married to a fortuneteller this year, he will definitely appear in a dream.
Divination in a dream
In order to see your future groom in a dream, you must, going to bed in a strange house, be sure to say before going to bed: “I am lying in a new place, dream of the bridegroom.”
Fortune telling in the snow
Even in the evening the girls were guessing in the snow. If you want to know the character of your future husband, go out into the yard late at night and lie on your back in the snow.
If the next morning the trail remains smooth, the husband will be complaisant and kind, and if the place is excised, pugnacious and absurd. Fortune-telling on a log Fortune-tellers, closing their eyes and backing away, approach the log and, without looking, pull out a log from it. Smooth, thick, without flaws and knots - promises a rich, handsome and kind husband, peeled - in need, without bark - poor, gnarled - evil, and clumsy or cracked hints at the physical shortcomings of the future spouse.
Divination in the name
To find out the name of your future husband, you need to stand at the gate at midnight and call out to the first passing man: “What is your name?” By the way he was called, what he was wearing and how handsome and amiable, they concluded about the merits of the future husband. And if a woman was the first to pass by, they did not count on marriage this year.
Fortune telling on a chicken
Having removed a chicken or a rooster, they bring it to a room where water, bread, gold and silver rings, earrings, etc. are prepared in advance on the floor in three corners. Total. For water - the year will pass bleakly and poorly, for bread - you will get rich, and if the ring pecks, then that of the fortune-telling girls to whom it belongs will marry this year.
Fortune telling on chickens
During Christmas time, young people walk around the chicken coops and, closing their eyes, remove the first chicken that comes across from the perch, bring it into the light and, by the color of its feathers, judge the color of the hair of the betrothed or betrothed. Sometimes a rooster and a chicken are released into the middle of the room: if the rooster walks proudly and pinches the chicken, then the husband will be angry, but if the chicken is brave and fights back, then this is a sign that the wife will prevail over her husband.
Divination on horseback
For this old Russian divination, horses are taken out of the stable through a shaft or some kind of pole. If a horse catches a shaft with its hoof, then the husband will be caught angry and the girl will have an unhappy life. When the horse easily steps over without hitting the pole or shaft, then the girl will have a happy life with a humble and affectionate husband.
Fortune telling with wax, tin or lead
Earlier in the evening, the girls used to guess in this way. Melted wax, tin or lead is poured into water and, based on the frozen figures, they guess about their lot, happiness, misfortune, harvest or famine.
Divination mirrors
Fortune telling on the mirror should always be done alone, in silence and silence.
For fortune-telling to be successful, the girl lets her hair down, takes off pectoral cross, belt and untie all the knots on the dress. In a dark room, they put a mirror on the table and a lit candle in front of it. A fortune-telling girl looks through a candle in the mirror and sees her betrothed there. When she says, "Stay away from me," the vision will disappear.
In another way, they put two mirrors one opposite the other and sit between them. Two candles are placed in front of one of the mirrors. A long corridor is formed of mirrors illuminated by lights, and you need to look into the depths of this corridor. After a while, the mirrors will begin to fog up, the lights will become dimmer, and the fortuneteller will see her fate at the end of the corridor. Just as in the first case, it is necessary to "get away" in time, otherwise the fortune-telling may end badly. Sometimes, for safety, they take a rooster with them into the room, which, with its cry, can drive away the devilish vision. Fortune telling on cards When something bad falls out on the cards, you must say to the fortuneteller: “Thank you” - so that it does not come true. Guessing on cards can only be done with a deck that has never been played. If there is no such deck, then before fortune-telling, a girl who has never been kissed should sit on the playing deck.
Now you know the old Russian divination.
Winter is the time of fairy tales and fulfillment of desires, so the girls loved to spend Christmas time, lasting from Christmas to Epiphany (from January 6 to January 19), in fortune-telling and predictions. But, as practice shows, the most truthful answers to all the questions asked could be obtained precisely on the night of January 6-7, when Christmas fortune-telling was held.
On this night, young maidens in Russia gathered in a bathhouse, since it was the most secluded place and it was here, according to legend, that magical power flew in, answering all girlish questions without hiding. Before embarking on fortune-telling, the girls bathed, thus washing away all the troubles and problems that had accumulated throughout the day, and went with a clean head and a clean body to a dialogue with the power of magic and sorcery.
A prerequisite: the bath should have smelled of pine needles, so the fortunetellers brought spruce and pine branches, which diffused a pleasant aroma around the room from the heat, and they themselves could beat each other with spruce brooms, thereby pleasing magical power so that she was supportive and gave only truthful answers.
In some villages, various sweets and pastries were also brought to the bathhouse, which were placed on a bench covered with white cloth, it was believed that the spirits would wash, eat, listen to songs (the girls were sure to sing that day) and the happy ones would give good and true advice.
Today, all these ancient rituals are rarely observed by anyone, but fortune-telling for Christmas and Christmas time is also relevant among modern girls, so the following methods of prediction will be useful to them, however, it is advisable to prepare for them accordingly, so as they say, not to anger the magical power : instead of a bath - a sauna, instead of spruce branches - aromatic oils, but replace the white tablecloth with a snow-white towel and, of course, do not forget to take a steam bath to cleanse yourself of bad thoughts.
The meaning of figures for divination on wax, coffee, shadows and others
Here you will find a decoding of figures for folk fortune-telling on coffee and tea, as well as for fortune-telling on wax, shadows, mirror, lead, tin and the like. The database contains values for 600 figures.
For each person, his future is a secret that I really want to know. This is probably where the repeated attempts to create a time machine came from. After all, no one knows what the future is. Christmas divination able to lift the veil of mystery.
Here you will find fortune-telling for marriage at Christmas time and Christmas: on buttons, a potted flower and threads. They will predict whether you will get married soon, what kind of relationship you will have with your spouse and what kind of character he has.
Christmas time is a great time for all kinds of fortune-telling, because on these days ordinary people do not work, but walk with might and main and celebrate Christian holidays - Christmas and Epiphany, and it is on these days that otherworldly forces are most active, which means that it becomes possible to look into your future without the help of specialists to find out what it promises!
What is a cherished dream? Everyone has her own, but it is for her sake that a person lives, breathes and moves. Someone is ready to turn mountains to fulfill their plans, and someone hopes for magic and is waiting for this magical moment. And surprisingly... he comes. The main thing is faith and hope that everything will work out!
Love is the greatest feeling on Earth, and in the entire Universe. This is a priceless gift, which, alas, is not given to everyone, but which many dream of. For the sake of love one can suffer, for the sake of love one can live, for the sake of love one can create. Therefore, it is love divination and predictions that are most in demand among both women and men.
We are all waiting for our soul mate, with whom we will go through life hand in hand, overcoming adversity and rejoicing in joint happiness. That's why unmarried girls and seek to find out, looking into the future, what it is - their beloved and unique.
Who among us would not like to know our fate? In an attempt to look into the future, we are not embarrassed by either the complexity of the methods, or the unusual means, or the originality of interpretations ... And the use of coffee for divination in the most amazing way "took root" in the practice of divination.
