The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1901-10-26

Two hazel nuts | threw into the flame,
And to each nut L gave sweethearts
name;
This with the loudest bounce me sore
That in the brightest flame of color
blaZed
AS blazed the nut, so may thy passion
For twas thy nut that did so brightly
glow.
These are the rhymes that the maiden
who wishes to put to rest all uncer-
tainty as to the faithfulness of her
lover, must learn before halloween, so
that she will know how to follow out
one of the true and tried recipes of
olden days to settle the question of
her future She must place two nuts
side by side before the fire and repeat
the verse if she would put the dainty
and romantic touches to this custom
of her grandmother. Having given
each name, she must watch Closely,
and the one which burns brightly has
deep and lasting affection for her.
The one which snaps and jumps shows
that he is unfaithful. In case they
both burn brightly considerably COM
plicates matters for the fair maiden,
and the only way to solve the problem
is to make several tests.
Each year the pretty old customs of
Halloween are less and less observed,
and the night has been turned into a
boisterous celebration by the small boy,
delights to take off all the gates and
hide them: bring down signs that Of
fend him by being too conspicuous, and
other equally joyous proceedings to the
heart of youth. A custom of putting
flour in a very thin bag and from the
shadow of some convenient gate post
or corner toss them at the passerby,
showering him with soft white cling
ing powder and putting him to much
trouble without hurting him, is one OF
the popular forms of Halloween of the
twentieth century.
Halloween, or All Hallow Even, is
time when the supernatural is sup
posed to have a very potent influence
in the affairs of men and women. The
dead are said to wander about and
witches, devils and all the uncanny
spirits which belong to darkness have
sway and must be respected with in
carnations and special observances of
respect if the wayfarer would not come
to grief Even the spirits from living
bodies are given, power to wander and
carouse with ghostly comrades, and
divination to those who possess it, is
particularly keen on this night of vigil
of All Saints.
LEGENDARY LORE.
Mythology, Druidic beliefs and Chris
tan superstitions have all contributed
to the many strange and often grue-
some observances surrounding Hal
lowe'en. 1t is the ancient feast of the
Romans to Pomona that is said to have
originated the nuts and apple feature
of this occasion. This feast came on
Nov. l, and the fruits were stored
through the summer for the celebra-
ton. The festival of Saman, OBJ
served by the Druids, brought in much
that was supernatural. This occurred
at the same period. The Druids be-
lieved in the RECONSIDERATION of souls
and all the souls of the wicked who had
been doomed to live in the bodies of
animals during the year were gathered
together, and by gifts and lamentations
of the priests, Saman, the Lord of
Death, was asked to mitigate the SEN
tence.
From the Druids the people of Ire
land and Wales adapted and construed
as pleased them other customs Some
of these were gruesome in the extreme
and doubtless gave the opportunity to
those wishing to do harm to at least
brighten their victims very seriously.
One of the Welsh customs still OBJ
served in remote districts is to build
fire on this night and each member
of the family throw a white stone
marked in a way to be identified after
ward into the midst of the fame, muir
muring a prayer. In the morning
any stone that is missing means that
that person issdoomed to die before
the year is OUT In Scotland almost
the same custom prevails. The ashes
of the fire are raked in a circle and
the stones placed in the center. If
anyone is malicious enough to make
one, or more, or all out, and the morn
ing finds them. gone, the superstitious
may become so terrified that any small
illness can be SO magnified by fear that