Czech walnut shell candles are known all over in the Czech Republic as a typical Christmas tradition and decoration. Known for attracting good energy, luck, and fortune, Czechs believe that they can even tell your future!
Near Christmas time, Czechs will make these sweet little candles out of hollow walnut halves and on Christmas eve, each family member places their candle into a basin of water and watched. Depending on what the candle does, it affects the future of the owner. How is it moving, does it sink? Children especially take delight in watching what their floating candle will do. First I’ll share how to make these candles and then what your future may hold based on how they move in the water.
It’s a simple project and one which does not require a lot of time or materials.
What You’ll Need:
Carefully crack open your walnut, making sure that it stays in halves and take out the nut. If your candles are too wide or long to fit in the walnut shell don’t fear, you can simply cut them to fit.
After cutting your candles to the right size and putting them in the walnut place them in the microwave for a couple of seconds – just enough to melt the wax to the shape of the walnut. Once the wax melts, you won’t even be able to tell that they were ever cut.
Pull them out of the microwave and leave them on a flat surface to cool. Once you have finished the making of the candles, fill a decorative bowl with water, put the walnut boats in and voila!
You will notice that once in the water the candles will begin moving, this is where the fortune telling comes in play… If the candles stays at the shore do not expect any changes in the next year, if it sinks immediately you will most likely die (a harsh thought). If it floats to the other side of a basin, you get what you want!
If your candle touches another you can expect love and or friendship, if it begins to make a circle with others coexistence, respect, and friendship are in your future. If you find yourself in the middle of the other walnut boats, you will need protection. If yours is outside the circle, you will leave the family. Spinning in a circle means you don’t know what you want in your life and if the flame of your candle goes out, a complicated emotional relationship is expected.
We hope your walnut shell candles turn out and you have good fortune for the year to come. We’d love to see your walnut boats so please share them in your comments!
To read more about Czech holiday traditions click here!
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This is my all time favourite tradition from Czechia, very poetic and lovely. When I was a kid long time ago;-) in Czechia we have been doing this every Christmas.
Thank you so much for explaining!
I stumbled upon your blog trying to find the origin of this lovely tradition that we will implement into our New Year’s Eve family traditions starting this year ✨
May your walnut boat predict a lovely year:)
Greetings from Germany.
My family did this every year when I was growing up. We would light the candles at midnight on New Year’s Eve. Whoever’s name was on the bottom of the boat was going to have the best year :)