October 2007

Halloween Traditions

Many of our Halloween traditions come from ancient European harvest festivals; trick or treating, costumes, jack o lanterns, even fortune telling.

People celebrated the change of seasons with 8 feasts throughout the year. The two largest festivals were held 6 months apart. Beltane celebrated Spring and rebirth and Samhain (Halloween) honored Winter and the coming time of darkness.

Legend has it that the "veil" between this world and the spirit world is at its thinnest on Samhain. So it was during this festival that these ancient people employed many forms of divination - all in the hopes of gaining some tiny bit of insight into the great mystery of their unknowable future. They took a shot at predicting just about anything, from the coming weather, right down to who they were going to marry.

Not much has changed.....fast forward a few thousand years to 1892. The Farmers Almanac has now been handing out predictions for 100 years! The Victorians have embraced the customs of many of the newly emigrated peoples of Europe and Halloween parties are all the rage. Enjoyed by young and old, the rules for 'proper' entertaining were relaxed a bit on this night and guests were treated with a playful evening full of games and laughter. Here are some of the activities you may have enjoyed had you been a guest, many of which centered around some type of fortune telling.

Mulled cider and tasty treats may have been served as everyone gathered around the fire for Ghost Stories. Unmarried people would attempt to take a bite out of an apple bobbing in a pail of water, or suspended on a string. The first person to do so was believed to be the next to marry.

Strings would be strung and woven all around a room - 1 string for every 2 guests - Each guest would have to find an end and start winding up the string to find their 'fate' at the other end - the first to finish is said to be the first to wed.

Attempting to produce a long unbroken apple peel was said to estimate the number of years you had to live. The longer the peel, the longer your life expectancy.

Each guest may have received a sack of beans or the like and then used one of these rhymes as they counted out their fortune:

Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief,
Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief.

Rich girl, poor girl, beggar girl, crook,
Schoolgirl, nurse girl, servant girl, cook.

This year, next year, no year, darn;
Big house, little house, hotel, barn.

A large pumpkin was hollowed out and filled with little sacks of goodies tied to ribbons. The ribbons were hung over the edge of the top for each guest to choose one. On the count of three, the guests all pulled their ribbon to find the prize on the end.

Anyone who looked into a candlelit mirror at midnight on Halloween was said to see the image of their future spouse.

Depending on your hostess, you may have also received your fortune by means of a palm reading, tarot card reading, numerology, tasseomancy or any number of similar oracular practices. Tasseomancy is more commonly known as Tea Leaf Reading! (more on that to come soon!)

Till next time,
Jan

About the Author:
Jan Pierce is a Chester County, Pennsylvania artist who creates one of a kind folk art treasures. Her current and future projects include miniature paintings, paper mache sculpture, lampwork bead jewelry and anything else that happens to capture her interest! She has graciously agreed to contribute a column for us in her "spare time". Visit Jan here on HalloweenArtists.com or on her website at MoonhallowVintage.com.