Andrzejki - Feast Day and Fortune Telling

Today, November 30, is the feast day of Saint Andrew, the apostle who is generally considered one of the first who preached Christianity in this region of the world. Because Andrzej is a popular name, this feast day is also the name day for many Poles.

However, the feast of St. Andrew is most famous for the superstitious traditions that take place after nightfall. Generally for children (though I've also seen a lot of clubs taking advantage of the holiday to advertise special events for an otherwise dull Tuesday), these traditions form the night is known as Andrzejki in Polish. For example, young girls pour hot wax through a key into a bowl, and the shape that forms is supposed to be the face of her future husband. Additionally, if a person remembers a face from his or her dream during the night of Nov. 30-Dec. 1, this is the face of his or her future spouse. Though traditions vary by country, here's a full list of some of the Polish superstitious traditions that I've heard. No one takes the superstitions seriously, but they have a lot of fun with them.

I've yet to figure out why St. Andrew is tied with these fortune telling traditions. It might simply be the time of year. Indeed, some of the clubs are advertising that Andrzejki is "the last time to have fun before Advent." (although this year Advent has already started...)

Animated Guide to Polish Success

Humorous Depictions of History

Cross-posted from Transitions 21

For a humorous interlude...

Here's the Economist's take on what would happen if World War I were a bar fight. This is one way of understanding the complexities of WWI by applying it to a more simplified and perhaps common scene. Also check some of the links in the comments to the Economist's post.

Similarly, here's the continued version that leads to the World War II bar fight.

All of this reminded me of this excellent comic with characters for every country and a colloquial picture and humorous interpretation of World War II. Poor Poland.

Of course, wars are no laughing matter. But for all the history buffs out there, the divergence into humor can sometimes provide more illumination to the complex facts of history.

Independence Day and more

Happy Polish Independence Day!! Even Google has paid tribute to it.



Also, Poznań has another holiday today. In honor of feast day of the saint of the main boulevard, Św. Marcin, it's St. Martin's Day! There will be a big parade down the boulevard later in the day as well as other festivities.



Also, as a special food for Święty Marcin, which is now available in Poznań only year-round, I will be eating a lot of these today:

Rogal Świętomarciński (sorry, there's no Wiki page in English)

And a Happy Veteran's Day to everyone back home! Thank you to all the soldiers for your service.

New Blog Project

Through a generous travel-grant from my university, I've been given the opportunity to travel throughout Central and Eastern Europe to examine current 21st century perceptions about the communist past and the recent decades of transition in Central and Eastern Europe. After much delay, I've finally launched a blog project for this purpose (entitled Transitions 21).

I'll be focusing mostly on my observations and studies within Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and hopefully also the Baltic and Balkan states, but I also intend to examine the perception of other countries, especially my native USA, toward this period of history and the Central and Eastern European region.

WM will continue to be my personal blog, and Transitions 21 will solely focus on this travel-study project for the next year or so.

Check it out: Transitions 21

1 Nov: All Saints' Day

Junikowo Cemetery
Poznań, Poland





Every. Single. Grave was cleaned and covered with beautiful flowers or fresh boughs and candles.



In keeping with Polish tradition, family members traveled long distances the days before (and after) All Saints' Day in order to gather at the cemeteries on Nov. 1 and pay respects to their deceased loved ones and relatives.





The cemeteries were extremely crowded, though it may not appear to be the case in my pictures. So as not to disturb the families on this solemn day, I only took photos in areas away from the other visitors.




Thousands of candles at the Katyń memorial



Coming soon: The night of candles.