Romanian strigoli vampires come out tonight, you can see them at the crossroads, fading into the mist at cockcrow. Yet Andrew, whose feast day is tomorrow, is also patron saint of lovers. The saint's name comes from Andros, a Greek word for "man," and the Greek diety Dionysus, who personified male virility, is associated with certain male saints, including Andrew.
Brumalia was an ancient Greek solstice festival honouring Dionysos, the name deriving from the Greek word bruma, "shortest day". The Byzantine Church condemned it but it continued to be celebrated until the 12th century or later.
The Roman Feria Brumalia (Latin bruma, "frost") was a feast of Bacchus (Roman equivalent of Dionysus), celebrated over the span of a month, beginning November 24. It was instituted very early on by Romulus. Amidst the feasting and merrymaking, prophecies were sought to determine the course of the winter.
On St Andrew's eve in Hungary, young people pour melted lead into a glass of cold water through the handle of a key, the form it takes foretelling the occupation of the future spouse. We did this once at a New Year's eve party, but as a general fortune telling not specifically about a spouse. Mine took the shape of a flag.
Lace makers, on both St. Andrew's and St. Catherine's days (see Nov 25), celebrate with feasts and sports, and the drinking of elderberry wine. In the Celtic tree calendar, the month of the Elder commenced on November 25. The Elder, aka elle (elfin) tree, is related to the Honeysuckle, and considered a tree of wisdom. It's worth mentioning that syrup from Sambucus (Elderberry) is widely credited with staving off the H1N1 and other flu viruses.
From "Brighid's Place" at technoharp.com:
Celtic shamanism uses the elder tree to form the sacred hoop on which the shield of the shaman is strung, and fires of elderwood afforded dreams wherein the shaman could walk between the worlds and retrieve the wisdom of the ancestors...The Mighty Dead, wise ones of the ancient clans, were thought to take up residence in elder trees, whose branches then sighed their names when the wind blew. An Elder tree growing where no tree had been before, alone and separate from other trees, was probably a Witch enchanted, and such wood was never gathered....
The 'True Cross' of Jesus Christ was said by some in England to have been made of elder-wood. St. Andrew was also crucified, but on a "cross saltire", which, as Waverly Fitzgerald tells us in School of the Seasons, "is also a sun symbol...similar to a Catherine wheel or the rune of Gefjon, the Giver, which is associated with Freya, the great Scandinavian goddess who is much honored at wintertide." Wilson's Almanac associates St. Andrew's "Ixion wheel" type cross with Leonardo Davinci's Vitruvian Man, which brings us back to man/andros/St. Andrew.
