All Hallows' Eve has long been a time to look into the future, and
traditional festivities included several divination rituals. These come
mostly from folk traditions from the British Isles, and many have their
roots in the ancient Samhain festivities.
A lot of marriage divinations had to do with apples. In Celtic tradition,
the fruit was associated with female deities who controlled the ways of
love. This may have something to do with the inner structure of apples.
When you slice an apple in two, you can see a pentagram shape (a star
with five points) on each half, around the core. The pentagram was an
important shape for the ancient Celtics, and many other cultures.
Among other things, it was recognized as a Goddess symbol.
One of the most popular divinations was for young unmarried people to
try to bite into an apple floating in water or hanging from a string. This
is something like the bouquet toss that still plays a part in wedding
receptions -- the first person to bite into the apple would be the next
one to marry.
In another tradition, a young woman would light a candle and peel an
apple in front of a mirror. While she was peeling the apple, her future
husband would supposedly appear in place of her reflection. Peeling an
apple was also a way to predict your life expectancy. If you could cut
off one long peel, you would live to an old age. If you only cut a small
piece of peel, you would die young.
Apples are still a big part of Halloween celebrations. In addition to
apple-bobbing, modern Halloween revelers drink apple cider, make candy
apples and hand out apples to trick-or-treaters.
In the next section, we'll look at some of the other modern traditions of
Halloween, most of which evolved in the United States.
Jack-o'-Lanterns
As part of the Samhain celebration, Celts would bring home an ember
from the communal bonfire at the end of the night. They carried these
embers in hollowed-out turnips, creating a lantern resembling the
modern day jack-o'-lantern.
But the direct predecessor of jack-o'-lanterns dates from 18th century
Ireland, where ancient Celtic traditions remained a significant part of
the national culture. A very popular character in Irish folk tales was
Stingy Jack, a disreputable miser who, on several occasions, avoided
damnation by tricking the devil (often on All Hallows' Eve). In one
story, he convinced Satan to climb up a tree for some apples, and then
cut crosses all around the trunk so the devil couldn't climb down. The
devil promised to leave Jack alone forever, if he would only let him out
of the tree.
When Jack eventually died, he was turned away from Heaven, due to his
life of sin. But, in keeping with their agreement, the Devil wouldn't
take Jack either. He was cursed to travel forever as a spirit in limbo. As
Jack left the gates of Hell, the Devil threw him a hot ember to light
the way in the dark. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip,
and wandered off into the world. According to the Irish legend, you
might see Jack's spirit on All Hallows' Eve, still carrying his turnip
lantern through the darkness.
Traditional jack-o'-lanterns, hollowed-out turnips with embers or candles
inside, became a very popular Halloween decoration in Ireland and
Scotland a few hundred years ago. Folk tradition held that they would
ward off Stingy Jack and other spirits on Halloween, and they also
served as representations of the souls of the dead. Irish families who
emigrated to America brought the tradition with them, but they
replaced the turnips with pumpkins, which were much more plentiful in
their new home. As it turns out, pumpkins were easier to carve than
turnips. People began to cut frightening faces and other elaborate
designs into their jack-o'-lanterns.
Frightful Fruit
Pumpkins, which are actually fruits, not vegetables, range considerably
in size. Some varieties weigh less than a pound and giant pumpkins can
grow to more than 1,000 pounds! Pumpkins are members of the gourd
family, which also includes watermelons and zucchini. They are
90-percent water and also contain high concentrations of potassium and
vitamin A.
Pumpkins, which grow from vines, originated in Central America and
were a popular crop among Native Americans. Certain tribes used the
seeds for food and medicine and made sleeping mats out of dried
pumpkin strips. American colonists invented the pumpkin pie, but their
original version used the pumpkin as the crust, not the main ingredient.
They cut off pumpkin tops to make handy edible bowls, which they filled
with milk, honey and spices and then cooked over a fire or hot ashes
traditional festivities included several divination rituals. These come
mostly from folk traditions from the British Isles, and many have their
roots in the ancient Samhain festivities.
A lot of marriage divinations had to do with apples. In Celtic tradition,
the fruit was associated with female deities who controlled the ways of
love. This may have something to do with the inner structure of apples.
When you slice an apple in two, you can see a pentagram shape (a star
with five points) on each half, around the core. The pentagram was an
important shape for the ancient Celtics, and many other cultures.
Among other things, it was recognized as a Goddess symbol.
One of the most popular divinations was for young unmarried people to
try to bite into an apple floating in water or hanging from a string. This
is something like the bouquet toss that still plays a part in wedding
receptions -- the first person to bite into the apple would be the next
one to marry.
In another tradition, a young woman would light a candle and peel an
apple in front of a mirror. While she was peeling the apple, her future
husband would supposedly appear in place of her reflection. Peeling an
apple was also a way to predict your life expectancy. If you could cut
off one long peel, you would live to an old age. If you only cut a small
piece of peel, you would die young.
Apples are still a big part of Halloween celebrations. In addition to
apple-bobbing, modern Halloween revelers drink apple cider, make candy
apples and hand out apples to trick-or-treaters.
In the next section, we'll look at some of the other modern traditions of
Halloween, most of which evolved in the United States.
Jack-o'-Lanterns
As part of the Samhain celebration, Celts would bring home an ember
from the communal bonfire at the end of the night. They carried these
embers in hollowed-out turnips, creating a lantern resembling the
modern day jack-o'-lantern.
But the direct predecessor of jack-o'-lanterns dates from 18th century
Ireland, where ancient Celtic traditions remained a significant part of
the national culture. A very popular character in Irish folk tales was
Stingy Jack, a disreputable miser who, on several occasions, avoided
damnation by tricking the devil (often on All Hallows' Eve). In one
story, he convinced Satan to climb up a tree for some apples, and then
cut crosses all around the trunk so the devil couldn't climb down. The
devil promised to leave Jack alone forever, if he would only let him out
of the tree.
When Jack eventually died, he was turned away from Heaven, due to his
life of sin. But, in keeping with their agreement, the Devil wouldn't
take Jack either. He was cursed to travel forever as a spirit in limbo. As
Jack left the gates of Hell, the Devil threw him a hot ember to light
the way in the dark. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip,
and wandered off into the world. According to the Irish legend, you
might see Jack's spirit on All Hallows' Eve, still carrying his turnip
lantern through the darkness.
Traditional jack-o'-lanterns, hollowed-out turnips with embers or candles
inside, became a very popular Halloween decoration in Ireland and
Scotland a few hundred years ago. Folk tradition held that they would
ward off Stingy Jack and other spirits on Halloween, and they also
served as representations of the souls of the dead. Irish families who
emigrated to America brought the tradition with them, but they
replaced the turnips with pumpkins, which were much more plentiful in
their new home. As it turns out, pumpkins were easier to carve than
turnips. People began to cut frightening faces and other elaborate
designs into their jack-o'-lanterns.
Frightful Fruit
Pumpkins, which are actually fruits, not vegetables, range considerably
in size. Some varieties weigh less than a pound and giant pumpkins can
grow to more than 1,000 pounds! Pumpkins are members of the gourd
family, which also includes watermelons and zucchini. They are
90-percent water and also contain high concentrations of potassium and
vitamin A.
Pumpkins, which grow from vines, originated in Central America and
were a popular crop among Native Americans. Certain tribes used the
seeds for food and medicine and made sleeping mats out of dried
pumpkin strips. American colonists invented the pumpkin pie, but their
original version used the pumpkin as the crust, not the main ingredient.
They cut off pumpkin tops to make handy edible bowls, which they filled
with milk, honey and spices and then cooked over a fire or hot ashes
| Bobbing for Apples |
