Epiphany is one of the most important church holidays. Fortune-telling, omens, a cherished wish for the Baptism of the Lord - all these rituals appeared in antiquity, but they persist to this day. Even the negative attitude of the clergy to such folk amusements does not stop those eager to change or predict the future on the holy day.
Epiphany rites and traditions
A bright and kind holiday has many obligatory as well as desirable customs. In addition to the fact that you need to go to church for Epiphany and collect holy water, it is customary among the people to plunge into the ice-hole, to guess, to make wishes. The priests do not require you to do any of this, and especially try to influence your own destiny. Nevertheless, various beliefs and rituals have become an integral part of the holiday.
Customs and traditions for the Baptism of the Lord:
- Bring snow into the house on the evening of January 18th. When it melts, wash babies and old people with melt water, then the rest of the family. According to popular beliefs, this enhances health, relieves chronic diseases, and calms the nervous system.
- You cannot take out the trash from the house, make purchases - all this will lead to a loss of energy, money, mutual understanding.
- Epiphany water is required to be collected correctly - no frills, not to pour, to treat people around favorably. It is forbidden to dilute the holy water with ordinary water.
- You can plunge into the hole only after preliminary hardening for a couple of weeks. At the same time, it is forbidden to drink, swear, swear, argue. Church attendance and communion are necessary for spiritual cleansing. Otherwise, the whole point of this procedure is lost.
- On Epiphany Eve, fasting is observed; in the evening, the meal begins with a couple of sips of holy water. The first thing they try after that is kutia - a dish made of cereals, honey, nuts, raisins.
- It is recommended to spend January 19 with friends and family. It is undesirable to work, do household chores.
Signs for the Baptism of the Lord
It has always been customary among the people on major church holidays to carefully study the world around them. In order to receive advice or warning from higher powers, people looked closely at the behavior of animals and birds, the weather, unexpected surprises, and personal relationships. A hint could be received at any time.
Several of the most common folk accepts at the Baptism of the Lord:
- Suddenly hearing the barking of dogs - to well-being.
- Leaving the house and being barked by a dog - to quarrels with loved ones.
- To cry on January 19 - to tears for the whole next year.
- Leaving your shoes on the night of January 18-19 outside the door is a sign of illness, accidents, problems.
- Praising or scolding someone is to ruin the fate of both yourself and another person.
- To see a shooting star on Epiphany Christmas Eve is a happy occasion that will radically change life for the better.
Signs of love and family happiness
Unmarried girls should pay attention to the following clues of fate:
- They were taken to the Epiphany - to a happy family life.
- Go outside and be the first to meet a young man - for an imminent wedding.
- What is the name of the first male counterpart - the same name will be for the betrothed.
- To cry suddenly during Epiphany divination - to parting with the groom.
- Jumping into an ice-hole for a man is a good luck in love.
Signs for married:
- Kissing at midnight at the crossroads is a calm and peaceful family life.
- If you wash your household shoes with melted Epiphany water, it means protecting everyone from disagreements, anger, and bad thoughts.
- Pets go to the mistress of the house all day long - we should expect an addition to the family.
Weather signs
Of course, the main popular beliefs are associated with the weather on January 19. The most famous:
- Blizzard - to a rich harvest.
- The sky is clear and starry - by early spring, dry and hot weather.
- Trees in hoarfrost - winter wheat for a rich harvest should be sown on the same day of the week.
- In the afternoon of January 19, sunny, but cold - for a dry summer, a bad harvest.
- Fog has gone to the open water - there will be a lot of bread.
- On the night of January 18-19, the full moon is by spring high water.
- Unnaturally warm weather leads to health problems.
- A lot of snow - for longevity, strong immunity.
- The weather for this day corresponds to the following December.
Christening and Epiphany Weddings
Despite the busyness of the priest on a holiday, the church allows children to be baptized on January 19. Even if one priest refuses to conduct the service, you can always go to another temple. According to popular beliefs, christening on a holy holiday will make a new Christian happy, smart, healthy and successful. Similarly, it was believed that registering a marriage, getting married on January 19, means living your whole life together, creating a strong, happy family.
It should be remembered that for a christening or wedding, you must contact the church in advance. Otherwise, the priest may refuse to conduct the service.
How to make a wish for Baptism?
An energetically charged day could not be ignored, so many attempts to improve life or change destiny are being made. Things to consider when making wishes in the Baptism of the Lord:
- it is advisable to choose the most cherished of all that you want;
- formulate the request in such a way as to completely eliminate doubt (whether, whether, someday, maybe), negation (not, not, never), past tense (was);
- perform the ritual all alone;
- it is required to think over all the nuances so that the implementation of the plan does not turn into negative consequences;
- the desire should concern the performer of the rite himself, and not strangers;
- the dream should not involve harm to other people;
- the greatest magical power is possessed by the night of January 18-19;
- keep secret what was conceived, not talk about the ritual performed;
- sincerely believe that everything will work out;
- not to allow even the slightest dissatisfaction, backbiting, bad thoughts;
- thank God every time the plan comes true.
The fulfillment of the wish made for Baptism may take some time. It depends on the scale of the plan. It should also be borne in mind that a dream may not come true at all the way a person assumes. Sometimes we achieve what we want in other ways that do not always satisfy us.
Several ways to make a baptismal wish:
- Pick up a handful of small buttons, mentally focusing on your dream. Pour on the table or floor, count. An even number means that everything will come true.
- Write the 12 most cherished wishes on pieces of paper. On Epiphany night, put a jar with notes next to the bed. In the morning, pull out 1 to 3 pieces of paper. It is written on them that will come true in the next 12 months.
You can direct all the power of the holy holiday to 1 dream, and not 3. Then the chances of getting what you want will become much greater.
- At the service, approach the icon of your patron, pray, tell about your plans, ask for help. Next, put a candle, once again mentally say the desire, cross yourself.
- Diving into the ice-hole to think about the fulfillment of a dream, to ask the Higher powers to fulfill everything.
- At night on Epiphany Christmas Eve, pour water into a bowl and observe carefully. As soon as it seems that even the slightest ripple has appeared, say a desire to yourself.
- Often they use a conspiracy on a lit church candle, bought for the Baptism of the Lord. Words can be anything, as long as they come from a pure heart. When everything is said, you need to thank God for his help, blow out the candle and put away for storage for the home icon. So they think of something global, intangible.For example, they ask for love, health, peace in the family, prosperity.
- Running barefoot in the snow, thinking about your dream.
- Find or buy any natural stone. Best of all is aquamarine. On Epiphany night, come to the shore of a natural reservoir, where there will be no other people. Look at the mineral, think about what you want. Next, throw it into the water, mentally thanks for the chance to get what you planned.
In fact, the ritual is not as important as the belief in the fulfillment of desire. Only this and the willingness to accept the gif.webpt from the Higher Power will allow the dream to come true. And the rite itself is permissible to come up with your own, strengthening it with annual holdings for this holiday.
Divination for Baptism
Despite the fact that the priests speak extremely negatively about the intention to look into the future, for many centuries the people have developed rituals and ceremonies designed to predict future events. Do not use several options at once, otherwise the prediction will lose its power. It is recommended to choose the most convenient and trustworthy one.
In the name of the betrothed / betrothed
Cut many small pieces of paper of the same size. Write the names of all familiar men / women. It is advisable to add all the known ones in case the fortuneteller is not yet familiar with the betrothed. Carefully roll each note into a scroll, fold it into a linen bag, hat or jar. On Epiphany Eve, put under the bed and go to bed. In the morning, take out, mix the pieces of paper and draw out one. The name written on it will become a hint.
Fortune telling
There are many modifications:
- Just thinking about the most important moments of life on Epiphany Eve before falling asleep. Any dream on this night is considered prophetic.
- Ask your betrothed to dream. It is believed that the man who will be the protagonist of the dream is the intended person.
- Turn to a higher power with a request to suggest a way out of a difficult life situation.
- Remember the dream, in the morning interpret everything in the dream book to the smallest detail.
On matches
Fortune telling is suitable for couples who are going through hard times. At the same time, it does not matter if it is a legally formalized relationship or an unstable, recently emerged union. To understand whether the young people will part or not, you need to go out into the courtyard at night from 18 to 19 January. Get 2 matches out of the box, carefully insert vertically along the edges of the box and light. Wait until they burn out almost to the ground, blow out the flame. If the matches bent towards each other, the union will be preserved, the lovers will make up. If at least one looks the other way, the young people will part.
Fortune telling by the book
The most famous of all predictions, which has special power in the Baptism of the Lord. You need to take a thick book with works of art. Focus on the problem, ask an exciting question. Close your eyes, open on the first page that comes across, poke your finger at any point on the sheet. Sometimes the dropped out word can be considered the answer, but more often they interpret the meaning of the whole sentence or a whole paragraph.
Mysterious wax
A fortuneteller needs to retire, pour water into a bowl, light a church candle and focus on an exciting issue. Next, tilt the candle slightly over the water, allowing the melting wax to drip freely. Another way is to melt it in a water bath and simply pour it into a container of liquid. In both cases, the prediction is the resulting figure:
- arch - a transition from one situation to another, a journey;
- butterfly - big changes;
- tower - marriage or calling from above;
- bouquet - happiness, gif.webpts;
- boomerang - the consequences of something done earlier;
- fan - flirtatious relationship;
- fork - someone surrounded by lies;
- grapes - talent will bring money;
- plane - travel;
- a dog is a devoted friend;
- sun - creative success, happiness;
- the eye is a warning;
- head - a position with great powers;
- cloud - problems, experiences;
- horseshoe - happy destiny.
The Baptism of the Lord is a bright, kind and energetically charged holiday.On this day, you can make wishes, predict the future, guess by signs. Priests do not approve of such undertakings, insisting on the need for spiritual purification and transformation.
