Fortune telling is an integral part of the culture and history of every nation. People always wanted to know something - whether it will rain, what the harvest will be, what to expect from fate. But the most popular, popular and varied were the fortunetelling of the girls on their betrothed.
In the old days, every woman sought to see her own love and fate in advance. And today the situation has not changed. Fortune-telling is still at the peak of demand and popularity.
Are there many fortunetelling?
There are a lot of different methods and ways of how you can learn 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 divining on a narrowed one. They could not assemble, but disassemble and clearly classify - they could not, simply, like the rest of the ethnos’s heritage, dividing them into areas in which a particular method was recorded.
Why is it "mummers"?
The question of wording remained unclear. “Narrow-minded” - fortuneteller uses exactly this wording of an appeal to a man.
The most famous and simple explanation of the meaning of this phrase is to bind to the calendar. Many fortunetelling at home was carried out during the holy week, and at that time young people went about mummers. In many areas, for example, in the south of Russia, it was customary to wear "fancy" costumes, masks, and in the evenings to frighten late passers-by. Gogol described this tradition best of all collectors of folklore in one of the stories of the collection Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka.
However, there are so many fortunetelling that even some of them will not fit in the framework of the holy week. Moreover, what about the rituals that are held on other dates? Fortune-telling at night for Ivan Kupala, who was narrowed down on the feast, for example, or evening ceremonies in Shrovetide? In addition, most ways to find out your love do not have a calendar at all.
The second most famous explanation of the meaning of the word “disguised” is that young people sewed holiday clothes for the wedding. That is, they dressed them up. Logically enough, if we consider the term "narrowed", as a synonym for the word "bridegroom", formed from the "fate".
But here there is a contradiction, which few people think about today. They wondered about marriage and love. There are ceremonies for married women.
The Orthodox Church at the beginning of its formation among the Slavs tried to fight fortune-telling, however, as with all other traditions. However, unlike Catholicism, Orthodox priests were tolerant and studied what they could observe. The studied traditions were further “adapted” to their own Christian dates, holidays, rituals, and so on.
The church explains the meaning of the word “mumbled” in rites like this - wondering, the girl does not see her future bridegroom or lover at all, but just a devil who dressed up in this person pretended to be him. That is why many rituals end with the sentence "Chur me."
What can be fortunetelling?
The first thing that comes to mind is the separation of rites according to the calendar. That is, Sacred, Epiphany, Pancake week and so on.
However, in the old days, ways to look into the future were divided somewhat differently. All fortune-telling on the narrowed constituted two large groups - amusing and serious, real.
The rituals that the girls performed during evening gatherings or toil before bedtime belonged to the amusing ones. This type of determination of one’s future was not capable of causing harm, that is, it was not a serious way of magic. Comparing with the physiological effect, we can say that the amusing fortune-telling at Shrovetide for the narrowed one 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 a serious injury.
All independent and well-known fortune-telling about a fiancé, consisting in any action and accompanying saying, such as "Come to me to have dinner," are amusing.
But rituals with mirrors are already a serious divination. Such rites inevitably entail retribution. Therefore, in the old days they were carried out hiding, so that none of the relatives knew, because the payback 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 asked for help from local healers, sorcerers, or other practicing esotericists.
How to guess
There are no uniform rules or regulations for such a divination; all the requirements are dictated directly by the rite. As a rule, no special and complex training is needed.
Some ways to look into the future involve certain conditions. For example, fortune-telling on the narrowed “Comb under the pillow”, reviews of which indicate high accuracy of the results, requires only a simple hair brush. But the equally popular and also well-known method of fortune-telling with the adage “In the new place, dream the bridegroom,” requires the girl to go 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.
Are there any recommendations?
Although there are no general uniform rules, there are recommendations for such a mess. For example, it is believed that it is better to charm alone, on Friday late in the evening or on Saturday.
From the point of view of the usual non-“magic” psychology, this recommendation makes sense and must be observed. The human brain is designed so that it continues to analyze the day and all the 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 ponder everyday worries, the nuances of relationships at work and much more. When the word "output" occurs, something resembling a toggle switch. The subconscious mind 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 during serious ceremonies, in order to put a comb under the pillow, wait for Friday and send relatives somewhere is not required.
It is also traditionally believed that the best time of the year for any such magic is Christmas time and, of course, the night before Christmas. If in the attracted fortune-telling method there is a reference to a specific calendar period, then it cannot be neglected. The fact is that all the rituals tied to Baptism, Christmas, or other Orthodox holidays have a much earlier, pre-Christian origin and, accordingly, a completely different explanation of the need for a specific time. Of course, why it is necessary to carry out any ritual on this day, now no one can reliably say. But you should not neglect the recommendation.
What is the most accurate divination?
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, that is, it exists in the singular.
Any fortune-telling in the name of the betrothed, his appearance, the side in which the person lives, even the most seemingly comic, for example, throwing boots out of the gate, is an energetic interaction with the Universe.
Simply put, for each person, “the most accurate fortune-telling” is his own. Choosing a rite should be intuitive, not paying attention to the popularity and reviews of others. If the description of the magic is liked, then it is precisely it that needs to be used. And if it causes only one association - “well, stupidity”, then as if this method of divination would be praised, one should not resort to it.
How to guess better - on maps, mirrors or sentences?
Card techniques came to the world from Ancient Egypt. This applies to all types of decks and types of hands. There is a version that around the world these methods spread with the exodus of Jews from Egypt. Another theory suggests that the Phoenician merchants took out the secrets. The third option explains the spread by nomadic gypsies, without the mediation of Jews or Phoenicians.
Be that as it may, finding out fate with the help of cards is the oldest of the existing methods of divination. But at the same time the most inaccurate. The values of the cards are not as important as their combinations, which can be deciphered from the directories only approximately. For example, in the gypsy culture there were always very few true fortunetellers, and not those who “brainwashed” with the goal of “gilding a pen”. They read the cards without deciphering the meanings, intuitively, that is, figuratively speaking, during the layout they “watched the movie”.
Therefore, resorting to complex rituals with cards is not worth it, but conducting a simple fortune-telling, for example, at the Four Kings is quite possible.
To learn all about the future of your beloved with a mirror is an old way of magic, spread from Europe. There is a version that the same gypsies borrowed the technique from the Greeks in antiquity. Of all the divisions that existed in divination, rituals with mirrors bothered clergymen more than the rest. Moreover, regardless of faith. Both Catholics, and Orthodox, and other later Christian churches, such as Protestants, all without exception attributed these rites, if not directly to Satanism, then to dark magic unambiguously.
It was believed among the people that when mirroring fortune-telling, the main thing was not to let go of the line, that is, to lower the reflective surface in time, close it or cross itself, saying: "Chur me."
This method of fortune-telling is suitable for those who have good eyesight, in the literal 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 fortune-telling method, it makes sense to pay attention to them, since ethnically these methods are much closer and much in such rites is intuitive.
How to tell fortunes on maps?
The most simple and understandable fortune-telling on the narrowed on the cards is “Four Kings”. The rite is very simple. Before going to bed, put the appropriate cards, necessarily taken from a new deck, under the pillow. Which one will dream of marrying him.
The meaning was interpreted as follows:
- Tambourines - coveted, beloved, as they said "soul to soul."
- Peaks - the old one who “drinks all the juices”, perhaps a widower.
- Worms - wealthy or inheriting good income, young, but not “heart-wise”.
- 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 fortune-telling about the narrowed on the cards also meant such an action - a virgin with her hair should sit on a new deck.
Such ways of knowing your future do not have calendar bindings.
How to tell fortunes on a mirror?
The easiest fortune-telling on the mirror is as follows - you need to sit down to dinner, being completely alone. The table is set for two, be sure to light candles. You also need to put a mirror. It should stand so that the plate for the called-out groom is visible on the surface. In this case, the girl should be clearly visible everything that happens inside the mirror and she should be able to overturn him at any time.
One should prepare for such a way to look into the future, as for a real dinner. That is, dress up, put on makeup, comb your hair. Plates need to be filled with food.
After serving and lighting candles, a mirror is placed and a girl sitting down says: “Come to me to have dinner.” Of course, like any saying, the appeal begins with the words: “Narrowed, but mumbled.”
It is believed that by conducting such a fortune-telling at Baptism for a betrothed, you can consider the face of the groom in great detail. There is a variant of this rite involving two mirrors. However, at the end of the ritual, the reflective surface must be pressed to the table, so it is more convenient to use one.
There is a very mystical and frightening mirror divination at Christmas time. They made a guess on the bridegroom all week, but this ceremony was carried out on the night before Christmas.
This is nothing but the famous mirror corridor. There are a lot of variations of rites with a corridor, the simplest ritual will require a candle, a pair of mirrors, fabric, patience and imagination.
It is necessary to fix a dense opaque fabric over a large mirror hanging on the wall so that it completely covers it with one movement. If there is one candle, they put it on the right hand. A second mirror, of smaller sizes, is set in front of itself, arranged 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 flinch and the lined corridor will break.
Next, you need to sit down and wait for the groom to come along the mirror path. You can say the saying: “How I opened the gate for you, your horse. Come to me. Take me". Of course, it’s worth starting with words about a narrowed mummer.
As soon as the bridegroom arrives, you need to have time to consider everything before he crosses the first from the guessing threshold. Then, with a sudden movement, close the large mirror and lower the small one.
How to tell fortune at Shrovetide?
Fortune-telling at Shrovetide for the narrowed one is not as popular as winter, but meanwhile they are the most traditional in the Slavic culture and are preserved in the form closest to the originals.
The most famous is guessing by pancakes. The girl needs to wake up before dawn, and while everyone in the house is still relaxing, bake pancakes for breakfast herself. The dough needs to be bred before cooking, also on its own. The important thing is how the first pancake and the last come out, while the raw dough should not remain, even on the walls.
What relates to the first:
- smooth edges - a calm, happy life;
- curves - quarrels and scandals;
- stuck, torn, did not roll over - this year you can’t get married;
- reddened in the middle - the spouse will be faithful, around the edges - will walk;
- pale - to the sick and frail groom;
- holes - the number of children.
The last pancake symbolized the male viability of the groom. That is, small - to outstanding male dignity. Burnt - male strength will quickly decline and so on.
Fortune telling in the name of the betrothed was also customary to be held in the oil week. The name was defined in different ways. For example, you had to bake pancakes and go to the fairground, distributing them to everyone. The one who takes the last was asked for a name. It was believed that they would call the groom. If the pancake went to the woman, then soon marriage was not to come.
Another fortune-telling was popular. Different names that are most often found in life were recorded on pieces of paper. Several pieces of paper 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 thing they got was a piece of paper. If she turned out to be without a name, then marriage was not worth the wait, or the groom was named differently from what was recorded. The bag with the remaining pieces of paper was thrown into the Maslenitsa bonfire, due to which Yarilo sent the "unnecessary men" to Leta.