Fortune-telling is an integral part of the culture and history of every nation. People have always wanted to know something - will it rain, what will the harvest be like, what to expect from fate. But the most sought-after, popular and diverse were the fortune-telling of girls on their betrothed.
Each woman aspired to see her own love and destiny in advance. And today the situation has not changed. Divination for the betrothed is still at the peak of demand and popularity.
Is there a lot of fortune-telling?
There are a lot of different methods and ways of how you can find out in advance about your love. Researchers of folklore and traditions, for example, by the beginning of the last century, had collected almost forty thousand ways of divination for a betrothed. They collected it, but they couldn’t disassemble and clearly classify it, just like the rest of the heritage of the ethnic group, dividing it into areas in which this or that method was recorded.
Why "disguised"?
The question of wording remained unclear. “Narrowed Mummers” - fortune-telling uses just suchthe wording of the appeal to the man.
The most famous and simplest explanation of the meaning of this phrase is in reference to the calendar. Many fortune-telling about the betrothed at home was carried out on the holy week, and at this time young people walked in mummers. In many areas, for example, in the South of Russia, it was customary to wear “masquerade” costumes, masks and scare late passers-by in the evenings. Gogol described this tradition best of all collectors of folklore in one of the stories in the collection Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.
However, there are so many divinations that even some of them will not fit within the framework of the Christmas week. In addition, what about those rituals that are held on other dates? Fortune telling at night for a betrothed on the feast of Ivan Kupala, for example, or evening rites on Shrovetide week? In addition, most ways to find out your love are not tied to a calendar at all.
The second most famous explanation of the meaning of the word "mummers" is that young people were sewn festive clothes for the wedding. That is, they dressed them up. Logically enough, if we consider the term "betrothed" as a synonym for the word "groom", formed from "fate".
But there is a contradiction here, which few people think about these days. They also predicted marriage and love. There are rituals for married women.
The Orthodox Church at the beginning of its formation among the Slavs tried to fight fortune-telling, however, as well as with all other traditions. However, unlike Catholicism, Orthodox priests showedtolerance and studied what they could observe. The studied traditions were later “adapted” to their own Christian dates, holidays, rituals, and so on.
The Church explains the meaning of the word “mummers” in the rites like this - guessing, the girl does not see her future groom or lover at all, but just a devil who dressed up as this person, pretended to be him. That is why many rituals end with the verdict "Stay away from me."
What kind of fortune-telling can be?
The first thing that comes to mind is the division of ceremonies according to the calendar. That is, Christmas, Epiphany, Shrovetide and so on.
However, in the old days, ways to look into the future were divided somewhat differently. All fortune-telling for the betrothed consisted of two large groups - funny and serious, real.
Those rituals that the girls performed during evening gatherings or toiling before going to bed were considered amusing. This kind of determining one's future was not capable of causing harm, that is, it was not a serious way of divination. Comparing with physiological effects, we can say that amusing fortune-telling on Shrove Tuesday for a betrothed or at any other time is similar to tickling. But the rituals that allow you to accurately know your own fate will not look like tickling, if you continue the comparison, but like a serious injury.
All independent and well-known fortune-telling about the betrothed, consisting in some action and a saying accompanying it, such as "Come to my supper", are amusing.
But rituals with mirrors are already serious divination. Such rituals inevitably entailpayback for yourself. Therefore, in the old days they were carried out hiding, so that none of their relatives would know, because the retribution could be the illness of someone from the family, or a big company, giving what is happening a sense of fun and deceiving otherworldly forces. But most often they turned to local healers, sorcerers or other practicing esotericists for help.
How to guess?
There are no unified rules or regulations for such divination, all requirements are dictated directly by the rite. As a rule, no special and complex preparation is needed.
Some ways to look into the future involve certain conditions. For example, fortune-telling for the narrowed "Comb under the pillow", reviews of which indicate high accuracy of the results, requires only a simple hair brush. But the no less popular and also well-known method of fortune-telling with the saying “Dream the bridegroom in a new place” requires the girl to lie down to rest in a particular room for the first time. And the farther the place of sleep is from her usual bedroom, the more accurate the result will be.
Any recommendations?
Although there are no general uniform rules, there are recommendations for such divination. For example, it is believed that it is better to tell fortunes alone, on Friday late in the evening or on Saturday.
From the point of view of ordinary non-magical psychology, this recommendation makes sense and must be followed. The human brain is arranged in such a way that it continues to analyze the day and all events even when they have already ended. That is, on weekdays a woman will not be able to completely relax, her mind will continue to thinkeveryday worries, the nuances of relationships at work and much more. At the word "day off" something happens, reminiscent of switching a toggle switch. The subconscious stops analyzing everyday chores.
Loneliness is also necessary, since even the presence, for example, of a child in the next room will already distract and strain. Of course, this is important only when conducting serious rituals, in order to put a comb under the pillow, you do not need to wait for Friday and send relatives somewhere.
It is also traditionally considered that the best time of the year for any such magic is Christmas time and, of course, the night before Christmas. If in the vending method of fortune-telling there is a reference to a specific calendar period, then it cannot be neglected. The fact is that all rituals tied to Epiphany, Christmas or other Orthodox holidays have a much earlier, pre-Christian origin and, accordingly, a completely different explanation for the need for a particular time. Of course, now no one can reliably say why it is necessary to carry out any ritual on this particular day. But you should not neglect the recommendation.
Which divination is the most accurate?
There are as many answers to this question as there are fortunetellers themselves. This explains the variety of ways to know the future. Energetically, each person is unique, the aura is similar to fingerprints, DNA or the retina of the eye, that is, it exists in the singular.
Any fortune-telling in the name of the betrothed, his appearance, the side in which a person lives, even the most seemingly comic,for example, throwing boots over the gate is an energy interaction with the Universe.
In other words, for each person "the most accurate fortune-telling" is his own. The rite should be chosen intuitively, not paying attention to the popularity and reviews of others. If you liked the description of divination, then it is precisely it that you need to use. And if it evokes only one association - “well, stupidity”, then how would this method of divination be praised, you should not resort to it.
How to guess better - on cards, a mirror or sentences?
Card techniques came to the world from Ancient Egypt. This applies to any type of decks and types of layouts. There is a version that these methods spread around the world along with the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. Another theory says that the secrets were taken out by Phoenician traders. The third option explains the distribution by nomadic gypsies, without the mediation of the Jews or the Phoenicians.
Be that as it may, finding out fate with the help of cards is the most ancient of the existing methods of divination. But at the same time, it is also the most inaccurate. The meanings of the cards are not as important as their combinations, which can only be deciphered from reference books approximately. For example, in the gypsy culture, there were always very few real fortune-tellers, and not those who “poured their brains” in order to “gild their pen”. They read the cards without deciphering the meanings, intuitively, that is, figuratively speaking, during the “watching the movie” layout.
Therefore, you should not resort to complex rituals with cards, but to conduct a simplefortune-telling, for example, on the "Four Kings" is quite possible.
Find out everything about the future of your loved one with the help of a mirror - an old way of divination that has spread from Europe. There is a version that the same gypsies borrowed the technique from the Greeks back in antiquity. Of all the directions existing in divination, rituals with mirrors worried the clergy more than others. And regardless of religion. And Catholics, and Orthodox, and other later Christian churches, such as Protestants, without exception, all attributed these rites, if not directly to Satanism, then unequivocally to dark magic.
People believed that with mirror fortune-telling, the main thing is not to let the devil out, that is, to lower the reflective surface in time, close it or cross yourself, saying: “Chur me.”
This fortune-telling method is suitable for those who have good eyesight, in the truest sense of the word, strong nerves, iron patience and developed imagination.
Ours, Slavic fortune-telling, are sayings, rituals on water and herbs, conspiracies for dreams. When choosing a way to tell fortunes, it makes sense to pay attention to them, since ethnically these methods are much closer and much in such rites is understandable intuitively.
How to tell fortunes on cards?
The simplest and most understandable fortune-telling on the betrothed on the cards is “Four Kings”. The rite is very simple. Before going to bed, you should put the appropriate cards under the pillow, always taken from the new deck. What dream, for that and marry.
The meaning was interpreted as follows:
- Tambourines - desired, beloved, likethey said soul to soul.
- Piki is an old who "drinks all the juices", perhaps a widower.
- Worms - we althy or inheriting a good income, young, but not "to their hearts".
- Clubs - a military man, a politician, an official, a teacher - a person employed in the public service and receiving a salary from the treasury, that is, a "state employee".
Any divination on the betrothed on the cards also implied such an action - a virgin with flowing hair was supposed to sit on the new deck.
Calendar bindings, such ways to find out your future do not have.
How to tell fortunes on the mirror?
The easiest fortune-telling on the mirror for the betrothed is as follows - you need to sit down to dinner, being all alone. The table is set for two, candles are lit. You also need to put a mirror. It should stand in such a way that a plate for the called groom is visible on the surface. At the same time, the girl should be able to clearly see everything that happens inside the mirror and she should be able to knock it over at any time.
This way of looking into the future should be prepared like a real dinner. That is, dress up, make up, comb your hair. Plates need to be filled with food.
After serving and lighting the candles, a mirror is placed and sitting down, the girl says: “Come to dinner with me.” Of course, like any saying, the appeal begins with the words: “Narrowed, but mummers.”
It is believed that by conducting such divination at Baptism for the betrothed, you can consider the face of the groom in great detail. There is a variant of thisritual with the use of two mirrors. However, at the end of the ritual, the reflective surface must be pressed against the table, so it is more convenient to use one.
There is a very mystical and frightening mirror divination for Christmas time. The bridegroom was thought of for the whole Christmas week, but this ceremony was held on the night before Christmas.
This is nothing but the famous mirror corridor. There are a lot of variations of rituals with a corridor, the simplest ritual will require a candle, a couple of mirrors, fabric, patience and imagination.
It is necessary to fasten a dense opaque fabric over a large mirror hanging on the wall so that it is completely covered with one movement. If there is only one candle, it is placed on the right hand. The second mirror, smaller in size, is placed in front of them, positioned in such a way that a long corridor forms in the large one. You should not hold it in your hands, as your fingers may tremble and the corridor lined up will break.
Next, you need to sit down and wait for the groom to come along the mirror path. You can say a saying: “How I opened the gate for you, your horse. Come to me. Take me . Of course, it is worth starting with the words about the betrothed mummer.
As soon as the groom arrives, you need to have time to consider everything before he crosses the first one from the guessing threshold. Then, with a sharp movement, close the large mirror and lower the small one.
How to tell fortunes on Maslenitsa?
Fortune-telling on Maslenitsa for the betrothed is not as popular as winter, but meanwhile they are the most traditional in Slavic culture and have been preserved in the closest tooriginals.
The most famous is pancake guessing. The girl needs to wake up before dawn, and while everyone in the house is still resting, bake pancakes for breakfast herself. The dough must be diluted before cooking, also independently. The important thing is how the first pancake and the last will come out, while the raw dough should not remain, even on the walls.
Related to the first one:
- smooth edges - a calm, happy life;
- curves - quarrels and scandals;
- stuck, torn, not turned over - this year will not get married;
- brown in the middle - the spouse will be faithful, along the edges - he will walk;
- pale - to a sick and frail groom;
- holes - the number of children.
The last pancake symbolized the male we alth of the groom. That is, small - to an unremarkable manhood. Burnt - male power will quickly decline and so on.
Fortune-telling in the name of the betrothed was also customary to spend on butter week. The name was defined in different ways. For example, it was necessary to bake pancakes and go to the fairground, distributing them to everyone. The one who takes the last one was asked the name. It was believed that this would be the name of the groom. If the pancake was given to a woman, then an early marriage was not to be.
Another divination was also popular. Different names that are most often found in life were written down on pieces of paper. Several papers were left blank. They were mixed and placed in a rag bag, which was left at the head of the bed. Waking up, the first thinggot a paper. If she turned out to be without a name, then marriage was not worth waiting for, or the groom was named differently than what turned out to be recorded. The bag with the remaining papers was thrown into the Shrovetide bonfire, thanks to Yarilo and sending "unnecessary men" to Leta.
