The herald., 1897-10-31
MANY TESTS By WHICH you CAN
DECIPHER
What True Love Has for You-origin
and Observance OF the
Holiday

TOrGSCS. UPON tHS AlAIOPS <~>~~
plains and mystic rites performed ~
was the belief that on this nignt tne
powers of darkness held sort OF an
nual mastering within the DOMAIN OF
morta1s. and that therefore care must
be taken that the living were not
hrought under the evil influence.
Within more recent times the supersu-
ton has more or less died out, giving
way to the much more pleasant nut
cracking, apple -ducking, etc.
1t has nothing to do with the cnurcn
observance of the following day OF All
Saints, and there is nothing In All Saants
to have originated such extraordinary
and absurd tricks as have from ancient
times attached themselves to this even
ing.
If YOU look into folk lore and fairy
lore YOU will find that, in the days when
nrinces and princesses were changed
into wild beasts, the evening Of Oct. 81
was an important one, for it was then
for one brief night they were permltteo
to assume their natural form.
Halloween is a delightful combination
of mystery and mirth; the night most
eagerly anticipated of the whole year
among children. Small boys go nutting
weeks beforehand, to gather their har-
vest for this occasion, and in the north
of England Halloween is still known
as nut-cracSing night. In Scotland
Halloween is a great holiday, and Burns
in his poem on Halloween refers TO us
love-making properties thus:
The auld gudewife's weel hoordit nits
Are round and round divided
And mony lads and lasses' fates
that night decided.
Some kindle couthie side by side.
And burn thegither trinity;
Some start ava wi saucy pride
And jump out over the chimly.
Fu high that night.
Halloween, as we know it, is confined
to tricks, all Of which have for their de-
nouement the discovery Of ones own
true love, or the unravelment OF a love
affair. Notwithstanding the fact that
Halloween is the night of true love. 1t
is not considered a propitous thing to
receive a proposal on this night. If your
lover proposes on Halloween. let hinI
bind you by tying blue ribbon on your
weddingring finger. 1t is well in dress
ing for the evening to have somewhere
about your person the requisite bit OF
ribbon, lest, if you should receive pro-
posal and accept it, the ribbon might be
lacking, the spell would be broken, and
your lover would surely leave you within
twelvemonth.
A favorite Halloween divination is the
apple trick. You suspend an apple in
the doorway so that it hangs five feet
above the floor, and as many persons
as pass under it, so many months will
elapse before you marry. This trick
should not be told to the rest Of the
family or they may attempt to thwart
you by lodging under the apple. If the
tenth person hit the apple you will
marry ten months from this date, or next
August.
If on Halloween you shake hands
with a very blond man you will have a
proposal before the bells shall have
rung in the new year of '9S. If, on the
other hand, you shake hands with a
very dark man, you will not have a
proposal within year. If with a me-
dium man, you will receive one next
June.
You must by no means retire before
midnight on Halloween, but must be
awake to listen for the sound of bells
from the church steeples. There will al
ways be midnight toll of bells, and
it is these that hold your fate. If they
ceacn your ears III DOlu, UlStlncC uOteS
you may get ready your wedding trous-
seau; but if they come to you dull and
faint, you must pass your while in pa
tience for another year.
Halloween is the night for deciding if
you have two lovers and are not clear
in your mind just which you prefer.
Think of both just before you go to
sleep, and you will dream of the one
that you should marry.
The nerviest Halloween test is the
best. 1t is to descend into the cellar
at midnight, just as the bells are toll
ing. In one hand you carry candle, in
the other a looking-glass. On the way
down the shadows throw their fantastic
shapes into the glass to scare you, but
you must walk on and on until you shall
have reached the cellar bottom. You
grope your way on to the furthest COR
ner, and there you stand looking into
the depths of the glass. A shape will
creep over it until it lies there before
you distinctly. This is the face of your
future husband. A little imagination is
needed to bring out the features. but Of
course imagination is in keeping with
Halloween.
If you have an outdoor place there
is an excellent test. On one side of the
house build bonfire SO as to make the
blackness around more intense. Take
ball of cord in your hand and tie the
end of the string around your finger.
Throw the ball as far as you can. Now
wind the cord around your finger, chant
ing in a solemn tune:
''Slowly I wind, wind.
My true love to find
Before you have finished and drawn
the ball to you, with it's slow creep
ings, you will see your true love in the
fire. Either it will die down, leaving
his face in the embers, or it's shadows
will show him to you.
The apple games are many. The APP
pie seed trick of sticking an apple seed
on each eyelid is ever new and true.
Name each seed, and the seed that
sticks longest will stick to you through
life.
HARRY GERMAINE.