Ghosts, witches, and hobgoblins appear at Halloween and can predict the direction of your love life over the year to come. That’s according to ancient English folklore. So, for example, if you sleep with a mirror under your pillow on Halloween, you’ll dream of your future husband or wife. It’ll also happen if your pyjamas or nightgown are turned inside out, or if you rub the bedpost with lemon peel before turning out the lights.
Another way of discovering your future love is to gaze into a mirror at midnight on Halloween while combing your hair and eating an apple. That special person will suddenly appear in the reflection next to you. Or when you throw a shoelace into a bucket of water, it will form a letter. That will be one of the initials of your partner-to-be.
In other old Halloween traditions, you’ll be married in the 12 months from Halloween if you…
- Eat the point of a pie slice before chomping down the rest
- Break an apple in two with your bare hands
- Stumble going up a flight of stairs
- Step on a cat’s tail
- Dream of taking a bath
But what if you have more than one suitor? Multiple prospective partners? Well, take as many apple pips as you have interested lovers and name those pips. Then stick the pips to your forehead. The last one to fall to the ground is your intended to marry. Another more energetic option is to take a willow branch and run three times around the house at midnight. Once you stop and catch your breath, the face of the lucky person will appear on the leaves.
At Halloween, you can find out how many children you’re going to have in your marriage by blowing on the seedhead of a dandelion and counting the number. Or count the X’s on the palm of your hand. If you already have a baby, you can map its future on Halloween. Place the following items on the floor in front of the baby: a spoon, playing card, a coin, book, ball and the Bible. Then see which item the baby picks first. The evil spirits will guide its hand.
The meaning?
- The spoon – baby will grow up to be poor
- The coin – rich
- The playing card – a gambler
- The book – a teacher
- The Bible – a preacher
- The ball – an athlete
If Halloween has failed to predict your love life for the next year, how about your health and prosperity? In one tradition, light a candle at ten minutes to midnight. If it burns steadily until midnight, then riches will come your way. But if it gutters and blows out beforehand, poverty is looming.
FIND OUT MORE: Ancient origins of Halloween
However, there are precautions you can take against unfortunate predictions. That includes putting ashes in your shoes, scattering flour around the edge of your garden, or covering your mouth when you yawn. The latter will stop your spirit from jumping out or an evil spirit from jumping into you. Malign forces can also be repelled by walking backwards around your house with your fingers crossed. And if you need more protection, get a kiss from a stranger.
There is a medieval tradition dating back to the 12th century where unmarried girls get together and cook a “dumb cake”. It’s made of eggs, malt, water, and flour. The girls then eat it before midnight and change into long white nightdresses. They walk backwards upstairs towards their bedrooms and if the charm works, apparitions of their future husbands will chase them. If they can outrun them and climb into bed, they will marry the real men. But if not – oh dear.
These are mostly forgotten Halloween traditions from a time when love was intertwined with this unholy festivity.
