OTHER CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS.

The first event of Advent was the divination on the feast of St. Andrew, at November 30. Bits of lead were cast and single girls would go out at midnight to shake on fences to see if anyone would come out. They would listen for steps in the direction where their grooms should arrive.

Cutting off cherry branches is a tradition in the Czech Republic and is based on a pre-Christian tradition. On the feast of St. Barbara, December 4, cut a cherry branch from a cherry or sour cherry tree. Take it home where the temperature is nice and warm, put it in a vase with water and care for it just as you would for any other cut flower. If the branch blooms for you by Christmas Eve on December 24, all your wishes will come true the following year. The blossoming branches symbolised the sun's victory over winter since they bloomed around the winter solstice. Today, it is just a sweet and fragrant tradition.

On December 7, the feast of St. Ambrose, a tradition was respected at the point where the church was dedicated to this saint. One man dresses up as Ambrose in a long white shirt and black pointy hat with a veil over his face. He carried a bundle of sweets in one hand and a broom covered with paper in the other. At dusk, Ambrose waited for children at the church. The children bravely screamed at him, causing Ambrose to chase them around the church. Here and there he dropped the sweets on the floor. Whoever picked them up got a swat with a broom.

On the eve of the Feast of St. Lucy on December 13, figures dressed in white walked throughout households. Each Lucy looked a little according to each region. Some were wrapped in white robes with masks and clapping beaks, others had their faces powdered with flour, while some were dressed in black. They checked the households to see if everything was as it should be. Today, in some regions, such as south Bohemia, it is more just about fun for young girls around the age of 10, who can carol, play and maybe tease their parents a little.