Halloween Matchmaking and Lesser-Known Rituals
Many Halloween traditions and beliefs centered on the future rather than the past, and on the living rather than the dead.
Many had to do with assisting young women in identifying potential husbands and assuring them that they would be married someday, hopefully by next Halloween. On Halloween night in 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes, hoping that the diner who found it would find true love.
In Scotland, matchmakers advised young women to name a hazelnut for each potential suitor before throwing the nuts into the fireplace. According to the legend, the nut that burned to ashes instead of popping or exploding represented the girl's future husband. In other versions of this myth, the opposite was true: the burning nut represented a fleeting love.
Another legend claimed that a young woman would dream about her future husband if she consumed a sugary mixture made of walnuts, hazelnuts, and nutmeg before going to bed on Halloween night.
Young women tossed apple peels over their shoulders, hoping for the peels to fall on the floor in the shape of their future husbands' initials; peered at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water to learn about their futures; and stood in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over their shoulders for their husbands' faces.
Other rituals were more competitive in nature. The first guest to find a burr on a chestnut hunt at some Halloween parties would be the first to marry. Others believe that the first successful apple bobber will be the first down the aisle.
Of course, each of these Halloween superstitions depends on the goodwill of the very same "spirits" whose presence the early Celts felt so keenly, whether people are seeking love advice or hoping to ward off seven years of bad luck.
