A laughable experiment consists in filling mouth with
water and walking around house or block without swallowing
or spilling a drop. First person of opposite
sex you meet is your fate. A clever hostess will
send two unsuspecting lovers by different doors; they
are sure to meet, and not unfrequently settle matters
then and there.
If a maid wishes to know whom she is to marry, if
a man of wealth, tradesman, or traveler, let her,
on All-Hallow-e’en, take a walnut, hazelnut,
and nutmeg; grate and mix them with butter and sugar
into pills, and take when she goes to bed; and then,
if her fortune be to marry a rich man, her sleep will
be filled with gold dreams; if a tradesman, she will
dream of odd noises and tumults; if a traveler, there
will be thunder and lightning to disturb her.
Cellar-stairs’ test is where girl boldly goes
downstairs backward, holding a mirror, and trying
to catch in it the features of him who is to be her
mate.
Of all Hallow-e’en spells and charms associated
with nuts, the following is one of the oldest:
If a young man or woman goes at midnight on Hallow-e’en
to a walnut tree and walks around three times, crying
out each time, “Let him (her) that is to be my
true love bring me some walnuts,” future wife
or husband will be seen in tree gathering nuts.
Into one tub half filled with water are placed apples
to the stems of which are tied bits of paper containing
the names of the boys present at the party, while
across the room is a similar tub in which the names
of the girls are placed. With hands tied behind
them the young folks endeavor to extricate the apples
with their teeth, and it is alleged that the name
appearing upon the slip fastened to the apple is the
patronymic of the future helpmeet of the one securing
the fruit from the receptacle.
Guests take part, seated in a circle. Three Fates
are chosen, one of whom whispers to each person in
turn name of his (her) future sweetheart. Second
Fate follows, whispering to each where he (she) will
next meet his (her) sweetheart; as, “You will
meet on a load of hay,” or, “at a picnic,”
or, “at church,” or, “on the river,”
etc. The third Fate reveals the future;
as, “You will marry him (her) next Christmas,”
or, “You will be separated many years by a quarrel,
but will finally marry,” or, “Neither
of you will ever marry,” etc. Each
guest must remember what is said by the Fates; then
each in turn repeats aloud what has been told him
(her). For example, “My future sweetheart’s
name is Obednego; I shall meet him next Wednesday on
the Moonlight Excursion, and we shall be married in
a week.”
