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TIME was when popular superstition held that on the eve of "All Saints," known as the "Holy Evening" or "Halloween," the ghosts of the sainted dead haunted the neighborhood of the place dear and familiar to them in the days of their earthly life.
What began in reverent fancy eventually became first an article of faith, then of half skeptical acceptance of the ascendancy of supernatural influence on the night of October 31st, and finally, as in our own time, as the merriest night of all the year, preserving just enough reminiscence of spectral visitants and occult powers to thrill the young folk with the "creeps" and give a character of superstitious mystery to the fortune telling and other rites that belong especially to its celebration.
It is the most fitting occasion of the year to give an informal frolic when "company manners" are forgotten in natural, healthy fun.
Let the invitation breathe a spirit of mystery, if possible-—some such nonsense as:
"Prithee come in secrecy and silence at eight o' the clock on Halloween, to the house of A. E. S., the fourth from the corner as the crow flies. Speak not of this to mortal ear, lest on the way ghosts make you fear."
Pen and ink representations of bats, owls, black cats, or witches, brooms, etc., may decorate the note paper if the hostess have a little skill in drawing. The front door bell should be muffled,
the hall and stairway almost dark and the guests directed in a whisper where they may remove their wraps. Upon entering the drawing room they should find that apartment also wrapped in gloom, relieved only by lights shining through grinning pumpkin lanterns or from alcohol burning in saucers, to which salt has been added to give the phantom blue radiance.
As each woman guest enters, all the others whisper: "Hush-sh-sh-sh," and at the appearance of a man he is greeted by a sepulchral groan. No one should speak above a whisper.
The hostess may be dressed as a witch in sombre material, or in bright red adorned with cabalistic signs cut from black paper—toy spiders, etc.— and wearing a sugar-loaf hat of black or gray canton flannel, wreathed about with a snake of dusty gray Japanese paper. Her elf-locks, her face stained with walnut juice and armed with the traditional broom of twigs will give her a very witches' appearance.
When all shall have presumably assembled and been duly impressed with a sense of the unconventional, if not the uncanny, a solemn bell or gong may be made to sound three doleful peals, and then a black curtain be withdrawn from before a doorway leading to a room where the Fates are to be consulted according to Halloween tradition.
This room may be as cheerful and suggestive of pleasure as the other was dark and dismal, decorated with flaming maple boughs, branches of woodland berries, etc., with, if possible, a large open fireplace.
The hostess will need two or three assistants to preside over the various Halloween mysteries.
At the fireplace one should be seated to melt lead in an iron spoon for such inquirers of Fate as desire to draw deductions from the strange shapes taken by the metal when plunged into water, somewhat about the appearance or occupation of the future mate. A fertile imagination should be part of a fortune-teller's mental equipment.
Another may read fortunes by the burning of chestnuts. The girl who may be in doubt as to which admirer to give the preference may name one nut for herself and each of the others (secretly) for some young man. If a nut burst open with a snap and jump away from the nut representing the girl, that lover would prove unfaithful; if one flayed and remained stationary, the person for whom it was named may be trusted to make her happy.
The hostess may, perhaps, reserve to herself the brewing of tea at another table for the interesting forecast of fortunes from its grounds in the cups. There are books to be had giving full instructions in teacup lore.
On one table there may be a large pan holding a meal or flour "pie," in which a ring has been concealed, to be sought for by those willing to forage with their mouths. The fun is rather at the expense of those risking suffocation until one is lucky enough to chance upon the ring, which is the assurance of a speedy marriage. The plain gold ring is often engraved: "For love and luck."
At another table a large basket of apples and tray of knives may invite to the test of the "magic paring." Each person takes an apple and must peel it so as to leave the entire skin in an unbroken strip. The one who fails to do this forfeits his or her turn and may not have another chance. The more dexterous are next instructed to whirl the parings three times around their heads from left to right, drop them behind onto the ground, where it is supposed that they will infallibly form the initials of the names of the future partners of their joys and sorrows.
Jumping over twelve lighted candles, each of which is named for a calendar month, is a favorite way of finding out in which month one will be married by the one that is extinguished.
An apple suspended by a string from a portiere rod in a doorway offers the opportunity of snatching a bite to discover whether or not one should have good fortune through the year. It must not be touched by the hands, and the bite secured. The seeds are counted— the more seeds the more wishes promised fulfillment. An uneven number assures the better luck.
A further test of fortune is for each young woman present to try with one blow of her breath to extinguish a candle, just repeating the following lines:
"If I blow out your witches' light,
Next Halloween shall see me wife;
But if the light refuse to fade,
Next Halloween I'll still be maid."
Another favorite Halloween game is snap-dragon. Raisins are placed in a saucer or shallow dish and alcohol poured over them, which, when set on fire, each of the company in turn tries to snap out a raisin. If done quickly the fingers will not be burned. The one who gets the greatest number of raisins gets his wish or a prize.
For a young woman to eat an apple before a looking glass was anciently believed to cast a spell so that the face of the future husband might be seen peering into the glass over her shoulder. There is usually not lacking some one who will help out the prophesy—sometimes so many as to be baffling to learn anything definite.
To throw an apple through a horseshoe suspended in a doorway is still another test of luck, and girls are also fond of questioning the future by the three saucers. One should contain clear water, one milky or muddy water and one is empty. Each inquirer in turn is blindfolded and told to dip her finger into one saucer or the other. The clear water stands for a happy married life, the murky water for domestic infelicity and the third for single blessedness. When all these charms, spells and incantations have been invoked to read the future the supper should be served.
A pumpkin hollowed out and filled with yellow maple leaves or chrysanthemums makes a good centerpiece.
The table should be without a cloth, and leaves grouped to form mats under the plates and principal dishes. Apples, nuts, popped corn and maple sugar and crullers made in the shape of initials will be appropriate table decorations, while clam chowder, cold tongue with cold slaw and potato salad, and mince arid pumpkin pies, make a good rustic supper. Cider, of course, should be served with it.
At the conclusion of the feast a covered basket may be passed around, from which each person withdraws a walnut and is requested to crack it and find therein their "fortune." They should find in each nut a bit of paper, apparently perfectly blank. The lights should then be suddenly extinguished and a single candle passed from hand to hand, by which to read the prophesies. The papers, exposed to the heat of the candle flame, little by little reveal written words that seem to appear in most uncanny fashion. The trick is done by writing with lemon juice, which is invisible until the heat exposes it.
After supper a "witches' dance" is in order, the partners placing themselves back to back and keeping time as best they can to the music that is played alternately slow, then fast, then in furious haste, after which all should join hands and go down to the cellar in hot haste, then out of doors, if possible, and make the tour of the house three times to protect it from evil spirits until next Halloween. To "make assurance doubly sure" of good luck for every one, each should hold a mouthful of water and a little salt in the hand, without spilling either. By this time the goodbyes will probably be said, and the hostess may give as her final advice that anyone eating a pinch of salt before sleeping (taking no water and speaking no word) will assuredly see the one destined to crown life's happiness appear in dreams.
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