The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1897-10-31
NORFOLK vIRGIN1AN: SUNDAY OCTOBER 81 1897.


luck In every way ensued.
Nuts and apples appear to be the ia
Vorite mediums for celebrating Hailow-
cen. though the lighted candle also
plays conspicuous part. While the
apple seems to have no especial sig
niiicnnce In regard TO the festival, In
reality 1t has. for the pagan Saxons
dedicated the day after Halloween to q
goddess who presided over seeds and
fruits, and ancient writers trace this
custom far back to the East where IL
was called LA Macs Abhal," or the
day of the apple fruit" and one of the
faVorite drinks for Halloween is COM
posed Of roasted apples, ale and sugar
And so the apple. used for purposes Of
dtVinaton and sport, Is thoroughly
appropriate 10 the season. November
1st-All Souls Day-was observed by
the Druids as the great autumn festi-
val or the sun, and the night preceding
was filled with strange and mystic rites,
half-propitiatory and wholly supcrsti-
tious. .
The following account OF the origin
ana many ways Of IT'S observance Is
given by Harry Germainc In Savannah
News -
Halloween is a relic of The roistering
Gays of PaEanisin. But Just when the
exact established observance commenced
IT is impossible to say. II is known that
tne ancient Druids performed certain
rites on what is now known as Hallow-
mas Eve. We are told that on this night
fires were lit deep in remote forests uDon
the hilltops and great plains and mystic
rites performed. 1t was The belief that
on tES night the powers OF darkness
hsld sort of annual mastering within
the domain OF morta.s. and that there
tore care must be taken that the living
were not brought under the evil nnu-
ence. Within more recent times the
superstition has more or less died out.
giving way to the much more pleasant
hut-cracking. apple duckng, etc
IL mas nothing TO do with the church
observance OF bhc following day of AL
Saiclts, and there is nothing in all Saints
10 nave originated sucl extraordinary
ana absurd tricks as have from ancient
ing.
IF You look into folk lore and fairy
lore you will find that, in the days when
princes and princesses were charlGed into
wild beasts the evening Of October 81,
was an important one, FOR 1t was then
lor one brief night they We're permitted
TO assume their natural form.
Halloween is n delightful combination
OIL 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
or England Halloween is still known
as ulut-craclting night In Scotland
Halloween Is a Ercat hnlIday, and Burns
IN his poem on Halloween refers to its
love-making properties thus:
The aud gudewife's wecl hoodit nits
Are round and round divided,
Ane many lads and lasses' fates
Are There that night decided.
some ktndle COllithie Si6,, nv iJo
And burn thcghther trinity;
some start, ava wi suucy pride
And jump out over the chimly.
Flu high that night.
Halloween, as We know It, is con-
tined to tricks. all OF which have for
thelr donouement the discovery of ones
own true love, or the unravelmcnt OF a
rove affair. Notwithstanding the fact
tnat Halloween Is the night of true love,
IL is not considered 1ropHious thing
70 receive proposal on this night If
your lover proposes on Halloween, let
MN bind you by lying II blue ribbon on
your wedding rng finger. II is we'll in
dressing for the evening TO have some
where ABOUT your person the requisite bit
or ribbon, lest, if You should receive a
proposal ana accept 1t, the ribbon might
be lacking, the spell would be broken.
ana your lover would surely leave YOU
within "a twelvcmon,h.
a favoritc Halloween dvinatios Is
the apple trick. You suspend an apple
III the doorway SO that II hangs five feet
above the floor. and as many persons
as PASS under ii, 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
fenlth person hit the apple YOU will mar
~ ten months from this date or next
August
IF on Halloween you shake hands
with III very blonde man You will have a
proposal before the bells shall have rung
in the new year of '9S If, on the C,ther
hand, you shake hands with a very dark
man, you will Got have a proposal with
in q, year. If with n medium man, you
will receive one next June.
You must by no means retire before
midnight on J2llowecn, but must he
awake TO listen for the sound of bells
from the church steeples There will
always be, a midnight toll of bells, and
1t is theSe that hold your fate IF they
reach your cars irl bold, distinct notes
you may get ready for your wedding
trousseau; but If they come TO YOU dull
and faint. YOU must pass your while in
patience for another year.
halloween is the night for deciding
If you have two lovers, and are not clear
III ~, soui Hlihu JuSL Wnlcai you prefer.
Think OF both just before YOU 20 10
sleep. and you will dream of the cr,e
that you should marry.
THE nerviest halloween test Is the
best. 1t is to descend into the cellar al
midnight, just as the bells are toiling
In one hand you carry candle, in tho
other q looking glass. On the way down
inc shadows throw their farHa site
shapes into the glass to scare you. but
you must walk on and Oh untH you shall
have reached the cellar 'bottOm. You
Erope your way on to Fhc furthest cor